********** Midwest Throwdown 2011**********
What a weekend! I am proud of all my Ninjas and how we played and kept fighting in those last few games. We went 7-1 this weekend, losing only to Wash U (a college nationals level team)! Earning 9th overall.
The Tournament: Saturday was wet, cold, and rainy but our spirits were still super high! We seemed to start out a little bit slow, probably still waking up, but we picked up steam and began to roll over our opponents. The last game, we started to trade points with our opponents, but we took half then finished up the game strong at 9-4. We then celebrated with some fantastically delicious Macaroni Grill (allthough the general opinion among the girls was that there was entirely too little bread...) Sunday, YaY for no rain and for the sun coming out, our first game was against Wash U. Again we had to wake up a bit in the morning and came out a bit slow. I am proud of the way we fought and didn’t give up on the game. I am also excited that our newer Ninjas got a chance to play in a competitive game! Even though we lost to Wash U, we should not be disappointed in the way we played a high caliber team. As Sunday wore on we played our hearts out! Riddled with 20 minute points and 3-4 inch deep mud, the Ninjas dug deep and pulled out wins. The last two games we really dug our heels in ( the mud) and managed to beat Notre Dame and Luther both in universe point!
We saw lots of layouts and bids for the disc. Notably from some of our newer players, I am so happy that Mary and Becky both tried their hand at laying out. Also the impressive – Andrea already lying on the ground (perhaps from slipping on mud) and miraculously stretching out further to still grab the disc. Sloth had some skying D’s and sick catches! Memorably Sloth and Roads during the Luther game at the end of one of the ridiculously long points seemed to still be running and leaving their defenders in the dust ( or mud rather...) Swenson put on some sick marks on D. Our handlers, Nemo, Andrea, Alyssa, Erika, Jordan, and sometimes Dts, really clicked well on our lines and the d-line handlers adjusted when an o-line handler was circulated into the d-line. Brenna layed out all over the place and Emily started to be comfortable as one of the leaders for the o-line cutters and Ingrid was patient with making her cuts. Sloth, Mary, and Becky, grew leaps and bounds in their abilities in cutting and playing zone D!
Christie and Abby were super awesome both days in leading our team and helped us adjust of offense or defense when the opposing team brought something new to the field. Christie really helped us gain mental focus when we sometimes were in a funk.
Something we did that really helped our team was our very active sideline!!! Our sideline was pivotal in many games and wins. We did use our plays and they worked really well when we ran them right! We know we have some things to work on before Chicago, like adjusting our plays to a backhand force and working on positive mental focus in tough games and enhancing our zone-o further (even though it looked awesome for not practicing it!).
For the Ninjas that couldn't make the tournament or are injured we sure missed you but you were there with us in ninja spirit! Can't wait to see you at the retreat this weekend in sunny Madison!
We are super awesome at Frisbee, ladies!!
The Hotel: Thank you Ingrid for organizing the travel and the hotel, we know it was a big job! I enjoyed the way we utilized the tub on the second night as a clothes washing basin! And I am glad we mingled well with the comicon convention characters also at our hotel. Some of those guys were a hoot! Thank you to the ladies who brought sleeping bags and slept on the floor!
The Drive: The drive down was fun and we definitely bonded (Not the Pooper!!) and learned somethings about each other that we probably didn’t want to know (like whip cream scandals and such). The way home was more subdued. The van stopped to endulge in some much awaited Culvers and nuggets and then we were on our way because we were all pretty tired. Huge, huge kudo’s to the drivers and co-pilots! We really pushed through the exhaustion and late nights! Thank you to Erika and Alyssa for driving that last very late shift getting us safely back to Minneapolis by 3:30 am!
All in all a great weekend for the Ninja’s!!!!
