Hard to get updates out of anyone over there through the first two days, which I suppose is completely reasonable given the jet lag and time differences. Geofford is on Twitter (@GCSinPRG), but other than that, nada. I’ll hit up Hillbert tonight to send a daily email recap if he’s got his laptop with him…
In short, looks like the boys are 2-2 through the first two days of play.
DAY ONE: GLUM vs. Gauntlet (Canada – BC)
We saw and put down B.C.’s Gauntlet 15-5 or so at Canadian Nationals last year. Closer this time. GLUM 15, Gauntlet 12 in a seesaw battle that neither team led by more than 3 at any point. No big surprise, as BC may have some new guys, and GLUM definitely had some gelling to do with half a team of new faces. Box score shows our Blackfish brethren are making their mark as expected, with Kieran McConnell and Colin Hanes both leading the scoring, with Yapper, Brooksie, and Geofford close behind.
DAY ONE: GLUM vs. OLD SAG (United States – Philly)
Another old foe, from UPA Fall Series, revisited. Another case of slow start probably due to lack of PT together. Box score shows we started out on O and got broken 5 times in a row. The gap stayed at least 3 the rest of the way. Derek Baxter, Brooksie, and Kieran led the way in scoring again.
DAY TWO: GLUM vs. Big Bombers (Japan)
Japan’s Masters team was expected to be a possible dark horse in the tournament, based on the performances of their Open teams in recent years, but their 0-4 record indicates that’s not the case. GLUM took this one, fairly easily by the look of it, 17-10. Took a 9-3 half, then basically traded out. Brooksie, Ford, Hillbert, and Bax atop the scoreboard; are we resting our younger guns from the ‘fish? In one interesting side note, it appears that Brad Rollo threw a pass for a score in this one… hmmm, that’s one long-ass huck from Hintonburg to Prague…
DAY TWO: GLUM vs. Wolpertinger (Germany)
I’d love to hear more about this one from the boys. I wouldn’t have expected such a beating by a Masters team from Germany (not really a world power on the ultimate stage), but GLUM went down 17-11, and the only team Wolpertinger has lost to so far is OLD SAG, by just 2 points. Geofford and Brian Baker with a couple of assists each, Ford and SDR each with a pair of scores.
NEXT UP:
Tomorrow’s games are against OUF (France) and Helsinki Ultimate. OUF is 1-3 after beating Japan and losing to Wolpertinger (17-11), Troubled Past (17-4) and OLD SAG (17-13). A match against Troubled Past (currently skunking the field with a plus-minus through 4 games of +45) closes out pool play on Wednesday. I don’t know how tiebreaks work at WUCC, but it seems like a tough road for GLUM to climb into the top-4 of their pool and make quarters. Hopefully the boys can take care of business against OUF, win one against Helsinki, and hope for a drop by Wolpertinger to steal that 4th spot…
If any of you are reading this in Euroland, let us know how it’s going outside of the scoreboard. Sounds like it’s hot as f*ck over there, which puts you in the same boat as us at home in Ottawa. 40+ degrees with the humidex today and not much different the rest of the week. League tonight, practice tomorrow, league on Wednesday, and mens night on Thursday. Advanced weight-dropping and cardio-building weather. Defibrillators optional.
Good luck to the crew over there, and try to come back in one piece. No Borders and Nats are on the horizon…
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Addendum: Here’s an email I got yesterday from X:
very very quick…
We’re 2 and 2 so far, wins over Vancouver and Japan, losses to Old Sag (Philly) and Germany. Old Sag, they started off with a 0-5 lead, we finally got it together after that but not to overtake. Germany, well, they’re strong. Solid throws, they have twins on the team who are short burly guys who seem to lead the team. No games have been runaways – we were leading the Germans 4-1 (I think) early on. Don’t remember anything specific about the Vancouver game (except that we won), Japan was mostly long bombs to short quick guys, Brooks had a stellar D in the end zone.
Our team is starting to gel pretty well – boy these Blackfish guys are good. We’re all playing well I think. Two games a day doesn’t sound like a lot, but it’s draining. The first day was a scorcher, every day so far (and probably today) has been humid.
Gotta go, we play in under 2 hours…
