It was a sunny Cincinnati Saturday morning at Scinny, but the heat and humidity gave it an uncomfortable mid-summer feel, not one of late June. Regardless of the weather, Madcow was looking to come out strong and take care of business on what would certainly be a long day of play. Traveling again with a big roster, Cow was able to overwhelm opponents and take the first two games of the day 15-2 and 15-3. The third game of the day was against Indiana’s Ruckus, and the Cow seemed to lose a bit of focus, just as it did a weekend earlier at No Surf. Ruckus used its athleticism, height and throwers to expose the Madcow D a bit in the first half with its deep game. As a couple of Hoosiers once told me, “shooters keep shooting,” and Ruckus kept the pressure on in the second half, but Cow adjusted on defense and capitalized on a few turns to create a little more of a comfortable cushion. Madcow’s O line did its part by playing cool, calm and collected, just as it did all day, as Cow took the game 15-9. The final game of the day was a crossover against Indiana, who traveled light and were playing down a few bodies. While Madcow seemed to be up comfortably, Indy lost another player to injury and decided to call it a day before they dropped below 8 players. Final score, 9-5.
Timmy forgot to bring his lake and boat to Cincinnati, so the team had to settle for the pool at Willis’ parents’ house, some talkative little kids, sloppy joes, the world’s greatest margarita machine and the world’s greatest cornhole player and his sidekick, Robbie. A great night for all led to a rough morning for some, and some tree leaning, dry heaves and profuse sweating for others. Still, everyone made it to the fields in one piece ready to go for day two.
Cow picked up where it left off on Saturday and cruised to a 15-3 win over OU in game one. The second game was a rematch of Saturday’s pool play game against Ruckus. While the Cow might have lost its focus a bit a day earlier, its was all business on Sunday. Cow’s offense continued its hot play, and the D line wasn’t giving up anything deep this time as Madcow came away with a well earned 15-5 win.
In the final, Madcow faced a familiar opponent in LouEVIL, who had just won on universe point minutes earlier. Cow took control early, possibly to try to impress the newly formed sideline, as it rolled to an 8-2 lead at half. LouEVIL showed it had some fight left, and the Cow defense seemed to be showing the effects of a long, hot weekend, as the teams traded points to a 15-9 win and a Golden Gnome for Madcow. The defensive jersey went to Scott O’Brien, while the offensive jersey went to the eternal college student Jeff Kula. While OB’s win was pretty clear cut, Kula’s wasn’t without controversy, as he got most of his votes from those who were offended by his Billy Idol and Sublime impressions from the night before. But much like the 2000 election, Kula stole it and there was no giving it back.
It was another sweet tournament victory for Madcow, maybe not as sweet as breastmilk... , but sweet none the less. For a handful of players, it was their last tournament of 2009 with Madcow as Scinny marked the end of the tryout season. Tough decisions will have to be made, and each face will surely be missed, but it hopefully will not be the last time these players cross paths with Madcow. As Cow closes one chapter, there is a lot of work to be done before the next one is written. Next up is Hoosier Hoedown, followed by Motown Throwdown. See you in Bloomington.
