Madcow's 2008 regionals campaign began in pool play with a game against
XMN.
Ben "Biz" Sage got the team started right, scoring two early goals as Cow grabbed a few quick breaks for an early lead. Whenever the offense took the field it was able to score quickly, and the defense continued to make life difficult for XMN, leading to a 7-3 advantage at half. The second half was largely more of the same, with the O converting efficiently and the D pressuring every throw.
Neil "the best player in Japan" Pallaver and
Paul "I almost cut two of my fingers off the other day" Zaleski both made their presence felt on the D line, with Pallaver getting a couple D’s (not to mention a lay-out D that was called back on a fairly weak foul) and both players cutting effectively once XMN turned it over. Though the O got a bit sloppy down the stretch and gave a break back, the D continued to accumulate breaks. When XMN staved off game point by holding on O, the Madcow offense came out and worked the disc down the field, with
Jimmy “Jimma” Hughes finding
Phil "Robocop" Roebuck in the endzone with a hammer to end the game. Final score: Madcow 13, XMN 7.
Cow’s second pool play game saw them facing off against another team from Columbus,
Joyce (one of four Columbus open teams to qualify for regionals, though only three made the trip to Wisconsin). Joyce came out fired up and was able to notch an early break, but Madcow quickly regained its composure and exerted its will on the field. Cow took half 7-3, and in the second half the D nearly held Joyce scoreless, reeling off 5 straight breaks before Joyce finally put one in. The O line took the field and quickly got the job done, and Cow moved on to the third game of pool play. Final score: Madcow 13, Joyce 4.
The third game of pool play promised to be the toughest and most important of the tournament thus far. Standing between Madcow and the semifinals was
Prairie Fire, whom Cow had beaten on double game point at
CHC. Both teams recognized the importance of winning the pool, and from the beginning this game’s intensity level was palpably greater than that of the previous two games. Madcow started the game on O and converted without a turnover. Prairie Fire followed suit, and when the Cow O retook the field, the wheels started to fall off. It started out simply enough; a misexecuted throw led to a Madcow turnover, and Prairie Fire quickly picked up the disc and sent it deep for a score. The O jogged back to the line to receive again, but another throwing error gave the disc to Prairie Fire, and again they converted on their break opportunity. The next point was more of the same, and suddenly Madcow found itself down three breaks, with all kinds of momentum building against it. A timeout was called to stop the bleeding, and the team refocused and prepared itself to start playing. Yet after the timeout the offense (which by now featured several D line regulars) was again unable to get the job done. Though Madcow finally did work the disc in for the score on the next point, Prairie Fire rolled to half at 7-2, and Madcow was never able to mount a run. It wasn’t that Prairie Fires defense was especially intense or pressuring; rather, a series of misexecutions by Madcow - errant hucks, turfed throws, drops – and the inability to get the disc back after a turn sealed Cow’s fate. Prairie Fire rolled right through the end of the game, notching a final break to win it. Final score: Prairie Fire 13, Madcow 5.
The team was obviously disappointed with this result, and the postgame huddle was at first silent. But out of the silence grew a quiet determination, as Madcow appraised the situation before it: win five games in a row, and we were on our way to Sarasota; lose one and our season was over. It was now do-or-die.
The first of Madcow's five must-win games was Saturday afternoon against
Climax. Though playing with a short rotation (only 10 guys or so), Climax was not going to roll over from the beginning. Though they were unable to pressure the Madcow O, the Climax offense was able to work the deep game early on, and the teams traded a few points to start the game. But before long Climax’s lack of numbers started to catch up with it, as Madcow threw out line after line of fresh legs. The D pulled off first one break and then another, and suddenly the deep throws that were working for Climax early were sailing well beyond their tired receivers. Cow took half 8-4 and then really opened a gap just out of half. The backbreaker came on a huck from
David "TLake" Vuckovich, who threw a huge backhand to
Bryan "Brain" Russell just as Brain turned to cut back under. Yet when Brain saw the disc go up he turned and gave chase, and as the sideline screamed and the disc floated in the endzone, he ran down TLake’s throw and laid out to catch the score. Climax turned and walked back to their line with their heads down, and this game was as good as over. As Climax counted down the points to the end of their season, Madcow continued to work, taking the game running away to end Saturday with a win. Final score: Madcow 15, Climax 7.
As the team warmed up for the second day of games there was a sense of urgency that certainly hadn’t been present the day before. Madcow had four games to play, and if it won them its season would go on. We would have to go through all of the major contenders in the region (other than whichever team won the championship), but we knew if we played our game we could beat anyone. But we refused to get ahead of ourselves. Each game was a must-win, and first we had to play
Skeetpocalypse.
Though Skeet clearly had the most ridiculous name of the teams at regionals, Madcow knew better than to overlook the boys from Indiana. At
Motown Skeetpocalypse had given Madcow its closest game, an 11-9 contest in the semifinals; and in the first game of regionals Skeet had nearly knocked off
Machine, taking a big lead early and having four game points down the stretch (in fact, Skeet scored what appeared to be the game-winning goal at one point, but the score came back on a travel call, which Skeet inexplicably declined to take to the observer). Early on the teams traded offensive points, but after a few the Cow D forced a turn and quickly converted for a break. And once the D line got started there was nothing Skeet could do. Madcow reeled off a bunch of breaks in a row, rolling right through half and holding a 10-3 lead at one point. Though Skeet’s O recovered enough to score a few down the stretch, the outcome of this one was never in question, and Madcow quickly closed the door. Final score: Madcow 15, Skeetpocalypse 8.
This lined Madcow up for a showdown against perennial regional power Machine. In their last match-up Machine had won easily, though earlier in the season the teams played a much closer game, in which Machine prevailed on double game point. Either way, Madcow knew this would be a challenging, but definitely winnable, game. Both teams came out with the intensity one would expect from an elimination game at regionals, but the problems that had plagued the O line all weekend again reared their ugly head. The chemistry that had served the offense so well early in the season was simply lacking, and people seemed to be running all over the place, regularly cutting each other off and making it increasingly difficult to maintain any kind of flow. Even with these problems, it was our own mistakes, rather than great plays from the Machine D, that were our undoing, as a few misexecutions found Cow in another early hole, down 4-1. Once the O got it together the D immediately started getting us back into it, with a layout D from
Ryan "Sitler" Sitler leading to a break by the Cow defense. Yet that was all the D could get in the first half, and the offense surrendered another break, giving Machine half 8-4. Yet Madcow refused to back down, and despite the early deficit, Cow came out rolling after the break and seized all the momentum. The O converted quickly, and the D, led by
Timmy Meyers, grabbed two breaks to pull us back to 8-7. Machine called a timeout to still our momentum, and in the huddle we determine to put out our best lines for every remaining point.
The game had been slow to this point, and the cap was going to come into play; we had Machine reeling, and we were poised to complete the comeback. A great pull downwind pinned Machine in the back of its endzone, and its first few throws had nowhere to go but back and forth. Finally Machine spotted what appeared to be an open cutting coming in just inside the endzone, and as the throw went up
Craig "BMW" Poeppelman accelerated and made what looked like a game-changing bid. Yet in what might be an appropriate summary of the Madcow season, BMW came up just short, his fingers grazing the disc but unable to stop the throw from being completed. The Machine cutter turned and found a teammate for a big gain to get the disc to midfield, and a few throws later Machine had scored to end our rally. Down 9-7, the offense took the field determine to get the D back out there, but a huck out of bounds gave the disc to Machine, and they converted for the break. The O was able to score the next one, but now the cap was on with Machine leading 10-8 and receiving. Machine got the score on an upfield dump cut, and the Cow O came back on needing to score to keep the season going. We worked the disc halfway down the field, but when
Michael "Biggs" Groeber's backhand towards the endzone was picked off before it reached a lunging TLake, Machine had the disc with just 60 yards between it and the game. It didn’t take long for them to work it down, and a throw jammed in on the backhand sideline ended the game, and with it Madcow’s season. Final score: Machine 12, Madcow 8.
Though Machine went on to defeat Prairie Fire and then
Madison, snagging the second bid to nationals, this was little consolation for Madcow. Our season ended with us knowing that we lost not because we faced superior teams, but because we were unable to execute and take care of the disc. It was our own mistakes, rather than great play by our opponents, that brought us down, and that’s a tough pill to swallow. At the same time, if we can remember both what it felt like to underachieve and what it felt like to play ultimate the way we were capable, Madcow has the pieces in place to turn this year's disappointment into a great 2009 season. Thanks for a solid season everyone, and let's get ready for next year.
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