HHBP 2005

Jack, Will, BJ and I head out for Foxwoods around 4:15 in the afternoon after I likely fail the MPRE, deciding that it was more important 
to finish the 8 dwarf hats for the team rather than study "professional responsibility."  We arrive and immediately blow a decent amount 
of cash on the "money wheel."  Jack starts playing blackjack; eventually BJ, Will and I get in the act.  BJ makes enemies with a dealer 
named Irene.  Jack goes up a bit, I go up a little bit, and Will and BJ lose only slightly more than their self-imposed limits.  Good 
times.  We then drive back to Brown to sleep in a classroom.


Saturday morning started off with Brown B.  After they scored their first O point, we went on a predictable 15-0 run to win it 15-1.  Then
many of us watched the end of the Tufts-UMass game, which UMass won 10-8.


Next up we had a bye, which was spent (1) watching Dartmouth and Roger Williams duke it out, (2) napping, or (3) watching the Tufts women 
play the Yale women.  Nothing of note happened during any of these three events.  Apparently, we need to be better hecklers.


After waiting all morning to play a real game of ultimate, we come up against a fired up Roger Williams squad that had just lost a fairly 
close game to Dartmouth 13-10.  We trade points for most of the first half; Skoren totally takes over one point and gets us a break.  In 
the second half the D turns up the intensity and we roll on to some sort of victory 15-10 (?) or so.  On the final point BJ D's some RW 
guy twice, and afterwards he says that "You know, after the game, you know all we're going to remember is that Will Chen D'd me twice on 
game point."  Will grins upon hearing this.


Next up is the big game of the day against Dartmouth.  In the first half we get a break when Wiegand bats down a pass in the Dartmouth 
endzone while we run our zone.  Unfortunately, we cough up two goal line opportunities early in the game on D, and our o-line gives up a 
few breaks.  Down 12-10, our D puts in another break, but unfortunately we run out of daylight and don't have a chance to finish out the 
game.  For the second time this season, we lose a game scoring the last point.  While not a bad game for us, it's obvious that we can do 
some things better (and must do them better by the Spring).


Friday night, about 12 of us stick around and get to dinner before Brown (who you would think has never done this before, considering they
screwed it up for a second straight year) runs out of food.  Phil roshams a Yale girl for the right to sleep in the bed of the house they 
are staying in, and wins, though the girl seems confused by the fact that her paper does not beat his rock.  We then go eat giant cookies 
and Jack finally manages to buy booze.  The rest of the evening brings showering, Settlers, and getting lost on the way to the party 
because of my poor navigation skills and a very poor map and directions provided by Brown.  The party, for me, anyway, becomes trying to 
balance our boatrace challenges from the Tufts and Yale women.  Sangwha makes the final decision easy for me, and we apparently run over 
the Tufts women despite Firesheets once again pouring her beer all over her head.


After the cops broke up the party, we were graciously invited to Leah's house where Quasar was staying.  Highlights in the entertainment 
included lengthy discussion on "Saved by the Bell:  Wedding in Vegas" and a performance of the Fisher Price band.  If only we could have 
gotten that Keytar to work .


Sunday morning matches us against the hungover Brown alums.  We go up a break early but give two back, putting us down one break.  Zach 
Travis has a huge D on a huck, which I thought while watching, "No way he gets to that . oh, wait, he's tall."  We break to go up 13-12 in
a game to 14 as Will Arnold drops like his 100th disc of the day.  The alums score to put us at double game point; we turn it but Jack 
runs by Danny Mac to get the disc back, and Will throws a bladey forehand for the score.  Shameless plug:  I somehow end up catching 9 of 
our 14 points in the game, on a mixed bag of blades, hammers, and one or two anverts from Jack, Charles, Will, Eric, and BJ (!).


But nothing will ever compare to Eli's layout greatest last weekend.  I hear there is a made for TV movie in the works.  Ironically, 
Dustin Diamond will be playing Eli.


The consolation games are up next on the fields, so we have a bye before the semifinals with Brown.  We watched our women play a strong 
half against Columbia, cheering with both "Q-U-A-ZAR" and "Gimme an S, gimme a CRABBLE, what's that spell, SCRABBLE SCRABBLE SCRABBLE."  
While we need to be better hecklers, we also can probably come up with better cheers.


We get fired up about our game against Brown, but unfortunately we come out flat and the O gets broken a few times.  Jack makes an 
unbelievable grab on a hammer from Will.  I throw a horrible blade to Jack for a goal, made worthwhile only because of the huge grin on 
Jack's face when he caught it.  Grant has a sick layout D along the sideline.  But in the end, we fall 15-11, and for the second straight 
year our fall season ends with a loss to Brown.


In sum, we learned a lot about how much work we need to put in over the next few months to be where we want to be in the spring.  The 
region is tight at the top; there are at least six teams with legitimate shots at nationals this year, and it will come down, in a large 
part, to who wants it more.  As Jack said, we should love the fact that we are going to be the hardest working team in the region this 
winter.  I don't know about you, but I am loving it already.


Finally, the weekend reminded me, like every tournament, party, practice and winter league game, that I love playing with this team.  See 
you at the track,

Mike