from Worlds

Having some computers at Worlds with internet access is a very nice perk. However, people are only allowed on for 20 minute at a time, due to the high demand. A short synopsis of the games thus far. I'll save the post-mortem on Nationals until I can get to an Internet cafe or when I come home.

Day 1
Boushears (Japan)
The talk of most of the Open side has been the Japanese teams. As expected, all of them are very quick with lots of handler movement. More surprisely is their tendency to gun deep shots very often. Call it the Reverse Chain Lightning Theory if you will. They know teams are careful to guard the unders, so they will bring you in close and then cut hard deep. They definitely prefer forehands to backhands. We take half 9-3 by contesting many of their deep hucks and working methodically through their zone D. We have a slight let-down in the second half, but still take the game 17-12.

Thong (Australia)
On one of the farthest fields from the Spirit Lounge and showcase field, we still drew quite a crowd for the second game of the day. The wind was gusting very heavily, and was entirely upwind/downwind. The crowd of other Aussies teams cheering against us, we came out firing and broke them twice in a row to start. From there, their height and athleticism started to take over more and more. Our O line started to falter, and the D line wasn't converting turns. Thong did play very well, but this was also one of the worst games we've played in a long time. Easy drops, easy throwaways plagued us the whole game. With the time cap put on due to a couple marathon points, we come up short 15-10.

Day 2
Too Bad (Canada)
Our only game of the day. Let's just say that Furious George, Goat and Phoenix and didn't come, so they sent Mephisto as the #1 Canada team, and Too Bad is somewhere under that. 17-5. Nice guys, though.

We proceed into powers pools. Format is two pools of five. The top four teams from each pool advance to quarters.

Day 3
Buzz Bullets (Japan)
The best Japanese team around, they gun as much as the others. We stay on serve with no breaks to 7-7 before the bottom falls out on us. We start throwing things away (mostly into their very poachy man D, including one by myself) and they break us with quick plinko throws leading to break side hucks. In the second half, they broke us 5 times or so in a row to take the game 17-8. Very embarrassing.

One more game today against Doublewide. Tomorrow we face Clapham and Nomadic Tribe. The talk was of letting off the gas if we were down too badly against Buzz Bullets. Hopefully that won't hurt our momentum against DW I'd like for us to finish as high as possible to ensure an easier Quarters match up for our small roster.

More updates to come. It's 90 degrees and sunny, but apparently Australia doesn't have much on an Ozone layer. No worries, mate!