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So we lost on Thursday. 🙁 But, the game was good, I can say we definitely gave ‘er. Scoring went as follows: achieved an early 4-1 lead over the Ducks, but faltered and they scored 5 in a row, putting them into a 6-4 lead. We’d score to bring it within one, but the Ducks would score three more times, bringing us to an 8-5 halftime. Our second half is traditionally stronger when we play the Ducks, and after regrouping with a quiet cheer of “focus”, some stellar defensive plays brought us back into the game, tying it up at 10-10.

Amy guards against Molly. The Slackers wore dark blue, the Ducks, a bright, teal-y blue, though it’s hard to tell here.
The Ducks would score the next two points, after which we came back with two of our own. Tie game, 12-12.
But the Ducks would score the next three to finish up the game. It was all over in about 70 minutes — nowhere close to the 2-hour limit.
The game was not without its drama. Aside from the usual foul/contest, in a small number of cases, the Ducks showed poor spirit (for example, throwing the disc 100-feet straight up into the air and warping it by allowing it to land on its side). This was particularly ungood, since they were playing with my disc. I told them to not do that, and the response I got from one of the sidelined players for their team was “at least he didn’t spike it.” I hardly see the difference.
In another case, while on defense I nearly intercepted the disc, and although I had a much better position on the disc, the opposition got his hand in on the disc too. It was a tie, and in this case, the 10th edition rules state that possesion goes to the player on offense, so I gave up the disc. It wasn’t until after the next point I realized the other player’s nails must have clipped my wrist.
In any event, aside from these small incidents, the game was well played. Our short passes were connecting. The other team definitely recognized this. At one point about midway through the game, I overheard the Ducks strategizing, and their captain was expressing dismay at how many of the short passes we were completing. And I think our intensity on defense paid off: according to one of their players, by half-way through the game, they were scared we’d break their season-long undefeated streak.
So while I’m disappointed we didn’t win, all things consider I’m happy how it turned out. The Sarasota Slackers have some team issues to work out for next season, such as how to give a fair amount of play time to each player. This issue is complex because not everyone can commit the same amount of time toward the game, and there is a split on the team between wanting to play mostly for fun, or competitively (also fun, I should point out). We are going to try and sort through some of this at our next meeting on Tuesday. I’ve been in this boat before, so I will try and bring some of that experience with me.
Tonight, it’s off to Jeff’s with Cam, Melissa and Kai (the newest member of the software team at work) to check out his new 36″ Sony Wega! Should be nifty.
How’s your weekend been?

So the initial reviews are in, and it looks like the product Cam and I worked on over on the weekend is being met with positivity! Yeah! This is due in no small part due to Jeff, our all-star bug discoverer. At one point on Monday night, he unearthed an insane 10 bugs in the space of an hour. Very cool.
Our managers ordered all three of us to go home at 3pm yesterday. 🙂 Cam and I are also going to be getting two days off. This works out well, since I’m already using them to go to Victoria. 😉
Tomorrow night is the championship game for my Ultimate team, the Sarasota Slackers. We’re up for the season title against the undefeated “Ducks”. We’ve played them twice, and lost twice: one was a blowout, the other, not so much — but I still think we have a decent chance. The Ducks aren’t disciplined about their play. While I wouldn’t exactly call the Slackers disciplined either, we’ve certainly practiced a few times (according to my sources, the Ducks have never practiced, not even once.) Whereas the Ducks have a few great athletes, I think we’re a better team across the board — everyone has a good grasp of the core concepts of the game, including spirit.
Tomorrow night is also the company holiday party. It’s at the exact same time as the Ultimate finals. I went last year and it was a blast. Great food, free booze, good people. Plus, it was a rare opportunity to meet the family of the folk I worked with every day. All this, and there was a draw where one of my coworkers won an iPod. Not a bad deal. It’s also been said that the higher-ups take a mental note of who does and does not show up to these events.
There is no opportunity to attend both events, as they occur at pretty much the same time.
So what to do? What would you do?

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