That would be the weather cycle for Sunday: Clouds. Rain. Vicious Wind. Downpour. Los Angeles 70 degrees and Sunny. Repeat. This happened like 5 times. It was the weirdest weather I've ever experienced.
In fact, the sun started shining just in time for our first game, while allowed me to crawl out of our tent 2 minutes before gametime.
We won our first grass game and then moved back to the sand for our second. Hell ya.
Our second game was against a team of really strong women. In fact, Captain Jan pointed out one particular woman as their best overall player. I knew my assignment. I'm noting this only because I played against that exact woman the day before on grass. And, honestly, she schooled me. (I should also mention that she was a really friendly player and I enjoyed the challenge.) She was getting open, cutting upline, and was clearly a seasoned club player. However, she didn't have the advantage of playing on the sand regularly. It was a completely different matchup on the beach and I was able to shut her down and get open all day. That goes to show you what a different game beach ultimate is. It was interesting to be able to have that comparison.
As for the Porta Pirates, our team played incredible in this close game. Viv was handling like a pro and making sweet upline cuts. Luca was just solid. Chris was making big catches. Toby had some scores. Philippe had a layout. Everyone really pulled together as a team and we took the win. The sun even did its part by staying out. It felt like playing in LA at Ocean Park.
Our final game of the tournament was against the dreaded "shit" team Merda Wehrda again. At one point we were on the line and the sky just erupted into a downpour. The wind and rain whipped so hard that my face was more red from that than the sun. It was an insufferably long point and after about 12 turnovers, we called a timeout to regroup. By the end of the timeout, the rain had stopped. By the end of the game, the sun was out again. We ended up losing this one, but we were all winners in one final game of Merda Wehrda Mingle.
And THAT was my first German ultimate tournament. What an incredible experience. Here are some notable differences in the game/style of play for those interested. I'd be interested to see if others playing in Europe had any of the same observations:
1. Might have just been my team, but Germans start their offensive stacks really deep.
2. No one taps the disc in. They just pick it up and play. What's the rule for tapping? This tournament made me want to learn that because the Europeans seem to think we tap the disc for everything.
3. Rounds/Games were determined by time, not score. There is no "game to 13." It's game to 45 minutes. I can't say that I like this because it could make ultimate more of a conservative, possession-based game instead of a scoring game.
4. No hard cap. No softcap. No win by 2. I like that it keeps things simple and avoids the all too common and annoying discussion over softcap rules.
5. Far fewer calls than American ultimate. I hardly remember any pick calls or fouls the whole tournament. They were way less testy over rules.
6. And finally, I was very impressed by the spirit of the Germans. No one got angry. No one fought over calls. Everyone had fun. It made me proud to be a part of such a spirited and welcoming community of athletes. It's also nice to know I have that community anywhere I go. Ultimate is truly the best sport in the world. And as a way of thanking the Germans for their welcoming attitude and spirit, I donated my LA 2012 Summer League disc to my Trier team. Hope it's flying high.
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