Mid-Block 3 Update
Wasabi road-trips to Utah, are multi-sport athletes, and more
Perhaps our the most important thing to happen to me this semester, Wasabi played our first (and only!) full-team, pre-season tournament a week and a half ago in Orem, Utah. Hosted by the ever accommodating Utah Valley University Ultimate Frisbee team, competition on the UVU intramural fields took the form of a round-robin. Due to school policy, BYU and BYU Idaho could not compete on Sunday, leaving us a very Brigham Young heavy schedule on Saturday.
In typical frisbee fashion, we won some and we lost some. That’s just how the brookie scrumbles, and I said what I said. Getting off to an ice-cold start (I mean come on y’all, it was our first tournament—what can you expect?), Wasabi dropped an unfortunate loss to BYU-y (the program, knowing their A-team too strong and their B-team to feisty, generously combined into one smelting pot then split into two equally strengthed squads). They came out firing and sent a message loud and clear: if we wanted to win that game, we would need to outplay them. Which we did not. They had strong cutting and good throwers with chemistry reminiscent of Barnes and Olin. Wasabi, for their part, played through the rust-shaking. Mistakes were made, but none worth writing home about. Now 10 days removed, I forget many of the specifics, but I feel like Oliver Wells probably made a good defensive play (he has a knack for doing that). Cooper probably played tall, and Matan probably got fouled beyond belief. These are just the sorts of things that happen.
Following BYU-y, there was another team (typical). Utah University Zion Curtain Ultimate B, also called Shower Curtain by some sources, were great fun to play against. It helped that the good guys won this time, but they were a good bunch as well. Wasabi ramped up our game just an eency weency bit.
Next, I know it, you know it, we all should know it: there was a third game. BYU Idaho, I learned is a school, and also does not have sports in any capacity. Therefore, our competitor was Open club division team T-Rex, hailing from Rexburg, Idaho. Predominantly a team composed of BYU-I students, they were as friendly and spirited as your next group of twenty or so missionaries. They lived up to the LDS reputation of being strong competitors and sportsmen. We took them to half, but someone took their foot off the gas. They earned the win, and we walked away with our ducks in a row and a plan for playing better on Sunday.
After a long day of frisbee, everyone appreciates a break, and we were overjoyed to have a hot tub and home cooked pasta dinner to tide us till the morrow.
Bright and early Sunday morning we were back at it, playing three games in quick succession. UVU and Utah State Scotsmen gave us the business, but we tied a nice bow around the weekend by bageling Boise State University Mamu Zaldi to finish with a 2-4 record.
Some key takeaways: we have a lot to work on. This was a bit of a wake up call, and we lost some games that we’d hoped to win, but our improvement from first game to last was astronomical, and practice since the tourney has been a whole new level of intense. Also of note, we were playing open lines! Everyone got all the playtime they could ask for (except our stoic leader Oliver, but he’ll be back on the field soon). This was a crucial learning experience, and a huge milestone on our pursuit of a nationals berth. We had great fun as a team, Oliver made some delicious and very conveniently sized sandwiches, and Noah might be the cleanest person I know. Last but not least, I ran out of steam writing those game recaps. For more information, leave a comment or look for my contact info at the bottom of the newsletter.
Now, onto the meat of the story, the real important stuff, the why-you’re-reading-this sorts of information. Colorado College Tigers Club Baseball had a home game against DU this past Saturday morning at the El Pomar Youth Sports Park. Timeless. Sol, a rookie on Wasabi but a seasoned veteran and captain on Baseball, started with a strong performance of 5 innings, and not many hits or runs. Playing shortstop after his time on the mound had come to end, he was still eligible to return to that elbow-tearing platform, and that he did, helping finish several of the subsequent innings. You can tell why he is a captain. Josh, a seasoned Wasabi player but rookie on Baseball, also took to the field for the matinee show-down. Playing center, he had few worries as long as Sol was pitching. His presence was really felt offensively, utilizing his powerful swing and blazing speed to challenge the other teams sanity. Notably, it was his single that drove in the game winning run to culminate a late game comeback. We’re very proud of Sol and Josh, and are counting down the days until their next home game in the spring.
That’s all for now, and until next time, stay spicy. You can contact me personally by emailing Miles Katzen at m_katzen@ColoradoCollege.edu and asking for Leo.
With Love and Smooches,
Wasabi