Sunday, June 27, 2010

PSP Chicago: Sunday

Up at 5:30 am and off to the field before 6 am for our first match of the day; a rematch with Aftershock. Weather reports are constantly changing--and not for the better. Rain is expected sometime during the day, the duration uncertain but in the early morning everything looks good. We arrive before Shock, the refs and PSP staff. The match ends up being similar to the one the day before even though Shock made some adjustments and tried to shake things up. I like Shock because they are young, passionate and never quit.
Before our next match there is (another) rain delay with about a half hour downpour. The schedule is set back but not badly and the field becomes muddier and spotty with puddles.
Next up is the semi-final versus the Russians. The condition of the field is affecting some of what teams can and cannot do OTB. Saturday the Legion spanked us and we expect them to employ a similar strategy. One we're better prepared for this time. As before the early points are combat with the first point resulting in everybody eliminated and no point scored. After that things got ugly as the penalties piled up. By the end each team received three majors. We came off our first two down only 2-4 and then it was the Russians turn. We began to turn the tide and pressed to score as quickly as possible and despite another late penalty we reeled off 5 straight points for the win and a trip to the finals.
We watch to see who we'll play; Impact or Infamous. It turns out to be Infamous. We talk about unfinished business from Phoenix. We review what Infamous has been doing throughout the tourney and talked about how to counter them. We talked about the penalties--how we were confident the only thing that would beat us was penalties, so let's knock it off, play smart, play aggressive & make it happen. It's our third finals in the last 3 events. We want this one, badly. (Heck, I want all of them but I'm a greedy bastard.)
Once again it was not to be but it is not as tough a blow as Phoenix was. (My son insists I didn't answer my phone for 72 hours after Phoenix--but then I didn't have anything to say. Am I taking this too seriously? Probably.) The difference is this time despite everything the team refused to give up, refused to lose whatever the score, refused to give in to circumstances no matter how impossible. So while there is always room for improvement I am hopeful we have learned that even if we lose we will not be beaten.

11 comments:

J-Bird said...

Consistent teams are the best teams: id rather take second in every event of the season rather than win one and not make the cut the rest of the year.

only a matter of time before you guys start racking 'em up. good organization -- in every aspect of the word.

Mike said...

How would you differentiate the attitude after this 2nd place to the one in Phoenix?

Unknown said...

Enjoyed the day by day posts @ Chicago. I stopped by Badlandz Saturday to watch/try to play one of the UWL games. Didn't get a chance to watch the PSP games and this helped fill the void. Thanks

Baca Loco said...

Mike
With respect to the guys everybody handles this stuff differently but everyone is both frustrated and determined to make that final leap in the near future.
The one thing you can't teach is the mental game and we were two different teams on that score from Phoenix to Chicago. I always want the win but the most you can ask, and expect, is that the players give their best. This time they did.

Missy Q said...

Great Job. You guys cemented yourselves into the top of Paintballs new world order. Infamous, Impact and Damage are the power teams this season. It seems so unlikely after the Iron-men, Russians and Philly were the teams to beat last year, and what happened to Dynasty?

Any insight as to why there has been such a power-shift in the pro division, and in such a short time? Was it the Philly pick-ups these 3 teams got at the end of last season? Did that make such a difference?

Anonymous said...

Another question would be, what the hell happened to Ironmen? Alot of peope speculated that TBD will break this season to top 1 or 2, but ironmen being so bad this season is a mystery.

Baca Loco said...

Hey Missy
Best I can do is offer an opinion, and a somewhat guarded one at that. I am a big believer in team chemistry and role players and to an extent we're seeing that. Practice matters too and the teams you named all have the resources to practice regularly. Regarding ex-Philly players Ryan has worked out very well with Impact and brings net positives with him but I put that in the chemistry category. Jason has worked for us but was a pick-up not based on immediate needs but general compatibility and an all-around game. Vicious briefly had a Philly guy, Dynasty does too but most went to Aftershock and while Shock is improved (and improving) it's not just about talent.
On the flipside I don't think you can count the Russians out just yet. Dynasty has struggled for years to integrate new players and a reduced practice schedule isn't helping. With the 'Men at some point all that experience turns into age and they are currently struggling to find the chemistry with the new players but improved between Phoenix and Chicago. I'm also of the opinion the Men lost a valauble resource when Shaner retired from coaching.

papa chad said...

the dynasty kids have grown up... and the rest of paintball got good at paintball in the meantime.
much of the superb chemistry they had going must have started to dissipate when Oliver "left."

papa chad said...

as for the Ironmen, I miss Pete U. he seemed like the heart.

sdawg said...

I just watched the final match on Youtube (thanks, Traumahead), and I think I know the missing ingredient TBD needs to make that final leap: some nonsensical cheers similar to "LANDSHARK!" and "gonna get my SWAG-ON!"

J-Bird said...

yeah not going to lie: i miss the days of being able to count every tourney to a Dynasty vs XSV match...teams grow and die, it just seems that once they're dead, nobody is committed to keeping the name alive.

IMO: paintball "teams" need to start looking at futbol clubs and think about that idea.