Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1992 19:33:37 GMT
Munged: news-gateway (is.morgan.com: $Revision: 1.8 $)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.disc
Organization: Morgan Stanley & Company, Inc.
Distribution: world
Subject: Cuervo tournament a great success

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To: UNIXML::"ultimate-list@doe.carleton.ca"
To: CRD::"frisbee"
To: CRD::"bacul"
Subject: Cuervo tournament a great success

IMHO, the Cuervo tournament was an awesome event.  I watched and filmed all of 
Friday and Saturday.  Friday started off with very light rain and overcast 
skies; this, no doubt, helped attribute to a small spectator turnout in the 
morning.  By afternoon, with sunshine and work ending, more and more spectators 
arrived.  Saturday was a gorgeous day and with so many familiar and friendly 
faces around, it was like a giant party.

There were 8 Men's teams and 8 Women's teams.  All games, except for the 
finals, were to 10; almost all actually went to 10 (i.e., they weren't capped 
at 8 or 9 or something).  

In the Men's division, the Boston Commies and NY NY wound up with 5-2 records; 
the Oregon Rhinos and Windy City, at 4-3, were the other two teams to make the 
semis.  The Oregon Rhinos were a great surprise, losing to NY in pool play by 
only 10-8, making the semis, and winding up with a 4-4 record.  Boston defeated 
Oregon in the semis and NY defeated Windy City; neither game was especially 
close.  

The final game between the two eastern powerhouses was a 90-minute, "game to 
15" affair.  NY took a 2-0 lead, then it went to 3-1.  NY went up 7-5, but then 
Boston took the lead at 8-7.  When NY matched up a much shorter man on Boston's 
handler Scott "Kid" Runkel, the Commies exploited the mismatch and he scored a 
pair of gold shots.  Boston also played some hellacious defense, soared to a 
14-9 lead, and had the disc.  With time running out, the lead looked 
insurmountable.

But no!  Cuervo rules.  NY scored a gold shot.  14-11.  Time cap goes into 
effect; NY scores another gold shot.  14-13.  NY ties it up at 14s!  Boston, 
swinging the disc, turns it over 35 yards from their own end zone.  One hammer, 
to Dobbins, goala, 15-14, NY.  The home crowd seemed stunned.

In the Women's division, Lady Godiva (Boston), Satori (DC), Maineiacs (SF), and 
DV8 (Denver) made the semis.  Boston beat Denver 10-5 (I think), and the 
Maineiacs defeated Satori 8-6.  Lady Godiva defeated the Maineiacs in the 
finals; the game was pretty close the whole way, and was tied at 9's.  I 
believe the final score was 12-10.  It was a very well played game, although 
there seemed to be many more turnovers at the end of the game, perhaps as the 
teams got more tired.  Sorry not to have more details on the Women's play, and 
call me a male chauvinistic pig, but I spent most all my time watching men's 
action.  The women's games had no lack of good play; there were many layouts 
and great throws and catches.

Oddities/Interesting points:
-LA Iguanas beat both NY and Boston, and yet failed to make the semis.
-Boston beat NY 10-5 in pool play on Friday.
-On Friday, I asked Mrs. Dobbins where her son was, and she informed me he 
couldn't get the day off from work.
-A Boston player attempted a gold shot and was point blocked.  A Gainsville 
player leaped and caught the disc, and threw it to the Boston thrower's 
defender (now offensive player) for a gold shot.  A 4 point play!
-The Oregon Rhinos, in the last round of pool play, defeated the Boston Commies 
on a gold shot, 10-9.
-After just playing in pool play, the Rhinos and Commies met in the semis.  The 
Commies went up 6-0 and wound up winning 10-4.

Positives:
-Overall organization was great.  Tourney staff had walkie-talkies and a 
vehicle to drive from field to field to police things.
-Games started and ended on time.
-Announcer who spoke over the loudspeakers did not overspeak.  He stated rules 
one time over the first several points of the games; he didn't repeat himself.  
His comical mistake:  "The game is dreadlocked at 8."
-The one-hour game format plus the proximity of the fields permitted spectators 
to view numerous different games and teams in a reasonable period of time.
-During the finals, spectators were required to sit behind short Cuervo banner 
fences.  This kept an area around the field clear for the players to layout/run 
into.
-The parties, I hear, were great.  (I, as a non-drinker, did not partake; I 
heard that donuts weren't available, a minus.)

Negatives:
-No concessions.  No food, drinks, t-shirts, discs for sale.
-The 2 point rule: Overall, not a bad thing; most games I saw had 2 or 3 total 
"gold shots".   However, the rule caused a real butchery of the sport in the 
Men's finals.  Boston Commies were up 14-11; NY had the disc.  The cap horn 
went off.  The only way for NY to win was if they scored a 2-pointer.  NY just 
kept kicking it out beyond the two-point line, of course.  This created an 
artificial "game within a game".  How to improve:  have the cap go into effect 
at the end of the pass, or within, say, a minute of the horn, rather than at 
the end of the point.  (Several folks thought the combination of a 2-point rule 
*and* a time limit of 60 minutes was too much of a change from 9th Edition.)
-Field didn't have bleachers for spectators and camcoder folks (like me!).

Cuervo is considering running a tournament in Boston next summer.  I will 
encourage them to do so, offer to help organize it, and post information on 
BACUL, rec.sport.disc, and other appropriate EBB/mailing lists.

-Pablo