A new season began with Hucktoberfest. Hucktoberfest is usually held in Whitewater, where you can expect a lot of wind and most likely terrible weather, but this year it was in Appleton, and we had some of the best weather in the last year over a tournament weekend. We brought 20 guys to the tournament, which would be a perfect amount for one team, however we had previously decided we were bringing two teams and had already paid, so we split the teams down the middle 10 and 10 -- not exactly ideal for some of the guys first tournaments.
Saturday Cody and I were with the X team who started the day out very strong. They won the first game against North Park quite easily, which I think was quite the surprise, even though they played a majority of new players, their returners did not look as polished as they normally do. The second game was against Steven's Point, the team that took us out of the series last year, this was the time for redemption even though it was a split squad fall tournament. Everyone in the pregame huddle seemed to realize that this game was big and we needed to come out victorious, and that is exactly what we did. We came out hot and never looked back. The third game of the day was against Whitewater V, which stood for veterans. This was a game that was going to be tough, but was a game that everyone could learn from. We played a lot better than I think Whitewater thought we would and we had then frustrated a few times, we even had them call lines a few points. We did end up losing, but I think everyone on the field learned a lot from watching a group of veteran players, which I hope will be shown on the field the rest of the season. The fourth game of the day was another rivalry match, this time against Milwaukee. They were also split, but had team sizes of about 20, so substitutes for them were key, especially this late into the day. Even though we were down on players, we came to play and play we did. We took this game as well, which was a good turnaround after a loss. The last game of the day was against MSOE. Since this was the last game of the day, and the Y team had a bye, we decided to see if MSOE was fine with us playing all of our new guys by combining teams. They agreed and the game went very well for a majority of new blood on the field. We ended up losing in a close game. Throughout the day everyone was playing like they had been playing the game for years, even the guys who have never been to a tournament and had just started playing a month before. With an overall record of 3-2 on the day, it was the most successful Hucktoberfest Saturday that I can remember in my last three years. The Y team ended up 2-2, but that meant two Saturday victories for Charlie Randall, which is two more than he had before.
After another scary movie night in the theater, the team woke up and was a little sluggish to play on Sunday. Sunday Cody and I were with the Y team, and the first game of the day was against the same MSOE team that beat the X team the day before. Their team wasn't moving to well either and we decided to play to 13 instead of 15 like we were supposed to, which gave us a little more time for warming up and getting ready to play. This was a really sloppy game. Nothing was going our way and we were getting torn apart by their really loose zone. We were down 7-2 at halftime, which was a halftime to remember. After searching through my bag for a pen, I found a pocket bible that was given to me from a guy on campus the week before, and I decided that I would pan through it and find some verse that would cheer up the team and maybe lift their spirits, and I found just that in Revelation 9:5. For those of you not familiar with the bible, this is how it goes:
Revelation 9:5And they were not given
authority to kill them,
but to torment them
for five months. Their tor-
ment
was like the torment
of a scorpion when it
strikes a man.
Try and tell me that doesn't spark something deep down inside of you -- well it didn't for the team either. They ended up scoring once after half, losing 13-3 (the only game I remember the score to). The second game Y played was against Milwaukee, this game needed to be won or else the tournament was over for them. This was the same team that played the X team previously, however they came out with much more intensity and wanted the win much more than the day before. This game was back and forth for a majority of the time, with half taken at 7-6, however Milwaukee came out in the second half harder than they did before and started to take over the game. Y ended up losing the game and thus ending their tournament. After a talk with the team and a stretch/cool-down, we all went over to watch X play. X was currently playing for 3rd place, against the other Milwaukee team. This was the most intense game of the weekend and was very close. The good guys ended up edging their opponent and took 3rd place, which is the best finish for an Eau Claire team in the history of Hucktoberfest (I think).
After the games the captains talked and picked the MVP for the tournament, we didn't have anything to give to the MVP so Cody graciously donated his pink button-up shirt for that person to wear. It was a unanimous decision, and the MVP was Joey, who was informed he had to wear the shirt every odd day until the next tournament, two weeks later. I am proud to say, he did it.
Overall this was a great first tournament for the team and it shows a lot of promise for the teams future. I am extremely excited to see how the team does this year and how far we can go.
Nick
