Finally

The anticipation of our first FULL tournament was killer. Prior to Sectionals we were a team without a purpose, in a somewhat literal and metaphorical way. We practiced, hung out, worked out, pushed each other, laughed together, yelled, fought, drank together but hadn't experienced the point of it all: playing ultimate. Now obviously we played ultimate, but when you play three times a week with the same people, it doesn't really count. So we did our best, as a team we strived for perfection from each other but were still missing the most vital component. Because of four cancelled tournaments, we hadn't become cohesive and hadn't played to any of our potential.  People were getting angsty to play other teams, practices came a bit drearier, and the soul of the team hadn't come out.  Let me say that, when Pitt plays well, with heart, friends, teammates, brothers - hand in hand - we are a force to be reckoned with; a team that plays some balla' ass ultimate.  We hadn't had the chance to do that yet, and

 we were begging for it.

To reiterate, we were REALLY excited to play. I don't remember much of what happened in the first games other then the fact that we were having fun, running our system and because of it running train. I don't remember much other then it being beautiful outside and just being really 

happy and excited to play. Playing was phenomenal. What struck me as i started to cut and move, go deep, go in, whatever was the fact that my teammates are really fucking good. I remember a point at which i literally made five or six incuts and got the disc each time, moved it quickly and got it right back. In practice people are all over my back, getting an incut is - for the most part - a bitch to do, a defender draped on you, a tight throw, basically you have to be perfect. Here i was just jogging around getting the disc at will - an exaggeration, but the point is valid. I do remember getting a breakside cut and pulling a sweet ass drop step for the goal: first drop step evaaaa, definitely invoked my inner Chow.

The Edinboro game was another story; aka not a cake walk. They're a good team. They are dangerous on every possession of the disc because of the ability of each person on the disc: this is mostly Taft or Tad, but it's still a huge threat. The main contributors to the offense can all huck pinpoint hucks and have recievers all who range from 6' to 6'5"; hence, the deep was a bit of a threat. The downside is their total lack of depth. I think they played an eight or nine man rotation the entire weekend, and this is for sectionals. Apparently it ended up working as they got the final bid to regionals beating Penn State - LOLlerskates - badly, something like 13-9. Our game against them seemed really close, but with a second glance at the score it apparently wasn't.  They're defense really isn't anything special and it really confused me why they kept running it when we figured it out and were moving the disc with ease.  

Sunday was a cake walk for the most part. Bucknell, in the finals, was a team that just couldn't hang with us. They had a solid handler and one cutter - everyone else was really just fodder. They may have bagged the game against us, but still aren't anywhere close to the level of play we were bringing. 

Which brings me to a thought about our play. The thing i noticed about this years team is that we are not flashy. We do not get lots of layout Ds or sky tons of people - unless your Tyler and Chris literally throws it 30 feet in the air for no reason whatsoever - we play hard and we play with tons of pressure. That is by no means saying we are not capable, but alot of the turns come from stall 8 or 9 tight throws that are behind the guy or into one of our defenders. The offense seems to be running smoother as the days went on O line looked solid and i think was broken 1 time all weekend (against Edinboro?). The D line offense at points was amazing. My dropstep point was a pinnacle (not to brag or anything). We moved the disc from the opposite goal line to our goal line in probably 15 seconds with at least 10 throws. Moving the disc that fast made us literally unstoppable. 

Now on to the real matter of the day. Who is the front runner for the FOTY?

Alex Thorne

#21

Pros: Doesn't turn the disc over. Alex will not turn the disc over and will still make the big throws when it counts. He throw a goal line to goal line huck for a score and threw a ridiculous high-release bullet-flick breakside for another. He is also great in the air and is a scary little cutter when he wants to be. When this dude bids, it's pretty. 

Cons: Doesn't get any love. With our star studded offense, it's no wonder this little pull catcher doesn't need to do much. When Alex wants to he can kill bitches, but most of the time he really doesn't need to. 

Colin Connor

# 5

Pros: Colin is the glue to our offense. When Colin isn't getting 

the first pass, he is getting the second. He knows the right spaces to find, and knows how to get to them. He can also sky the fuck out of mad bitches. His name is the Coroner for a specific reason. On defense he is tenacious on the mark and gets layout Ds (even on me, i still blame Rakers).  He is also a big thrower. If a flick side break huck is open he will throw it to space: ask Tyler.

Cons: Being a glue man doesn't constitute lots of praise. He works hard and consistently, but unless you're getting the disc every other throw and being a bit of a show off, its hard to get kudos.  Also likes to start fights? Kansas, Edinboro, any others?

Tyler Degirolamo:

#81

Pros: 

Freak athlete. Not only is he the fastest kid on the team, he can jump the highest, is the tallest, and has a fucking INVISIBILITY CLOAK. I swear to god, against Bucknell Tyler jogged through the endzone, wide open, yelled 'Hey I'm open,' of the three defenders in the area no one decided to pick him up. So he clap caught the goal as me and the rest of the sideline were baffled. Oh yeah and then he also gets lots of D's. Hopefully this weekend is more of whats to come from Tyler, but he did get a shit load of sky Ds.

Cons: Still a bit of a freshmen. Throws need to be worked on, but are always improving. Needs to keep his head up when things don't go his way. Tyler needs to keep his cool a little bit more. During the Edinboro game he got a sweet D on some dude (not pictured) and freaked out at him for calling foul. Yes it wasn't a foul, yes we know it was a bitch call - but he did take it back. So just take a breath when someone calls bullshit and call them out on their shenanigans.

Personal frontrunner. A-Theezy. Though he hasn't needed to show up yet, i feel like when he gets a puuuuurdy layout snag for a goal at regionals people will be all up on his jock... fo' sho. Tyler could steal it away if he plays out of his mind like he did at sectionals. And Colin is one back motha fucka, so i can't discount him. Plus he's got the Bird's endorsement.