Strange Blue Tournament Report

Aye Aye Open

For those interested in how we got on.

Squad -
James Kermode
Stu Eve
Andy Green
Shi-Han Chen
Tido Eger
Malia Kilpinen
Rob Schumacher
John Kruger
Bruce Lin
David Aylmer

The 7 o'clock start was perhaps a little unfortunate, but with 3 cars and 10 people eager for the upcoming weekend of Ultimate, we were soon on our way to Norwich. Spirits were high as players got to know each other a little better and realised what a diverse squad we had, ranging from students to townies and young to surprisingly old! We arrived at UEA in good time and found ourselves faced with a massive, modern sports complex. After a quick stretch and warm up, Strangle blue hit the pitch and started throwing some discs before our first game.

We had been drawn against Loose Morals; one of the many teams who had decided to wear orange because, obviously, no-one else would. Feeling confident due to the fact one of the players was wearing fairy wings and pink lace gloves, the team threw itself into the game. Despite the horrendously early start, we proved what Cambridge Ultimate is made of and dominated the game, coming away with the win. Our success settled the team and we were looking forward to the rest of the tournament.

Unfortunately our next match had us up against a team of large lads called Granddad's Little Helpers. Strange Blue gave it everything but was defeated by a very strong defensive form. Our next two matches were closer but we lost to the experience of Curve and the irritating long plays of With Nimble Drinking. Malia's astounding ability to outstrip her marker and Andy's speed were great assets.

Feeling exhausted we headed back to our house for the weekend. At least that was what we thought. It soon became obvious that our illustrious captain had no idea where he was going as he led us into the middle of a field. A short bus ride in completely the opposite direction brought us back to the house. After a cup of tea, we headed out for dinner but apparently Norwich pubs are very much against serving food so we resorted to take away. A swift pint later we realised we had missed the party for the Frisbee teams and so headed to the after-party in the SU. Pleasantly surprised by the cost of a round, the team was soon getting to know each other in great detail and even found time to socialise with other Ultimate players before breaking out to the dance floor. Having spent more time drinking than playing Frisbee for the whole weekend; we headed back for some much needed rest. The luckier ones of us climbed into James' sister's bed.

Not quite such an early start on Sunday meant we felt ready for our first match even though some players were slightly worse for ware. It became clear that the squad was playing much more like a team even though we had lost three players. Connections were strong and we were point for point with a bunch of stoners who called themselves Slim Blue. In the closing minutes of the game, they managed to pull an extra point away and beat us by two.

Next we faced the Aye Aye first team who appeared to have a height restriction. We used the fact that Tido was as tall as all of them put together and held them for a large part of the game. The home team seemed to have the advantage however and took the game by two. Disheartened but with iron resolve, Strange Blue went for our third game against Roehampton Cheese. Our lack of numbers was beginning to show as we narrowly lost again. A quick regroup and a nifty pint set us up for our last game. We gave it everything as evident by the raucous D from Stu. Some huge points and strong determination gave us the advantage over the Warwick Bears and we came away with another win; a fitting end to the tournament.

Highlights included Shi-Han getting hit in the face with a handful of soft cheese and Stu throwing his walking stick aside to hit the dance floor. Special mention must go to James who represented us in the charity game and performed excellently (and we won't mention that he got completely outdone by a tiny little blonde girl!). Congrats to Bruce who was voted MVP.

David Aylmer