I am of a proud Sicilian heritage. Every once in a while, I find myself tapping into that lineage. For instance, there is an old Sicilian proverb that, in a small way, sums up the recent NXL’s 2023 Windy City Open for me; “Non chiedere ciò che non puoi prendere”.

There was a long break between the Mid Atlantic Major in Philly and the most recent event in Oak Forest, IL just outside of Chicago. Plenty of time to regroup and think about our successes and shortcomings at the last event. We were looking forward to this event as we felt we were on the precipice to reach another goal. Once again, the league (or fate for that matter, depending on how you look at it) had handed us another tough bracket. But we were ready. We like the trenches, we live for the challenge, and we long for the fight where we stand, once again in front of the doubters and say, “Come and get some”.

We have hit a stride and have been a rather well oiled machine this season. We have made the best of our limited time together, looking for advantages where ever we can find them, bouncing ideas off each other, having zoom calls, making and watching tape, drilling, scrimmaging, studying… we were feeling good. But fate was not done with us yet.

During one of our off layout weekends, Drew Bell would be sidelined with a high ankle sprain 3 weeks before the event and 2 weeks out from the layout practice weekend.

Stuart Ridgel, a week after Drew and a week before the layout weekend would be out at the field and suffer an almost identical fate. Another ankle injury but more of a tendon issue. And still, fate wasn’t finished…

The week prior to the layout practice, Justin Bailey would be nursing a back injury. Daniel Camp would fly in for one day on the layout practice as he had his brother’s wedding to attend. Jacob Searight would suffer a mild medical issue his first day on the layout only to bounce back for the Sunday practice.

Now, all of this may sound like I am building up excuses. I assure you I am not. I am simply setting the stage for what was to be an impressive event and what has always been a part of our story. Every team faces some adversity. We are no different. When you have a team like us, it isn’t a matter of “if” but “when”. It was bound to happen. We have faced countless adversities before, this was nothing new per say… We have embraced and worked to overcome several obstacles over the seasons. It is what it is. So we adapted, made some adjustments, and worked to put our best foot forward. And I think we scratched the surface of what we are capable of this event.

We were excited that our good friends Austin Notorious would join us again for the layout practice. But we were also joined by top tier team Edmonton Impact. Bart Yachimac and Dave Baines made the long trip to join us at our home field of LA Xtreme Paintball in Slidell, LA. We were blessed with relatively “cool” weather with temperatures in the mid 80’s (but it is the humidity that gets you). With Notorious playing their brand of paintball coupled with Impact running two lines, the New Orleans Hurricanes got our fair share of looks.

*ZEN NOTE – This marks the 5th time I have had the privilege to see the inner workings of an awesome program. It never ceases to amaze me how these teams operate and work. I am fascinated by the process and the opportunity to watch yet another high level program work as it is just more programming for the old man’s noggin. Thank you again to Bart and Impact.

We had a pretty good idea of how this field should play… and so, we pretty much stuck with the game plan, trying to polish it up, learning incremental lessons, while moving some players around to make the most of our strengths. We always feel good after a good beat down on the layout weekend and that’s what we got (okay, maybe not good, but definitely not bad). Both Notorious and Impact seemed to move at will and get into position first on us quite often. But we worked the timing. We played around a little with some concepts but for the most part, kept it paintball 101. It would be about obtaining key spots, creating the “set up”, and executing the game plan. Sounds simple, I know. It isn’t. It didn’t matter if you had 5 alive and they were all doing their jobs… there would still be a hole. The key was to recognize it quicker than your opponent.

So we were quite literally limping into Chicago but our morale coming into this event was high. It was like the saying, “If you have no confidence in yourself, you are twice defeated.” We were determined to fight every step of the way, and we knew we had the right plan. So we pulled up our britches, slapped our face a couple of times, and stepped into the ring for the first match.

VS Columbus LVL

We were the very first point of the event. We pride ourselves on our scouting and preparation for teams. But there would be no opportunity to see how teams were playing the field, no opportunity to see if anyone else was approaching the layout the way were. It was litmus test time and Columbus LVL is a team that can punch above their weight class when they are on. I was aware they didn’t have Damian Ryan but knew they would throw Danny Schonauer at that snake often, probably with Lehman behind him in support.

Our opening volley was pretty simplistic. We wanted guns up, eyes on, and get to the snake. LVL is similar but they filter a body up into the snake side wedge early. We match them about the same time European/German snake player but 100% Hurricane Nic Ripple shoots Schonauer on the wire to win the snake war. Drew Bell sneaks a ball on the D side tower who was attempting to wrap his bunker. This leaves LVL fighting from a position of inferiority as we are wider on both sides of the field than their widest players. At this point, it is anaconda time. Nic catches the snake wedge and crawls to the end of LVL’s snake. Daniel Camp sees the line, takes the center and polishes off the last opponent. Canes -1 LVL – 0

We decide to keep it simple but Drew Bell and Mike Brown know to look for the read. And they see it. LVL sends a player shooting snake way to that inset baby dorito. He misses his shot but Drew/Mike don’t. Schonauer returns the favor from the previous point and clips Nic on the wire. LVL stays doubled in that home a little too long and lose a gunfight. However, Schonauer has the snake too himself and for all intents and purposes, LVL has the advantage. But we studied this scenario at practice. We had a code for a situation when our opponent had the snake uncontested. The code goes out and Daniel Camp takes the snake wedge looking to play wack-a-mole while Aaron Pate filters wider to add to the gun but not before he puts a ball on LVL’s snake wedge. We now have the numerical advantage even after Schonauer takes Daniel out. Pate assesses the situation and drops the hammer clean. Interestingly enough, the last LVL player is in the home. It’s a 3 v 1 in favor of us, so my guys check in and milk the point a bit. Mike Brown moves down D side and wins the gun fight. Canes – 2 LVL – 0

We are up two now and LVL had shown they would break snake but they weren’t in any hurry to get a body behind him. They wanted to fill that snake wedge first. So we decide to kill the clock a little by going wide and spreading the field. The thought being, if we make it out alive, we slow snake progress, and should be able to shoot the late fill to the snake wedge, isolating their snake presence and putting us in the driver seat. You would have thought we scripted it. We get to corner and stop Danny at the first snake knuckle, and shoot the late fill to the snake wedge. Aaron Pate, with only one gun to beat (the juice box, because the home and d side tower have to try and contest the potential D side push as we are wider than them) filters underneath into the snake. LVL realizes Pate has fed snake so they quickly fill the snake corner. Nic catches LVL’s snake rounding a knuckle. Barring a lost gunfight, we were now set up to drain the clock and suck the life out of this point. My guys all check in and know the situation. With d side and snake side containment in position from the snake, this frees two of my guys to shift the skirmish line and increase pressure on LVL to either make them concede or force bad gun fights. Mike Brown and Drew Bell add pressure through the center and D side respectively. Regrettably, we let LVL back to the snake but it doesn’t matter. We tighten the noose. Canes – 3 LVL – 0

We decided to spread again except we wanted to test the route to the dorito 1. Funny thing is, so does LVL. We mirror up and both team’s dorito 1 runner take the walk. We both make snake but LVL actually fills the dorito 1 immediately. This tells me their ploy was to concede a shot or two and push the field on both sides. It begins to bode ill for us as they get to snake corner but Nic Ripple gets a shot on him. Drew Bell vacates the home to throw a wrench D side and Daniel Camp fills the snake corner. Four on three body advantage to us. One could argue that LVL has slightly better field advantage but we are in position to counter if necessary. We have two pivot positions now so we are set up well. No sooner do I say that to myself in the pit, we pick off LVL’s D side one player. LVL’s next D side player decides to try and make something happen (good man – take it out of coaches hands). This leaves the snake player in a one on four scenario and LVL quickly concedes with just over 6 minutes left on the clock. Canes – 4 LVL – 0

But LVL is a pro team for a reason. And they show it during the next point. They shoot our snake corner on the break while taking the snake, and don’t let us spread. We get caught in the pocket and don’t get our code out to counter. Disaster. Danny comes all the way down the snake and finishes the point. LVL is on the board. Canes -4 LVL – 1

We put two pocket guns on the snake and bounce him. Unfortunately, they didn’t bounce Nic and he comes off early. Though, at the same time Daniel Camp shoots his mirror. Four on four action to start the 6th point. LVL comes all the way to our side of the field, the super secret code reaches Daniel and he posts. But he decides he doesn’t want to guess and just goes and gets him. LVL gets overzealous D side and runs into Drew Bell’s gun as Mike Brown takes ground. This relieves any pressure on Drew who can play freely now. He tracks LVLs next snake attack, feeds data to Pate who launches and removes the snake threat. At the same time, Mike Brown had dispatched LVL’s juice box. LVL concedes with 3:20 left in the match. Canes – 5 LVL – 1

With 6 points under us, we have a good understanding of LVL. They showed us an opportunity in their break outs so we decide to exploit it. We throw Nic up the gut doubling the snake lane and then cut him across into the snake. It pays off as we shoot LVL’s snake runner and Nic makes it in . BUT – we did not anticipate the big dorito side run. This man shoots at least 3 of my guys before trading leaving Nic in a two on one situation. Nic trades with one of them leaving one LVL player to go get the buzzer. What should have been our point is foiled by a ballsy move by LVL. That one is on me. Canes – 5 LVL -2

2:20 left on the clock. Plenty of time to pad the point spread. I felt confident the previous play would work again but to be safe, we have a gun shifted. I felt we shot the snake runner but the ref doesn’t find a hit. No worries though as Nic gets payback with a good shot down the wire. LVL takes the center brick but for some reason gives his back to the snake. Perhaps he was depending on his home player to have filtered snake way by then? Either way Nic gives him a tattoo. Then… chaos. People are everywhere and I black out. Kidding, it boils down to a 3 on 1 and we shoot the last LVL player. I figure LVL will let the time run off. Color me surprised when they conceded the point at 44 seconds.

Now, Stu had dressed out to keep up appearances. We didn’t want anyone to know (like they wouldn’t notice… but hey). He wants to test the ankle. I agree…hesitantly. We decide to get heavy guns up and let Stu take the line. It is there and he gets one but should have got two. A lot to ask though for the hobbled player. Justin Bailey reads and reacts perfectly, reaches the corner, wraps and traps shooting the home player leaving only one D side player for LVL. Bailey launches but time runs out. 2-3 more seconds and Bailey would have increased our win by five instead of four. However, prior to point, we decided not to jeopardize anyone’s injuries. FINAL SCORE: CANES -6 LVL – 2

VS Latin Saints

The Latin Saints and NRG Elite are the only two teams that the Canes have not faced in our short two year pro career. After Word Cup this year, NRG will be the only team we have never faced at least once.
Headed into this match, I was NOT looking past Saints. Heck, I don’t look past anyone, but the Saints had just taken Diesel deep, scoring 3 unanswered. Granted, it looked as if Diesel was trying something particular or rather specific after going up 4, but I am not in Mike Hinman’s head so I won’t speculate. The Saint’s guns on the break were solid and I happen to know 3 of their players very well. So no, we would not take them lightly. A team that has nothing to lose is very dangerous…and can be quite unpredictable.

Point 1 we would go with a base play looking for the set up of 3 bodies snake way and 2 retaining the read option. Similar breakouts but we beat them to the snake wedge. Saints did a good job of keeping Pate from spreading to snake corner so he filters to the god instead. We know they want the snake wedge so we keep Mike Brown on the gap and sure enough, he picks up the secondary fill. Greg Turton played well at this event and he decides to get offensive D side for the Saints by taking dorito 1. This spot has an excellent bounce shot into the snake. If a snake player is playing “tall” inside, that bounce will eradicate him quickly. Nic stays disciplined on snake wire while Colin Cherry tries to clear a zone and make snake corner. We have it on lock and Cherry takes the walk. It is now 5 on 3 advantage to us so, we zone up, sporadic paint, allowing the remaining Saint players to burn their paint off their backs. Pate moves to the head of the snake.

*ZEN NOTE – I was asked about why we do this and not get to the corner. It is a risk/reward equation. It has some good shots on the wrap, can stop a spread with good protection, it protects against the highway run, and if we lose asset one in the snake, we still have a snake presence. But it does have a significant weakness which is shown in point 2 (and other matches).

We set up here to choke them out again. Saints make a desperation run highway, zone control addresses it, final Saints player tries to build off chaos, zone control handles him too. Canes – 1 Saints – 0

We did have a small discussion in the pit after that point. My four guys were at the buzzer checking each other over and discussing the point. That was good. BUT… since we were a bit skeleton crew-ish, I asked them all to check each other over, choose one guy to stand at buzzer, and the rest get in the pit so we could get ready for the next point. Efficiency people!

We decide to make the Saints beat us at our game. Keep it simple, gather some data on their adjustment, and go from there. The Saints smartly take that snake corner on the break and we allow them to secondary D side, filter to the god, and get out of the doubled home. Pate ends up taking the snake with Nic but this decision was made unaware that we had lost Drew behind him who would have naturally filtered out behind him. The Saints quickly take ground in the snake and D side. But like I said earlier, if you come into that snake wedge high and unaware, the bounce will take you. And that’s what happens to the Saints player. Once we eliminate the first snake threat, Mike Brown is free to get wide D side to contest the Saints presence there and create more options for himself. Incredibly, the Saints player filters to the D side wedge. On top of this, he doesn’t seem to know the situation and gets picked up by Nic from the snake. The Saints snake corner is forced to feed the snake since I am pretty sure he was out of paint. We pick up another kill D side and are in a 4 on 2 body advantage but the snake player for Saints gets a free kill D side on Mike Brown. This is the issue (one of a few) with not having snake corner and having the head of the snake instead. I would learn after this point, there was a “caution D side corner” call which is why Daniel Camp kept eyes on that way. I am pleased my guys eventually work it out (well, the Saints do that for us) but it was concerning none the less. Pate had the ball early and could have traded with a clever highway run when Evan Manners was in the Home. However, once Evan filtered to the snake wedge, coupled with the miscommunication (lets call it a misunderstanding?), we have now allowed this point to get out of hand. Deductive reasoning. We had discussed at practice that there has to be an “assumption of risk” on this field. But when data is unsure, cover the fronts and that’s what my guys essentially did. Saints win this point if not for the penalty. Canes – 2 Saints – 0

We are on the power play here for the next point. It was a 5 on 3 to start, Canes advantage. We know they will take the back line three bunkers. I anticipate the moment we shoot one, they will concede to get 5 back on the box. I would be lying if I said I was not looking to pad our point margin headed into the 2nd day. To be safe, we double guns up at home, get our cross guns up to foil a big run or at least see it, and take the snake. Saints get wide but their dorito player runs into Nic’s gun from the snake. And then the concession. Canes – 3 Saints – 0

I want to push the D side a little. We decide to spread a bit and see what Saints show us being down 3 and with 3:30 left on the clock. I found it interesting they spread (we would usually do it from the “red” side as well but not sure if they were doing it for the same reason we were). Perhaps they saw no issue with their secondaries. The Saints finally get the right set up. They have the snake, snake wedge, snake corner, coupled with a Home and a dorito 1 (which eventually moves to dorito wedge). Britt Simpson had already made his primary and knows the Saints will more than likely make what we were calling the snake 2. He times it well and shoots the snake 1. Saints home player filters out and draws a minor leaving them with snake corner and snake wedge only versus my five. I would have liked my guys to create a little more pressure at this point and we had a brief discussion afterwards about it. I had also not shared with them my desire for a point spread so that is on me, too. Just the same, Drew Bell sees the line, and makes the right read. He trades with Evan Manners in the snake wedge. The penalty that followed surprised me as Evan was looking that way. I thought I saw a ref call a mutual but then saw a flag go up. Tough break. Canes – 4 Saints – 0

We are on a bit of a power play again (5 on 4) and I am now thinking we are going to get out of this with the bare minimum spread I wanted. But… with 1:26 left on the clock, I don’t want to take any chances. They haven’t been shooting our snake so we are going back. I want to spread to use a “alamo” play but with assets that can shift gears and attack D way if necessary. I state that, if we get the opportunity, I want the point but let’s not be careless. Justin Bailey wins his first engagement with his mirror making it a 5 on 3 advantage. We lose Britt out of the corner (pretty sure Saints snake player got that shot) but Bailey smartly takes the snake corner. Daniel gets hyper aggressive in the snake (I like it!) but the Saints snake player gets a ball on him. But to do it, he had to come out into Bailey’s lane. Bailey, knowing the situation, launches down the snake route, gunning the whole way, and gets us that 5th point. I would have liked him to wait a bit before hitting the buzzer but I don’t blame him. He looked good and that feeling of hitting the buzzer at that point is pretty cool. Canes – 5 Saints – 0

Now, here is where coach makes another mistake. I initially want to take another alamo approach and get out of the match with a 5 point win. In addition, I don’t want to risk further injury on the team. But I let myself get talked into a play call by two of my guys. I normally would have vetoed the request but they were feeling it and I need to let the dogs hunt occasionally. Regrettably, we would pay for it. Not that it was a bad call by my guys, it wasn’t. It was a bad call by me. I am accountable.

During the final point, a decision to call Ryan Williamson off his zone allows Brandon Portman to take a seam and round our D side corner. Ryan does turn in time and they lock eyes both raising their markers at the same time to shoot each other. BUT – Portman hits the buzzer. He is clearly hit. As a matter of fact, Portman wipes himself down immediately after hitting the buzzer (left forearm). You’re probably wondering how I know this for sure. My man Ryan Williamson came to the pit and was adamant that he had got a ball on Portman. I asked for a review which was graciously granted. Jason Trosen confirmed for me that I was, indeed, correct. He concurred that Portman was hit and did attempt to wipe the hit. However, because the on field refs called him clean, I had no recourse. I appreciated his candor and that of the head ref as well (who also felt he saw the hit). Shouldn’t have come to that anyway. Woulda coulda shoulda… FINAL SCORE: Canes – 5 Saints -1

We now had two wins by a margin of 4. I was pleased with the teams performance on day one but the real test was awaiting us on Saturday. We had AC Diesel who surely were addressing the issues they had day 1 and the defending previous event champions, Tampa Bay Damage. We had scouted both and both were playing the field similar to us when it mattered. I had chatted with Mouse on the way into the event that morning and he briefed me of his injury. The dude is a fine tuned machine so I wasn’t weighing his injury too much. I suspected that Hinman would call out the mistakes from their previous matches and the experienced team would adjust. During our scouting of them, we saw a small nuance in the snake and we would try and exploit it (something we learned during our scrimmage with Notorious and Impact). We also had a good understanding of their breaks depending on personnel. We anticipated a knife fight and that’s what we got.

VS AC DIESEL

The first point we kept it simple and took high survivability bunkers to assess while not limiting our options. We bounce BJ (dang it) and they break essentially the way Impact would on us at practice with smart crisp secondary moves. We counter but once again, Pate can’t get to that corner so he options up. This also allows him, Daniel, and Nic to have easy conversations. Once we reposition, I think, okay just don’t let mouse out to the snake corner and we’re Gucci (coach is learning the nomenclature of the youth). Maybe 30 seconds later, I look up and dang it if Mouse isn’t in the friggin’ snake corner. Since we don’t have snake corner, Nic has to be more defensive facing two guns. BUT, my man Pate finally makes it to the snake corner too. Sigh of relief from coach there. Spicka smartly re-positions to the center brick to set a trap. Spicka misses his first shot though and Nic backs up to place the inset mini wall between him and Spicka. I felt Nic could have used the mini wall to block out Spicka and try the bounce off the pin, especially since Clint Johnson had vacated that D side Wedge and was now at dorito 3. If that bounce worked, that relieves tremendous pressure. But Drew Bell gets caught which now creates a small problem, especially based off Clint’s positioning. Daniel Camp has to shift the gun. Mike Brown gets out to D corner which actually sets up a line for Spicka who doesn’t miss his first ball on Daniel Camp. The dominoes fall as Spicka obviously knows the field layout and our positions. I concede the point. A well executed point by AC. Canes – 0 Diesel – 1

We know if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it and figure AC was coming with a similar game plan as their last point. Only difference is they double home. We match them without the two at home. Drew Bell lands his shot on the D side one player for diesel and our nuanced snake approach works catching BJ crawling. The guys check in and once they understood kill count and where Diesel was, Drew knows he needs to filter up the gut and Jacob Searight knows to wrap and trap from dorito way. Spicka makes a smart move again to counter but Drew survives initial engagement and then wins the gun fight. Now its just a matter of polishing things off. A good answer from the Canes if I say so myself. Two well played points from both teams. Canes – 1 Diesel – 1

Diesel spreads to D corner the next point and we go short that side. Both teams take snake and Nic posts up. Daniel Camp filters to snake wedge putting an asset in place to address either threat either side. But dang it if we don’t let Mouse get to corner again! We miss the snake shot opportunity and Mouse is wrapped keeping Pate from getting wide. So once again, he optioned to the god. This point ultimately goes to us because BJ tries to finish his run on Nic in the snake while Daniel was over-watch. I saw it coming actually and threw my own imaginary flag when he got shot by Daniel and continued forward and pulled the trigger on Nic. Baginski tries to stop the hemorrhaging by spreading back snake way from the D side but is picked up and stalled. Hinman smartly concedes the point around the 8 minute mark. Canes – 2 Diesel – 1

When we see BJ and Jess out on the box, we know they will go snake corner and snake on the break. But just because you know doesn’t mean you can stop it. Spicka wins his first or second engagement against Daniel in that center juice box near the snake wedge. However, Nic once again wins the snake war with a clutch shot on BJ. Nic does a head check and sees Diesel’s late fill to the snake wedge. Up a point, he retreats to connect with Pate and piece things together. Then moves back to snake one. Spicka successfully re-positions himself in order to fill the snake. Nic just misses Spicka as he rounds a knuckle. Would have liked for Pate to get to corner but he ops for the god again. Probably because he has been trained by our opponents at this point as they only let him get there once so far. Nic just misses Spicka a second time. But then the read happens. With Spicka that close, Nic knows he has to go, jumps the beam and pulls off a dynamic highway run to get Spicka clean. In the chaos, Pate fills the snake. Drew Bell moves to center to increase pressure. We are just under 5 minutes so I am okay with my guys doing our slow strangle/choke-out, as I am anticipating to win the point. I am hoping to burn another minute or two. We have position and eyes on the three remaining Diesel players. All we have to do is maintain the pressure, not lose a gun fight, and let them hang themselves. I end up getting about 2:20 before Diesel concedes. Canes – 3 Diesel – 1

I would not be an honest man if I were to tell you I was comfortable with a 2 point lead and 2:40 on the clock against Diesel. We were now going to get a peek at Diesel’s bag of tricks. I am confident it will be D side but that is about it. Diesel gets a kill on our two position snake side on the break. We are now dangerously exposed with only Nic on snake side. Drew Bell filters out from home to stem the bleeding. Spicka clocks in AGAIN and scores a kill on my D side corner… Now the cookie is crumbling faster than I anticipated. That’s a terrible feeling when you see two of your back line die and leave your snake player alone. But I’m not hitting that concede button. So Nic has to wear it to further tick time off the clock. Leaving Nic hanging in the wind as sacrifice gets us 10 more seconds off the clock. Canes – 3 Diesel -2

Based off personnel on the box, we assume they want the snake corner and the snake simultaneously again, so we call the audible. Drew Bell does the right thing and keeps Daniel Camp on that D side cut so Drew can take the snake wedge. This was done because Mouse made the snake corner and won’t let Pate spread to match. Once this happened and we were just under a minute, I felt we were in position to contain and dictate, for the most part the next 50 seconds. I was wrong. Jesse makes an amazing crawling shot in the snake on Nic. Then a shot in on Drew. Now the back is broken and the hope is they don’t recognize it in the next 30 seconds. But they do. Spicka clears through and Diesel hits the buzzer with 6 seconds left.

We want to play the 6 seconds so we have time to think about how we want to approach the overtime point. My guys go out and buy us time to confer.

Because we have a margin to play with I decide to spread. Especially since Jacob Searight has shown his willingness to get sneaky and press the issue D side. Nic hasn’t been shot on the break this match so… let’s go boys. I got the feeling Diesel won’t risk anything and will probably go with their base play confident in their secondaries. Sure enough, that is what happens. This is what I call the “kenpo” effect. One strike creates a reaction from the opponent which leads to the next strike and the next reaction. With Diesel essentially using one gun to slow the D side push, Searight does what he needs to do, beats the gun, and gets into the 50 dorito. Spicka filters to snake wedge to look D side and address the now large thorn in their side. Nic catches Jesse to win the snake war while Mouse gets caught in the gap by our gun in D tower we specifically asked to shoot for that fill. The desired effect had been achieved and we have them on their heels. The risk had paid its rewards at only 30 seconds in of the 5 minute overtime point. With just over 4 minutes to play with, Diesel will ultimately dictate how fast we tighten the noose. We comfortably move the skirmish line forward with the 5 on 3 body advantage. At least, that was the plan. Mike Brown gets caught. Okay, not the end of the world. We still have the tactical position advantage. But then Jacob loses a gun fight. Well, this… changes things. Especially since my snake side is unaware we had shot Mouse and still think there is a snake corner (meaning someone died with data). As a coach, it is moments like this that you play the point over in your head trying to understand the issue. But Drew Bell remembers his bounce shot and scores a key kill on Diesel’s widest D side player. But then he puts the team on his back again, hauls butt on a bad ankle and no ACLs to cinch up the noose. He gets Spicka making it a 3 on 1. But Baginksi gets a ball on him. But it was too little to late as Nic Ripple launches and takes Baginski out to give the Canes the win in overtime. FINAL SCORE: CANES – 4 Diesel – 3

We have now had the opportunity to scout Damage three times. I’m looking at my data, I’m looking a Damage, I’m looking at my guys, and I’m looking back at my data. We are playing the same game. It will be a matter of who makes the small mistakes. We felt good coming into this match. But I am a contingency guy. So I am looking at our point margin as well as the rest of the matches that will be played that afternoon. I felt confident in Dynasty and X factor’s remaining schedules, and thought to myself, even if we lose, all we need to do is keep it close and we should have a straight shot to quarters… I know what you are thinking, “Coach, what do you mean “lose”?! You play to win!” – yes, correct. But I have injuries on my roster and I want to make sure we have every advantage. We are facing a champion team with tremendous experience who had no doubt scouted us… and my job is to put my guys in the best possible position. So sometimes you have to think uncomfortable thoughts.

VS Tampa Bay Damage

I think we all knew we were in for a grinder. And that’s what this match would be. Two fighters feeling each other out, probing, jabbing, head movement, footwork… the works.

First point, we come out with very similar break outs. Damage uses the pocket space behind the baby dorito to put a gun on the head of the snake and it pays off as they shoot Nic on the break. This was only the 2nd time he had been shot on the break the event. But that Damage player has to sacrifice his body to do it as he gets picked up as well. A better trade for Damage though as they now own the snake. Keith Brown wastes no time at all coming to our side of the snake and they also release up the gut to the center brick to keep us from countering to the snake. Luckily we don’t take the bait and take the snake corner and not the snake. Keith still gets his first two kills on Mike Brown and Britt Simpson. Pate finds Keith and gets him off the board making it a 3 on 2, advantage Damage. I’m looking at the set up and the clock and decide I can give my two a minute to pull something off. Sure enough, we pick up Chris Horn and make it a 2 on 2. Jason Edwards knows the deal and gets out to the snake corner. With Raney at the center brick, it’s essentially a stalemate. But Raney has been at this game a while and cleverly retreats to spread further to the D side. But Pate is no slouch either and knows he wants to spread. He tells Drew so, Drew Bell does a Drew Bell thing. Full send. And it pays off. Holy hades…. composure and gumption won that point. Canes strike first. Canes – 1 Damage – 0

Drew’s D side shot is still dialed and we strike first on the break shooting Damage’s first attacker D side Chris Horn. Keith gets in the snake again but we get Nic to the snake corner which hems Keith up at snake 1. We feed Pate underneath Nic and now we are in position with dorito 1, dorito tower, home, snake corner, and snake. Damage has snake, juice box, home, and dorito tower. Advantage Canes. Those of us in the pit settle in for what will no doubt be a long point. Raney takes a page out of our book and filters to the head of the snake and one of the Edwards gets out to the god bunker. Drew understands he needs to get his gun in the fight snake side and makes his way up to snake wedge. Still I give the advantage to us. Drew pulls back to a pivot bunker to re-assess. But I felt he was good where he was. Pods are piling up at some of my guys feet and we are a little over 3 minutes into this point and I’m starting to grow a bit concerned about paint consumption… Turns out I was right to be worried as Nic only has 1 pod at this junction. Jason Edwards decides to move back dorito side to even guns up. Raney backs up in a serpentine motion and ends up in the snake corner. At 5 minutes into this point, Nic has pulled his last pod and I’m pretty sure Mike Brown was on his last hopper as well. Now Jason makes it out to dorito corner and Keith takes one more knuckle. Easy for me to say but Pate has an opportunity to go highway here. Unfortunately, Nic is dangerously low on paint and we aren’t really communicating well which is unlike us. We are 6 minutes into this point and no coach wants to hear his guys go quiet. So Keith gives his location away after missing his shot on Britt Simpson in the dorito 1. Drew Bell gets crafty and sneaks into the mini wall next to the snake… but misses his shot! I feel like he should have just committed and taken Keith at that point. We would still have the body and position advantage. But then Jason Edwards gets picked up and shot! I’m thinking Joey may towel… but then, he has probably done the math like I have… keep it close. So he is going to ride it. Especially now that this point has gone over 7 minutes and we are at the 5 minute mark. If Joey was on his way to the towel button he stopped as Keith shoots Britt cross field making it a 4 on 3. Then… chaos. Keith goes highway as Pate launches. Keith gets Drew, Nic gets Keith, Raney gets Pate! It is now a 2 on 2 and my last two guys both have less than half a hopper between them. Nic moves inside (I wish he had stayed… I meant to ask him. If I had to guess he didn’t want 50 brick pushing him into Raney’s gun?). Raney smartly takes the snake, gets down to our side and catches Nic and then finishes off Mike Brown. I want that one back. It was now tied up with just under 3 minutes. Canes – 1 Damage – 1

Both teams make it out 5 on 5. We opt for the 2-1-2 split with our snake side one being the corner while Damage doubles home, and takes dorito 1, juice box, and snake. We had been running Nic ragged so I make the call to put Daniel in for him to get to the corner. Unfortunately, Jacob Searight takes a core sample and has to clear his gun (he ends up taking the front of the barrel off) allowing Raney to get to corner and back Keith up. The first domino falls with Pate getting a tad sloppy in his bunker exposing his hopper on a transition. We get it back though when Daniel Camp wins a gun fight with Raney coast to coast. 4 on 4 with just under 2 minutes on the clock. One of the Edwards brothers sees the opportunity since they have an asset in the snake and hauls butt to backfill the snake corner. Daniel vacates the snake corner with the intent to get Drew Bell behind or at least near him. Damage gets into dorito 3 and clips Drew and then we lose Daniel out of the snake… at this point I see we are under 30 seconds. I am not going to towel for two reasons. One, if my math holds, we are already quarters bound and not wild card. Second, why risk the charge lowering our margin? Or worse, my team is already beat up as it is. No need to pull out a dynamic attack play and risk further injury. My guys will go till the wheels fall off. But I need to save them for Sunday. It was a good match by Damage. FINAL SCORE: CANES – 1 DAMAGE -2

SUNDAY – VS Tampa Bay Damage… Again…

We waited and watched for the afternoon brackets to play out. Sure enough, Dynasty and X-factor won their brackets and the points fell where I had hoped. We would be 5th seed headed into Sunday edging out Xtreme, Infamous, Revo, and Impact who would now have to play a wild card round. We waited for the drawing (honestly, I wish they would go back to seeding for Sunday but… I’m new here). We would draw none other than Tampa Bay Damage.

Some would think, “Well dadnabbit, that sucks.” I would not be one of those people. I was actually happy with the draw. Here’s why… we had lost a nail biter to them in the prelims. We knew their game, we knew what they wanted to do, how they wanted to do it, and who they wanted to do it with. We knew this because it was the EXACT same thing we wanted to do. It would be a good match up. We simply had to tighten up, shore up, be first, and play the mistake free paintball my guys are becoming known for. Unfortunately, we would make mistakes and the match would not be as close as our first meeting. Damage was in a rhythm. I wanted to knock them out of if but it was not to be.

*Zen Note – I loved the fact that Raney Stanczak tried to get in my head following our loss to them in the prelims. That guy is a competitor and is always looking for an edge. He made a comment walking by me afterwards about how I had anticipated the wrong break out in the first point of our match. I joked back and forth with him a bit about how I had not. But he was adamant. I smiled ear to ear. What Raney doesn’t know is you can’t get in my head. It’s too crowded and there is no room. But I certainly appreciated the effort.

We wanted to change it up just a bit for the first point. We had planned on using space to get three guns on Keith. We knew if we could shoot him on the break, contain the fill out to the corner, we would be in control. It was a risk reward ploy that didn’t pay off. Couple that with Damage shooting Nic on the break quick followed by a Daniel Camp death out of the back center… I look at our situation, let it go about a minute to see if my guys can dig a kill out. I scan Damage’s posture and positioning compared to our own. This is the stranglehold approach we had used successfully in the prelims, and decide I want to get 5 back on the box. I hit the concede and we get back to basics. Canes – 0 Damage – 1

I knew placing Searight out there would give Damage a consideration for a bite on the D side in hopes of drawing at least a gun away from snake side. The plan was to keep it simple and send him short to dorito 1 (but the goal was for him to press as his stature allowed for him to maneuver better than most over there). Sure enough, they only put one gun snake way and Nic makes it in. Drew Bell had his dorito shot dialed again and gets the dorito 1 elimination. And dang it, Pate bounces Raney on their first engagement… meaning we would have returned the G2 favor Damage gave us the previous point. Again, woulda coulda shoulda. Pate moves forward and we let Raney get to corner. Drew Bell works his way into the snake wedge to be a force multiplier where needed. This point begins to play out past 5 minutes long and we know we have to start making things happen (all my guys are carrying an extra pod or two now). Nic makes the bump and gets clipped on his heel. I feel this is where Pate and Nic should have connected better. Couple that with dumb luck as Keith Brown just happens to switch his gun at that moment. We are now tied up on bodies but Searight is sticking to the game plan. He makes the 50 brick D side. Damage isn’t dumb though and sends the body to trade with Searight. And then another disaster… it appears that Mike Brown got caught in that same exchange somehow. I’m about to towel but Pate catches Keith. It is now a 2 on 2 with Drew and Pate. I’m going to give the boys the opportunity to try and dig the cross out. Regrettably, Drew gets caught making it a 2 on 1 so I concede the point. Opportunity squandered there. Canes – 0 Damage – 2

Time to adjust. Get those guns on Keith again but ensure we get the snake corner with the plan to fill underneath with Nic and as a contingency push the gut. Daniel gets the call to book it to corner with Nic playing the two to slip in underneath. Guns pay off as we eliminate Keith but we lose Daniel. Nic decides we need the corner instead of the snake and makes it out there but we let Damage fill the corner as well. It is looking to be another stalemated point which is obviously Damage’s advantage but Drew Bell sticks to the game plan and takes the center 50. Obviously Damage is spread and should have no plans to vacate these bunkers. With a 2 point lead, just under 6 minutes, they start to push the d side which was a little surprising. I’m thinking, setting a trap at the 50 won’t work but then, maybe it will if they press the issue. Just as I am thinking this Drew drops his gun for a microsecond, misses his shot, and now they know he is there. Searight tries to make something happen as well and gets caught. Mike Brown tries to push while Drew presses the line through the center not getting anyone but both made the right decision. 4 on 2, down on points, time clicking off… I have to save clock and see if we can’t make something happen. Canes – 0 Damage – 3

We know we have to have that corner and snake connection so, let’s just take it off the break. We have nothing to lose at this point. We are under 5 minutes and have to have that combination early. The goal is to create a skirmish line of snake corner, two in the snake, and let our dorito side players go since there is no doubt in my mind Damage is going back line to hold. And why wouldn’t they? But because of this, we were going to try and exploit the hole. It works but takes us longer than originally anticipated to capitalize on our positions. Pate rewrites the script and thankfully so as he realizes he may have an opportunity to be a bowling ball in the center since we have stalled out. Britt is pressing dorito side and Pate sees the opportunity to help him. Pate hits Raney on first exchange but Raney isn’t stupid, he knows the score and isn’t going away. Pate commits to remove him from the field. But Britt and Nic die out of there spots. Daniel and Drew become men possessed. Daniel dies but somehow Drew falls, gets his kill, and stays alive to get us on the board. The game is all but over but proud of that herculean effort. Canes – 1 – Damage – 3

This last point was a fight for a pride. And my guys made it spectacular. I genuinely feel if Justin Bailey doesn’t slip and fall, he gets the last two backs and we snag a second point. Thank you to Joey Blute for the kind words during the handshake after the match. I have taken them to heart sir. FINAL SCORE: CANES – 1 DAMAGE – 3

The New Orleans Hurricanes finished our 4th event for the season with a 5th place finish. The trajectory, for the most part, has continued moving in a positive direction. As a coach, this is what you want to see. Steady and continuous improvement. The fact we were able to perform with the adversity we faced heading into this event, I am incredibly pleased with our team. Grit and gumption. My guys have it in spades.

After our fourth quarter-finals appearance this season, we would win 17 points of the 28 points played giving us a 61% win average and an overall win ratio performance of 55% over 5 matches. Less than our last event but higher than the first two.

In retrospect, I truly enjoyed having Stuart Ridgel help me on the sidelines. At practice, it created an efficiency where he and I could discuss and deep dive more than usual speeding up the learning curve. The extra set of eyes at practice and at the event was outstanding. But I would be absolutely crazy if I didn’t feel he serves the team better on the field. I feel he would have been quite the force on this layout. Now, we just need to get everyone healed up. I am not that overprotective parent though. Not gonna wrap them in bubble wrap and keep them inside. Grown men need to do grown men things. But the GOAL is to get healthy!

Like every event since I have come to coach the Canes, I made some mistakes and have tried to document them here. Whether it was a play call or a personnel decision, I know I can do better. There were a few play decisions I made and there was a player I should have leveraged sooner and more often. Hind sight is always 20/20. That is the toughest part for me… reviewing my performance knowing that I could have put my guys in a better position if I had just made one different call or considered one more piece of data (or perhaps didn’t emphasize a data set as hard). Just like my players, I need to work hard to improve as well. I have to show a positive trajectory too. One thing I will say, my guys gave me 150% AGAIN. And that’s all I can ask. I need to make sure I can look back and say the same. These recaps help me with that process.

We jumped Edmonton Impact and are currently sitting 6th overall for the 2023 NXL series. That’s a positive take away from this event besides our highest finish this season (7th, 7th, 6th, and now 5th). But keeping it is another task that will require every member of this program to be firing on all cylinders. We have two more goals to reach with cup…

Of course, we get handed another difficult bracket headed into cup (the argument can be made the most difficult). But hey, “Non chiedere ciò che non puoi prendere”…

Be water my friends,