#rollcanes

2024 Lone Star Open Event Recap

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“The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control. Where then do I look for good and evil? Not to uncontrollable externals, but within myself to the choices that are my own . . .”
–Epictetus

I would imagine there are some people out there who, if they were in my shoes, would be upset about following up a 2nd place finish at the Las Vegas Open with a 13th place finish at the Lonestar. Whereas, I am certainly not happy with our performance, my personal attitude is not one of anger or distress. I am quite aware of the opportunities we missed and the mistakes we made. The key is how we will respond to what was controllable and what was not. If we let single events define us, we wouldn’t be in the professional league today. The success the New Orleans Hurricanes has seen in this sport is due to our ability to assess and adapt to obstacles and adversities placed in our path. Yes, some of those are self inflicted but those are usually the greatest lessons. No one should allow negative emotions or reactions to bad performances become a weight around their shoulders…

Additionally, no one wants to remind themselves of mistakes. As I stated above, the key is to understand why that performance happened. Identify the issues and take a proactive step in addressing them. A prime example would be our performance at Cup, our work to correct issues from there, and our performance in Las Vegas. I think most would agree it was night and day. Consistency is key, especially in the pro division. That consistency, whether it is with the team or an individual player, is paramount to success. But when it falls short on both levels, you will not have a good event.

It’s been said by great men that success is “neither magical nor mysterious.” It is the natural consequence of consistently applying basic fundamentals. We were not anywhere close to consistent in our execution of play at this event. That falls on me. I failed to lead my men out of an off malaise… I will work on that.

With that said, this event recap may be a little different from others. I will address the matches we lost in detail and briefly comment on the matches we won.

That cucumber is bitter, so toss it out! There are thorns on the path, then keep away! Enough said. Why ponder the existence of nuisance? Such thinking would make you a laughing-stock to the true student of Nature, just as a carpenter or cobbler would laugh if you pointed out the sawdust and chips on the floors of their shops. Yet while those shopkeepers have dustbins for disposal, Nature has no need of them.”
–Marcus Aurelius

PREPARATION

I think we prepared well for this event. We had a great practice partner, we worked the right aspects of the field, and we had a good game plan headed into the event. I know this because, when we did execute the game plans well, we won. That’s all the proof I need. We knew this field came down to four things:

  1. Win the break. As with all layouts, a numerical advantage off the break usually pays dividends and for this field, I felt it was multiplied. I also felt our guns were dialed in and ready.
  2. Be first to create opportunities from your secondaries to shift guns and/or get crafty and set traps.
  3. Get lost/crafty to create hesitation and uncertainty with opponent during mid game scramble.
  4. Close clean with a good stranglehold and good clock management.

We had shown a good understanding of how to do this and practiced it significantly. However, when we got to the event, we struggled with recreating that success…

VS Aftershock

I felt confident heading into this match. There was no doubt in my mind it would be a match similar to many knife fights we had endured before. But I knew if we could put Aftershock away, no matter the score, it was going to be a good event for us. We also knew that, with their roster, no matter the performance at the last event, they would be prepared. So we were definitely looking at them as a great test.

Pt1 – We went pocket and Aftershock beat us to the Center punch. We got the first body though with good zone control shooting their snake player. But we gave them one right back from our home. A-rod may have been first in the center, but a slow patient probe in the center by Stuart Ridgel paid dividends when he took A-rod off the board and staid alive. We gave them one back again though in our attempt to take the snake. Came down to a 3 v 3. Another attempt at craftiness cost Stu his body (it’s first point, I like the idea just not how it was attempted). Drew Bell got sneaky but got caught and Searight made me proud pushing forward. We squandered that point. 0-1 Shock

Pt2 – Strong guns on the break, which was prevalent during our prep, show up on the second point and we made smart fills to our secondaries in support of the goal. We were in control from the break and start our stranglehold. A good point. This point was, in my opinion, indicative of how the field would play and how the Canes would play it. 1-1 Tied

Pt3 – We set up with the “Big 5” in order to get eyes on snake, increase guns, and position ourselves to take center when necessary. Shock went pocket save for a d-side wide asset. Shock was first to the center, not with one, but two assets. Again, our secondary is just behind Shock’s but we determined at practice that being first isn’t always best in that center. The two bodies though was an effective counter to the theory. What made me happy was our composure during the scramble. A disciplined understanding of the situation. 2-1 Canes

Pt4 – Aftershock had shown a tendency to crash the center and then expand (a smart approach as most teams would leverage this tactic including us). It was time to use that against them though and beat them to the punch. The goal of our play here was to take the path of least resistance to the center d-side (Aftershock was leaving that hole available), try to snag the center kill, and take anything additional they give us. Hopefully, the chaos would draw attention (at worst trade), and we would build off that crash to take snake and dorito wides. We were rewarded with the play developing better than I had hoped as Stu got two kills immediately, AND we made both wides. We were now set up to kill clock with the lead. Shock helps us by sending a body to trade with Stu. It was now a four on two situation, we owned the spots… Shock smartly concedes the point with just under 4 minutes left. 3-1 Canes

Pt5 – Internally, I was feeling confident in our game plan and was pleased (save for that first point) with the execution up to that point. Shock had shown mostly center push then expansion, where we had shown mostly pocket. The play call was to risk the snake on this one to counter their center push and/or meet their anticipated snake run. Disaster strikes. Our high risk runner made it and my lower risk home died followed quickly by two more from our pocket. This was the point that was the deciding factor for the match in my opinion. Had we survived this break for just 30-40 seconds, we would have won in regulation. Woulda coulda shoulda… 3-2 Canes

Pt6 – Naturally, we felt that Shock would want a combo of center with snake presence. We felt this would be an opportunity to take dorito wide on the break. Again, my high risk player made it but we gave them a home player… followed quickly by our snake side tower. Stu survived the snake attack while in the dorito tower and made a play to take the snake off the board. He succeeded. It was now a 4-2 advantage to Shock. I always give my guys time to win a gunfight or pull something out. They won a gunfight. It was now a 3-2 advantage for Shock. We had worked on the alamo scenario at practice. Daniel Camp knew he needed to make snake corner and did with about a minute and a half left. Again, we played this scenario out several times in preparation so my confidence is high. My confidence SOARED when we picked off another shock player making it a 2-2 with about a minute left and we owned dorito 2 and snake corner. Put it in the bag… or so I thought. A bad decision to gun fight over the top of the snake corner cost us this game in regulation with, you guessed it, 30-40 seconds left. 3-3 tied

Pt7 – We wanted to go for the win. We had a few different fast point plays in the ol’ playbook. The question was which one to use based off Shock’s (and Todd’s) tendencies. There was a little less than 30 seconds on the clock but there were a few instances at practice where we pulled off 20-25 second wins. In this particular case, it isn’t a full send. The plan was to attack hard center and d-side leaving Daniel Camp and Nic Rippel as contingency in case it didn’t work out. We would crash the center with Stu but used Drew Bell on a delay just off center d-side and let Jacob Searight wheel and deal wide. Stu crashed, took one with him, and then Drew cleared through getting two. Shock got a minor but with only 4 seconds left, Searight can’t make the buzzer. Close but as we all know, that only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.

OT – We get a minor. On the break. Playing 3 on 5 with 5 minutes on the clock, against Shock, who owned the snake and center… not a high probability positive outcome. Barring a miracle, we just lost a match we shouldn’t have lost. No miracle arrived. The positive take away was, when we executed the game plan well and played as a team, we looked phenomenal. Consistency… we would have to increase that aspect and would be just fine…

VS Bears

We won this match and were in control for the majority of it. Our guns on the break showed up along with our zone control on every point we win. However, I do want to address the two points we lost in this match.

Pt2 – We had good guns on break to start the match shooting the Bears snake runner AND we made the snake. Gun fight losses will happen… but when it came down to a 3 on 3, we made a small mental error. Drew Bell attempted to spread to the d-side from the snake side since we had no presence there and the Bears did. We owned the center and snake which can contest the Bears snake and snake tower. One could argue, we could have used our Center to contest d-side aggression but I digress. I am not upset with Drew’s repositioning per say. More that he tried to push the envelope when it wasn’t necessary. We weren’t at a point where we needed to press anything or make something happen. Had he been content with making the dorito one, we more than likely would have been good. Instead, we forced the issue, gave the body away, and let the Bears back into the game with a short clock.

Pt6 – If just one of the two Canes players who played dorito can or snake side tower, either one, stayed alive, we would have won 4-1 in a 50 second point. Either one of them. But it didn’t happen, allowing the Bears to find the hole and put another point on the board with a 46 second point.

VS MLKings

On this layout and in this division, you can’t play 3 on 5 and expect to win the points much less the match. We were not hitting our shots in this match and if we were, well, we needed better paint management. We knew they were slow into some key bunkers and even when they did this in our match, we weren’t catching the body. We scouted them and expected them to play a little pocket, and we were right. Even knowing what they were going to do, we weren’t able to generate any momentum.

Pt1 – The kings shot two of us off the break and we gave them a third all within the first 20 seconds. Nope. Concede, reset.

Pt2 – Kings pocketed up and we took the center first with a delay out to dorito 2. We were in great position for this point. We shot Kyle Barry followed by the Kings countering through the center only to have missed their shot. We should have now been in control of the point as Stu repositioned in the center to counter their counter. But, once again, we gave them a body out of our backfield allowing the Kings to take snake. So, an advantage lost. Stu played sloppy and got caught. But Daniel Camp and Jacob Searight almost turned it around with Danimal getting into the snake to contest and Searight taking ground into dorito 4 generating a kill. 3 v 3 now. In a rare moment, Daniel missed a shot on the snake tower for the Kings which would have blown the point open since that player was stalling the d-side attack. When Drew Bell got out behind Searight, I thought okay… force multiplier. Then Drew called his shot on the snake player for the Kings. I, too, thought I saw it but, ref calls him clean. The big domino to fall was Searight getting clipped in the loader… I love Drew and Danimal trying to break things open but it doesn’t pay off.

Pt 3 – The Kings spread (that’s the best two bunkers to own to kill clock – Dorito 1 and snake corner). Again, no kills on break for us even though we set up for it. We lost a body again from the snake tower. Searight understood the situation and got out wide on d-side. We evened the count with a kill from snake side tower and then shot another from their dorito corner. We had a four on three body advantage but we gave the Kings the snake again and allowed Kyle Barry to play fast and loose in the center. The snake took Drew off the board. Our only hope was to win a gunfight or to have Searight clock in. Stu ended up getting a bullstuff penalty… it was bang bang. Kyle, like many of the pros, gets to talk after being eliminated and plead a case. I am not allowed to review.

Pt 4 – We were down by three with 5:40 left on the clock. Enough time to come back and win. But we had to execute better. For example, not hitting our shots and then hanging over the top for too long at the center bunker to get shot. Not how we do it. I said I would let the point go until 4:30 unless I saw life from my guys. Searight was in position d-side again (as he was apt to do most of the event) and Pate took the center. The boys bought themselves another 30 seconds. But then, we lost Searight…so no, you don’t get another 30.

Pt5 – At this point, I’m looking at the clock thinking, we need at least two points. Plenty of time to do it. But I wasn’t getting production out of any one of my starters really, save for Searight. A good coach knows what to say, how to say it, and when. This is where I fell short. I thought, let’s take a breath, get our guns up, don’t force the point, get a point on the board with a base play. We lost our d-side tower, Kings took dorito 3 and we don’t see it because of the elimination on the break (best eyes to see that move). Daniel Camp almost pulled off a heroic response attacking down the snake side but with his teammates dying behind him, it was a valiant effort between him and Searight, but not enough.

Pt6 – I’m looking at the clock, I’m looking at the score, and I am looking at my guys. None of those things looked good. Time to see what my guys who haven’t seen the field much can do. We have dug a serious hole in order to make Sunday now. Time to take the opportunity to see how bad my guys want to show me what they can do. I look to the bench and they wanted it. So they got the call. They go out and look better than the starters did the entire match. Searight, Mike Brown, and Ryan Williamson go out and play well. Searight and Mike Brown pressed the issue dorito way as they know the situation and gave me 200%. Ryan Williamson goes full send but we ran out of time.

VS Impact

Based off our scouting report of Impact, we had a good understanding of what they wanted to do. But you can’t ignore the fact that we were playing subpar… I had done the math and knew we weren’t making Sunday. I had a theory though on Impact which was confirmed and would make the difference in my opinion. That theory was confirmed when we went down 2-0, and then Impact conceded the 3rd point when they still had a player on the board. I knew they were playing for the margin. We were playing for pride and pride only. There is a difference. And it was the small edge we needed. My adjustment (besides personnel) was to adapt the game plan to the corners. If we could get wide either on the break or through secondaries, Impact would put us on the board with their aggression into our zone control. Granted, our zone control had been spotty all weekend but my guys are warriors. They knew what needed to happen. It would not go as planned but… it went. And I will take it. This was a great growth moment for the squad as a whole.

Pt1 – We shot their pocket shooter, expanded well and set the trap for Urena in the snake. Urena popped the top though and made a great shot on Pate. Not much you can do save for what I said in the pit, “Well… damn.” Mike Brown clocked in and got wide dorito. We now owned dorito 1 and the snake, so we aren’t in a bad position. Ryan Williamson, who stepped up for me, got clipped once Impact finally got through the zone dorito side. But Mike Brown got it back for us making a great shot on Cornell. It was 3v3 as we crossed the 5 minute threshold. A great shot by an Impact player caught Drew Bell, was returned by ANOTHER great shot by Mike Brown but in the chaos, Impact took the first point.

Pt2 – Both teams have the same breakout with Impact winning the break as we lost Searight dorito way. They then had some really crisp secondary expansions trapping us in the pocket. Daniel Camp, knowing we had to have that snake made it and actually got our first elimination. Stu tried to make something happen through the center but got caught. Drew Bell knew we had to be wide d-side and got out there picking up a crucial elimination on Impact. 3 v 3 again. But the wheeling and dealing went on too long and Drew got picked off. Pate understood where the hole was, tried to fill it but he and Daniel both died almost simultaneously.

Pt3 – We were down 2-0. I explained again the importance of having these corners and why Impact has to come. We risked throwing Nic at the snake corner to draw the gun deep with the intent to feed underneath from snake tower. It worked partially as we made the snake but Nic got picked off. It paid off though because impact must not have seen the feed as we caught their snake coming to our side. We have evened it up and Britt Simpson created an opportunity making dorito corner. We are now set up to let Impact die coming forward. We got some key eliminations, to make it a 3 on 1 and Impact conceded the point. Confirmation of theory and now we were on the board. The guys are all in now. We’re going to win.

Pt4 – It was time to take the fight to them while the guys are spirited up. “Crafty time.” We knew Impacts’ tendency now and decided to take advantage. Britt Simpson got the call and we shot him to dorito 3 on the dorito can route. This would shift at least two guns and allowed a center punch dorito side as well as got a second asset out dorito way. It worked. The penalty on Drew was bogus but hey, it didn’t matter as Britt Simpson and Mike Brown closed out the point with a great shot by MB dotting Urena’s eye in the corner.

Pt5 – One name. Mike Brown… We sent Stu to the snake side 40 wall to wrap and trap, to take a body, and draw a gun to allow snake to feed. We had d-side tower to position for center and be a force multiplier when necessary. Stu did not take a body and got picked up… but we made the snake. Britt forced the outside dorito move since he knew what I wanted and Bell got picked up. We were in dire straights now… it was 4 on 2 advantage to Impact. But Mike Brown and Daniel Camp said “not today” making it a 2 on 2! Mike Brown with his super power of survivability won his gun fight! Daniel heard this and in the chaos launched on Impacts snake player and trades! Mike Brown was still alive and Impact conceded. Mike Brown… way to be. He really has earned the nickname, “Clutch”

Pt6 – I wanted the corners on the break. Let’s just get there. And we made it. Very pleased. But then we lost the dorito corner shortly after. Drew Bell made a play to dig out Impacts center presence but got picked up. Even then, we were still in good spots to hold (snake, snake corner, and dorito can). We lost our dorito can and Impact has the bodies to trade. They hit the buzzer with 5 seconds left.
We wanted to play the point so we could work on game plan.

OT – Ride or die… it was time to get back to basics. We had had plenty of practice now… no excuse not to execute the game plan that we had prepared headed into this event. Time to make it work for us instead of against us. Full Circle… let’s see if we had learned. And we had. We shot interior while protecting wides. Paint broke on Impact’s dorito tower. 5-4 advantage Canes. Zone control picked up Mike Urena as he tried to force the snake move. 5-3 advantage Canes. Bell took the center, Daniel made snake corner, Nic took the snake, Searight took the dorito corner, Mike Brown contained. We would win this point barring anything ridiculous. Nic Rippel showed why he is a Hurricane by going down the snake to Impact’s side of the field. He got a three pack to close out the game leaving us with 4 bodies alive.

Not a bad consolation prize finally beating Impact and knocking a top team like them out of the tournament… but I would really like to have that Aftershock match back.

This event was strange. It’s been a few days now, and I still haven’t put my finger on what our issues were other than, we were missing/bouncing some shots on opponents, and I wasn’t getting production out of my starters. Several big moment mistakes by guys who don’t normally make them appeared to be the main issue. My initial reaction is that we were our toughest opponent this event. Not the teams in front of us… us. The goal now is to focus on our next practices and event prep with renewed optimism and understanding. We will assess our performance in order to improve our consistency and not dwell too much on the mistakes and missed opportunities from this last event. Back to the opening message about consistency… Consistency requires you to “be as ignorant today as you were a year ago.” To move forward, the Canes need to review our process, ensure we are emphasizing the proper things, and develop solutions.

And we will.

Be water my friends.

Las Vegas 2024 Event Recap

zenandtheartofpaintball2 Comments

Have you ever heard the story about the little engine that could?  Let me tell you that story … toot, toot… and how Charlie rigged the trestle!

Okay, on a serious note…

Preparation

When the layout dropped, I think many had mixed thoughts about it, including myself.  At first I thought, okay – Lonestar concept from 2022 (as one Hurricane staff stated, “As if Vegas was cheating off Lonestar’s test but Lonestar said, make sure you can’t tell it was me”).  We met an important goal at that event two years ago and made our first Sunday.  I believe that success came from our due diligence of walking that field for 5 hours and putting together some good theories.  For this layout, I ended up doing a quick digital field walk live for The Coaches Show which was highly rushed. That is where I first recognized some possibilities. And then met with my guys to do the same thing on a Zoom call that same evening.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that some of us were a little apprehensive during and after the initial discussion.  We recognized early on that this layout had a lot of “holes” depending on circumstances displayed on the break. We would challenge that hypothesis during our layout practice against the ML Kings. As someone who wants to understand how to “control” a field, I was banging my head against the wall until two of my guys Justin Bailey and Britt Simpson said, “You have to let it go and trust us to make good decisions.” They were right. The prevailing wind was that, to lock anything down, you had to take ground early and fast (risk).  We decided, well heck, if we are going to do that, why lock down and not just attack.  In other words, you had to attack forward to get position to control… why not just press the attack. Pressure would be the key.  Once we decided this, it then became a question of statistical analysis on where best to attack from, the timing of it, how to create it when you couldn’t on the break, who to bully/pick on, so on and so forth.  It wasn’t that you couldn’t win from a pocket, but you were certainly at a disadvantage if your opponent was first and beat you out of it. This field could turn like a clock too.

So, we decided it was time to show the “old Canes” from before our pro debut.  Time to start throwing punches… and hard.  This approach became somewhat jeopardized due to the fact that Nic Ripple injured his ankle early on Sunday morning against the Kings along with Britt Simpson who tweaked his knee.  Couple that with not having one of our anchors, Aaron Pate, we were at a little of a detriment.  Or were we? This team has shown time and time again we can address adversity. What I love about my guys is they almost always rise to an occasion and this wouldn’t be any different. We adjusted. No fear, no complaining, just work. And that’s what I got out of them.  My guys answered the call and frankly, I didn’t have any doubt they would.

Headed into this event, we felt that the “D” side could be exploited occasionally along with a fair mixture of the “snake side” aggression. Our guns on break were still showing good statistics as well. We knew a lot of teams would put heavy guns snake way, allowing our risk vs reward approach on the D-side to work percentage wise. We worked on some center pushes, but the D-side attack made more statistical sense to us as the center was susceptible to several guns from several locations on the field.  Pretty much everyone could shoot you from somewhere and the routes were precarious.  We also wanted to try and hide our stack on top of mixing up where we would put players in an effort to be a little harder to scout. Not sure if the latter ended up working but the effort was there none the less.

VS IRONMEN

We had scrimmaged the Ironmen just 2 weeks prior to the layout dropping.  I thought this was advantageous for two reasons.  One, it would give me a good look at where my guys stood heading into the season after our disastrous World Cup and, two, give me insight into the Men’s new talent pool (we knew they were our first match at the event).  The data I got was insightful but when the layout dropped I had a new conundrum from the data set.  I wasn’t sure the data would hold given the layout… but it was better than nothing and we weren’t too far off with our assessment. Now, I don’t want to give too much away here but we were certainly paying attention to their stack on the box.  The first point both teams get all 5 out alive.  We overloaded the D-side and the Ironmen went for a heavy snake presence but pushed the weak D-side with Nicholaou.  We ended up in much better field position with the Men in the pocket save for Nicholaou.  But we made a mistake and a bad read/job was dropped here. We let Kyle take ground. Once Stuart made the corner, Bailey repositioned to counter Kyle.  But now our initial attack has stalled when we allowed Kyle to get a kill. Bailey tried to salvage the point. He made the right call but went just a little too wide on the stab. The Ironmen closed out the 3 on 2 well. 0-1 IRONMEN

We went with a snake attack with the intention to spread when the guns shifted.  We won the break out and Searight made the Ironmen’s side of the field pretty quickly. He began peeling bodies which allowed quick follow up guns with our 2’s.  Apologies to Omara- glad you found that wedding ring brother! 1-1 TIED

Similar break outs save for one asset with the Ironmen pulling up just short of snake where we tried to take it and got eliminated.  With our center tower holding snake way, and Daniel getting into the corner, we stalemated for a moment.  However, the Ironmen made the correct secondaries to the wides as well as the center.  Daniel countered with a snake move but we left him on an island. Which, I didn’t feel was the correct read.  Britt Simpson went to dig out Sentz who sold the ref on a penalty. 1-2 IRONMEN

We had to play a body down on the next point but that didn’t phase us.  We had a goal in mind and I had a time limit in my head for my 4 guys to get it done.  The play worked out but we lost Daniel on the break.  That didn’t change my time frame, especially since we got the set up we wanted… just meant one job had to change.  Even when we lost Drew, I saw Stuart see the line so I didn’t walk towards the concede button.  He almost pulled it off. So, now I had to concede since we lost Nic behind Stu too.  But there was still over 5 minutes on the clock.  PLENTY of time. 1-3 IRONMEN

We send Searight wide and deep to draw the gun out and up on the next play. Daniel then filtered underneath from home.  We also knew that the Men had shown a penchant to go weak D-side save for Nicholaou.  Daniel made it in, and we peeled a body for good measure blowing that side.  We knew that you could counter opposite side so jobs shifted to keep that from happening.  It was a well-executed play that took about 1 minute. 2-3 IRONMEN

I just knew that the Men would try to get to that snake corner. We keyed up, got the kill and were blessed that it wound up being a penalty for the Ironmen as well.  After 5 looks, we send a rabbit but with a twist.  We got to the D-side corner and fed from the home again.  It paid off. The Men were only using one gun to protect that way and with the penalty…well, there you go.  We won the point in about 45 seconds or so.  Tie game with 3 minutes left.  We had the momentum, but we weren’t going to come off the gas. 3-3 TIED

We wanted to get 5 out alive.  I gave Searight the freedom to make the read.  This was actually kind of funny… we shot one off the break and it drew another penalty for the Men which blew the side.  Searight entered the pit upset saying “I screwed that one up coach”.  I said, “You’re fine, we shot two on the break.”  He looks shocked and says, “Man, I REALLY screwed that one up then!”   Love that guy. He holds himself to a standard and, as a coach, you love to see it.  With the Ironmen’s D-side blown, Daniel shifted out to the corner for the wrap and trap. Drew Bell went aggressive on our D-side.  There was plenty of time on the clock. My guys pieced together the correct effective push.  Stuart backed Drew for a two man operation while Bailey and Daniel worked together to change the fronts.  When the Ironmen’s snake allowed it, Bailey took our snake and that was the nail in the coffin for the Ironmen.  They conceded with 21 seconds left on the clock.  But, as we had seen at practice, that is all the time you needed to punch a hole and get a body through.  So now I’m thinking, gotta risk some kill zones to protect…4-3 HURRICANES

We spread the field because we knew they wouldn’t get accurate guns up with 21 seconds. We made it out alive and zoned up. Game.  Close one.  We would have to play much tighter against the next team.  Hats off to the Ironmen. They will have a good season.

VS DAMAGE

I was happy we were able to catch Damage early in the prelims.  I was not happy we caught them after a loss.  Joey and I are both scouters who like to understand nuances about our upcoming opponents.  The question became, how to surmise their adjustments after the loss.  We concluded it was going to be leveraging Raney through the center.  We had shown how we ultimately wanted to play the field in the 7 points against Ironmen. I was hoping we could just make them play our game, react to us, chase us.  We also knew they would be staring into the sun the first point. I want to make sure we won everyone of those points, so we had to make it count.

Sure enough, we got in the snake and they used Raney up the center in what I assume was a plan to ambush my guy on his first engagement (whack a mole).  However, we shot their backline early.  This was probably because of the massive glare/sun they were looking into.  But Raney couldn’t see Searight who got a quick wrap and two kills before Raney cleared through the center to shoot Searight in the back.  Too little too late. 1-0 HURRICANES

The next point we were now facing the sun. We figured let’s get guns up, spread D-side to draw a gun and filter underneath into the snake.  Keith Brown made that snake side dorito (what we were calling the god) but seemed content to stay on containment, that or he wasn’t risking it weighing their guns against ours.  Again, we only had one gun to beat on that same top side. With it drawn deep, we determined we could go underneath with the late launch.  It worked.  Raney released to the center to maintain snake side dominance but I don’t think he knew or received the call that we were in the dorito side snake.  Daniel got a free kill on him.  Damage responded by Keith taking additional ground and getting support out behind him in that can.  We knew they were in there with us now though and we had the body advantage.  Damage was set up to push that way but Daniel readied for the trade and, having over watch, it essentially would come down to a gunfight… and we didn’t have to engage/fight Damage… we knew better.  Unfortunately, that led to them taking ground on the other side as well.  I’m in the pit WAITING for Keith to trade… and he does. We still had the 4-3 body advantage. 

Unfortunately, we gave them a body back (glare got Bailey, like a Douglas Dauntless out of the sun).  3 on 3 but Searight reacted well by getting that ground back D-side.  With Drew in the corner, Stu saw the opportunity and moved up the center with a smart probe and got the drop!  A 6-minute chess match of a point. 2-0 HURRICANES

We were back on the shadow side.  We had gone to the snake a lot so I asked Searight to take the corner.  Unfortunately, I got him shot.   Gratefully, our guns were hot and we traded him for Keith Brown AND Chris Horn.  They tried to take advantage of the chaos, but our zone control took another body. Nic got in on this one and clocked in.  We lost Stu but we were in a 3 on 2 situation and with a 2-point lead.  I looked at the clock and started trying to get it to go faster hoping Joey wouldn’t concede it.  He did. 3-0 HURRICANES

Joey pulled one out of our book by having Rainey shoot from home and feed weak D-side to that important wedge.  The rest was the same with Keith pulling up short in that large dorito snake way.  We lost one on the break but Rainey was picked off, leaving Britt Simpson in the snake alone on that side. He crawled into their side to apply pressure.  Damage looked to plug the hole by getting out into the baby dorito in front of Britt.  Keith finally fed the snake too.  We let a second body get out in front of Britt… and then they filled the corner behind Keith…frustrating.  Tandem line between Britt and our corner was too long.  If Britt had stayed still and relaxed, we would have probably burned more time off the clock.  When he was eliminated, it allowed Damage back into the match as we were now on our heels on the back line.  Drew was caught by Keith which allowed Keith the kill on Stu. This left Mike Brown in the corner.  Mike eliminated two but the Edwards brothers closed it out. 3-1 HURRICANES

About 4 minutes are left on the clock.  Again, we couldn’t sit on our laurels and try to “cross” it up here.  If we wanted to kill the clock, we had to attack and take the fight to Damage. That is what made this layout so derivative.  Our guns were hot on the break the next point, shooting two in conjunction with a minor penalty against Damage. Joey didn’t hesitate and conceded, only knocking 10 seconds off the clock. 4-1 HURRICANES

We were up by 3 with still just under 4 minutes on the clock (last point took less than 10 secs).  Meaning Damage had to win three points in a minute each to tie… certainly within the realm of possibility. But I knew my guys were in the flow state now and should be good.  I knew if we could stuff that next point we would be golden.  But Damage had other plans.  They took the snake and center on the break which we calculated they would do.  We shot the snake and bounced the center… but then WHAMO!  My guys started walking off in droves.  It wasn’t guns on the break, it was looking into first balls… not good.  As a coach I was now thinking I needed to make sure my guys didn’t let that one get in their head…They were way ahead of me of course and were ready to get that one back. 4-2 HURRICANES

We went high probability safety with two short secondaries for zone control (the Dynasty equation is what I am calling it right now).  However, we lost one early.  Not a disaster but not optimum.  People say we were going defensive… my comment to that is that if you felt we went defensive here, you don’t understand how the field plays. One of my guys dropped his job because (I think) he was called off of it allowing Keith into the snake. I don’t think we saw it because when he does get back on the job, he is shooting the zone to protect the snake entry Keith already went through (I later confirmed this was the case).  This causes the entire team to fall. 4-3 HURRICANES

Damage had less than a minute.  Knowing this, they probably aren’t getting more than 2-3 guns up on the break.  We wanted to get guns up and make a play for the weak D-side with a runner.  We shot one on the break and made the position necessary to counter center.  Sure enough, we shot center and now had control of 50% of the field.  I was a little concerned when we lost our snake side but when the clock hit 30 and Damage hadn’t come out of pocket yet, I knew we would win it.  The last second push by the two Damage players was valiant but not enough. My guys had the wherewithal to go get that last point. 5-3 HURRICANES

VS INFAMOUS

Jamroz was a player that could get into the snake at will on day 1. We wanted to get guns on him early.  We used Daniel Camp up the gut to add that on the break force multiplier since we hadn’t been using it.  Infamous put a ball on him anyway.  But we did get the kill… so it’s a 4 on 4 off the break.  I felt we got the better of the exchange though as we got a body wide (Britt Simpson) and we eliminated theirs.  With Britt wide, that allowed Drew Bell to make his way-out D-side and go to work increasing pressure.  Infamous reacted well though and gave themselves breathing room with two quick bumps to expand their pocket a little.  We were set to where they must risk going through guns to counter now and we had one piece (Drew) that could play offense.  Drew got his inside kill which would have been Infamous’ best chance to counter.  He ended up getting clipped by the god counter because we had let off that zone control in order to go offensive with a two-sided attack (timing).  We still had the advantage with positioning but then Infamous did a great expansion move while Mike Brown’s gun was out of the fight on his crawl in the snake.  Both Mike Brown and Infamous retreated out of their respective snake locations.  (Mike Brown and I will be working in the snake some upcoming practices- he said he has a newfound respect for his snake brethren).  He backed up only to have Stuart tell him he was moving the wrong way (you have to laugh at these things)!  Good thing too because Mike worked his way back and blew the side open.  Once that happened, Stu made the right read/move and helped close the game. Infamous conceded an essentially 6-minute point. 1-0 HURRICANES

Infamous wasn’t going to change anything. It would be two at home, the Aztec D-side, the mini wall snake way on a cross, and snake.  We had a similar break but went just short in the god.  We got a minor for a hopper hit which removed both of my home players.  However, Daniel Camp was out a little wider and now we were in a position to at least kill a little clock (as well as shoot a low probability bounce shot…).  But that low probability shot landed!  4 on 3 advantage Infamous but I don’t think Sam Silberg knew where the bodies were or maybe got some bad intel.  He gave us his body.  Now we had evened the count and we knew it.  The comms from my guys on this point (Searight, Bailey, and Daniel) were stellar.  Infamous made a good counter up the center and had the drop on Daniel but missed!  Daniel said screw it and went offensive once he tracked that Nate Schroeder had retreated.  Nate tried to get it back but a heads up play by Searight took him out of the equation.  This put us in a 3 on 2 scenario with Infamous on one side of the field.  As the clock dwindled under 5 minutes, I thought to myself, relax gentlemen, make them come.  Mr. Lemanski knew the score and smartly conceded with about 4:45 on clock. 2-0 HURRICANES

Infamous recognized the situation and had plenty of time to bring the match back.  We knew we had to fight fire with fire though on this field.  And we did.  Regrettably, we ended up in a 2 on 1 (Searight being the one) and they closed it out with about a minute twenty on the clock.  Funny, because that was the average time I had calculated to win a point.  That would play into the next point. 2-1 HURRICANES

Based off what I had seen from Infamous in this match and their two previous matches, I felt we had a pretty good understanding of what they could do or rather what they wanted to do.  If we could get 5 out alive, it would be our game.  They wanted ground so we would take ground too.  Snake on break and dorito corner (this was important) with three guns up was the play.  We made it out alive.  Not only were we in position to have eyes on access points, but we were in position to counter and steal a 3rd point when possible.  Once we got under 30 seconds, I turned away and walked deeper into the pit knowing we had sealed the deal.  Especially when I saw both 1’s for Infamous being overly cautious with their probes.  When the bodies start trading at 15, again, I wasn’t watching.  I was telling the pit crew great job not realizing that Searight would get a 3 pack on Infamous to truly close the door on the match (dorito corner). 2-1 HURRICANES

VS NOTORIOUS

We had 3 wins and were guaranteed a Sunday appearance.  No matter what happened in this match, we would win the bracket.  We discussed and decided we wanted to try a few things.  What I didn’t want to happen was for the match to get out of our hands… never thought that would happen, but it did.  I didn’t want to lose but thought this is exactly what the team needed headed into Sunday.  Hey, we had dodged some bullets earlier and this one landed.  We did get to try some center plays, some rope a dope plays, some pocket guns, and our fast point play. 

Besides their guns being very well dialed, Notorious used the center well (that and we were getting sloppy in our bunkers dying out of spots).  We gave them some help with penalties which was frustrating for me.  When we lost and realized we would be playing infamous the next morning, we looked at this match figuring Infamous would pay close attention to it.  And it appeared that they did.  Notorious (and our own sloppiness) had shown some teams how to beat us.  The good news was we could control the sloppiness and we could do something regarding the “game plan”.

Highlights of this match were point 2, point 6, point 9, and point 10. Yep, those are the points we won. LOL 6-4 NOTORIOUS

QUARTER FINALS VS INFAMOUS

When you are facing a team like Infamous, you’re going to have your hands full.  Like me, Travis was getting production out of everyone, but especially guys like Barret, Jamroz, Messer, and Hall. To prepare for this match, like I said earlier, we watched our loss to Notorious and cross referenced it with the data we had on Infamous already.  We felt Infamous would watch Notorious match and incorporate some of it into their game.  So, we looked at our game plans and made a micro adjustment or two.

The first point, we both came out with an identical breakout. Both teams hit the snake, us with Searight, them with Jamroz. The caveat being Britt Simpson has full reign to counter.  And he does, acting as a stop gap to Jamroz.  As anticipated, Infamous filtered to center to ambush Searight (Messer? Anyway, just like Notorious) and uses the mini wall D-side to contain him on the outside.  We had discussed it, Searight knows it, Bailey confirms it, and now Infamous was wasting two guns on one player.  This allowed our play to develop.  (Searight almost ambushed the Infamous player first but missed his first shot).  Searight settled in and waited while Stu moved behind him in the corner.  Bailey could come off assignment and get on the straights while Drew was able to force multiply top side with Britt.  Perfect execution of the game plan so far by my guys. 

But… Britt got clipped.  This hurt but wasn’t the end of the world.  Bailey now had to shift job assignments again. He stood tall for better eyes and worked towards Drew while Stu joined Searight in the snake to punch a hole.  I got a little concerned because, I saw the line for Infamous through the middle here.  But you could tell he (Messer?) was locked in on his job and wasn’t concerned about creating an opportunity and risking it.  Great comms from Stu and Bailey by the way.  Brusselback started to come and I knew Searight would get the kill. But then he changed his mind which extended this point passed 6 minutes.  Once Brusselback dropped back, he gets clipped anyway, and I knew we had won the point.  Searight could now play freely even with Messer who was probably thinking about that meme “I’m in danger”.  Unfortunately, we lost Drew.  Then, Stuart pressed too hard.  We were in position to take a beat, think it through, but I don’t blame him.  He was trying to make something happen which is what I expect from a dynamic player like him.  Bailey did what I ask of my guys as well; when in a down body situation, try to make something happen.  Jamroz made a good heads up play and hit the buzzer while Searight had to fight too many fronts.  All good.  A well fought point.  Plenty of time to get it back. 0-1 INFAMOUS

Again, I saw no reason to change our play.  I am surprised by Infamous’ choice to go corner D-side.  We made snake and that corner can’t contest us from there…  We got Daniel into Britt’s former spot and were set up well, especially since I don’t think our opponent saw Daniel delay feed the other snake. Infamous was so focused on Searight they didn’t see the second intended threat which was Daniel.  Daniel killed two in front of Searight and then traded with his third kill.  My guys closed the gap well with appropriate repositioning based off Infamous’ last two remaining players.  Tie ball game with just over 4 minutes on the clock. 1-1 TIED

There was a high percentage that Infamous would go back to their standard play of Jamroz to snake and the rest in their safe bunkers to try a slower filter to the center, perhaps use the center tower.  Sure enough, they did.  We made one little adjustment by pulling Daniel short in the mini wall D-side since we figured they won’t fall for it again.  Searight just happened to catch that Infamous didn’t stay in the tower and went to the center wedge.  Good catch as this ultimately saves us.  I will admit Infamous beat us to the punch here and were set up well to counter.  But we had seen this before.  Guns turned out to focus on the 1’s and my guys made the appropriate adjustment to counter as well.  We went with the 3/2 linear while infamous took a 3/2 spread.  It’s a crap shoot layout and this is a great example. But what should have been a total disaster struck with Stuart getting dinked and Drew Bell forcing an unnecessary fill at the time.  I think we were around the minute fifty mark… this was one for concern as I know the longest my guys held during practice in these positions was about 2 minutes (scenario training). But we were set up a little different than the optimum spots… still…concede…?

This was gut check time.  I asked myself, do I play the numbers or concede the point knowing, on average we will need a minute twenty or greater to tie.  I rolled the dice (we are in Vegas after all) and made the decision to ride.  The personnel I had out there were solid and in relatively good position. Glad I did.  This call wasn’t math or statistics anymore.  It was faith.  And there is a difference between belief and faith.  I held my rosary, said a short prayer, and watched my guys dig out a kill at 40 seconds. Then Daniel Camp makes a SICK snap on Jamroz at 20 seconds. Daniel was eliminated but Hall got picked up by Bailey and Searight traded at 4 seconds!  They didn’t get it!

Thank you, Lord, for that blessing and thank you to my guys for their composure.  This would not be the last blessing we would receive in this match. 1-1 STILL TIED

OVERTIME

Infamous won the break shooting Drew Bell for the first time but we succeeded in getting Searight out wide to draw the gun deep and fed Daniel Camp into the D-side snake again.  Daniel knew we had to win the snake war against Jamroz and posted up.  We went short to the god but Brusselback took the center looking to shut our progress off from there.  But he was clipped by Bailey.  4 on 4.  The pit side of the field is completely blown for both teams, but we had the slight advantage with Bailey’s gun in the pit side wing.  We let Barret Spread.  I felt like we could have gotten out of the back center sooner, but I didn’t know what heat was keeping Stu put.  I felt like we squandered the opportunity for Stu or Bailey to feed the snake or at least get wider.  Stu finally got out behind Bailey into the temple (good… not a big bite… meticulous and smart).  But Barret gets to corner.  Stu gets picked up… again, had we made this decision before we let him spread, we win in regulation, I feel.  Now we were under a minute and Infamous had the 4 on 3 body advantage as well as a slight positioning advantage.  Daniel pulled back to dorito 3 to set a trap for Jamroz.  Barret takes ground but Bailey became the Great Wall of China.  Barret gets Bailey, takes a second to kill Daniel, but Searight tucked tightly in the dorito corner, commits to just protecting the buzzer at 12 seconds. Searight shoots Barret, Messer clips Searight but doesn’t follow Barret up.  Wow… dodged a bullet there too!. AND STILL TIED 1-1

1v1’s

Drew Bell spread on Cali off the break and it was the right play at first.  Drew should have shot him as Cali left the back center.  All the same Drew caught Rudolph with his first jump shot.  Cali pulls the trigger and had paint in the air for the second jump shot but it was hard to catch.  Mutual.

Daniel Camp, after taking the initiative and then letting Joe Barret press the action, shot Joe with 10 seconds left on the clock.  Legend. Enough said. Incredible composure. Well done!

SEMI FINALS VS AFTERMATH

We watched Aftermath’s match against Bears.  I’m a little nervous that it might have been misleading since they mercied the Bears 6-0.  Couple that with the fact that they seemed to have a two-dimensional approach of thinking to the layout, I was a bit anxious.  It appeared they really only had two plays and their closing was inconsistent or rather, they appeared to try to do it alone or individually.  Would they have something deeper in their repertoire?  We were about to find out.  No matter what, our approach to the field, for all intents and purposes, should cancel out their specific approach.

Their VIP side shooter from home seemed to want to shoot wide and if he missed, he would shoot the blind up center then fill out.  They liked to feed the two mini walls and look for openings or try to win a gunfight. This would offer us an opportunity to double attack our dorito side with two bodies.  Searight drew the gun out wide, Aftermath switched his gun in, Daniel fed snake, Aftermath fed the mini wall with their snake side VIP runner short in the god.  We were now in position, but Camp got picked up somehow (he couldn’t tell me where the shot came from and I couldn’t place it in game either). Jacob Searight understood how important that position was to our goal and craftily begins to sneak in to fill Daniel’s former spot.

We got a body back (I don’t know if it was Stu or Bailey who picked off Grayson Gladstone).  Again, here is a situation where I felt Stu could have filtered out behind Bailey.  Bailey was playing that lay down on the straights and just being a rock.  Drew Bell spread to help Searight and we missed a shot on an Aftermath player (maybe a bounce?).  Searight finally got in and Stu spread behind Bailey.  Now, I’m somewhat happy in the pits… Stu got wide and fed Bailey underneath into the snake.  Yes, now we are cooking.  That was the set up that we wanted and needed.  We had penetration on both sides, but Searight was on their side of the field.  Aftermath must fight the wide fronts.  This allowed Stu to do what Stu does.  Work the center to close.  Once Bailey killed the Aztec in front of him, they scrambled into our guns.  A solid composed first point. 1-0 HURRICANES  

Aftermath went with their standard breakout with one adaptation and that was to the first big dorito.  That’s a hard gap and he got dinked.  We were essentially mirrored, and we had the one body advantage.  Once Daniel and Drew fed forward and out, Aftermath’s one in the god was pretty stuck.  That allowed Bailey to get on the straights and work with Searight.  Aftermath’s one in the god decided to gunfight into two guns and got caught.  Aftermath is quick to fill the Aztec behind that god loss but we now have a 5 on 3 body advantage along with a one-point lead and the clock was ticking.  I would be happy if we fed both snakes again at that point, wrap and trap, and make them concede.  Stu again had an untimely death, but Searight and Camp finally got on their horses and fed both snakes. I’m surprised the horn wasn’t blown sooner as Searight politely put 1-2 on the last Aftermath player. 2-0 HURRICANES

Aftermath figured they might as well go to the D-side snake on the break but didn’t make it.  Again, that’s a big gap for the home to shoot especially when you show it on the box and run high to the mini wall.  However, they finally committed past the god, which is what actually prolongs the point AND, should have won them the point too!  Castro has Daniel Camp and Drew Bell dead to rights and missed.  Castro finally got Daniel. Drew Bell tried to counter but threw his body away.   It was looking good for Aftermath, but they slept on Searight. He shot Castro from the opposite snake and then turned to go to work.  Aftermath’s dorito corner almost saved the point from Searight but missed as well.  Woodruff made a heads up play and tried to flip the field.  Mike Brown recognized it and countered by repositioning to back center to at least keep Woodruff honest.  What unfolded next was pretty spectacular.  Searight knew he had one body in front of him.  He backed up to where he can see both sides of the bunker in front of him and posts.  Sure enough, Grayson Gladstone launched on the highway and Searight caught him.  Gladstone missed Searight as I am sure he thought he would be elsewhere.  Aftermath made a desperation move inside, Mike Brown made the call, that Aftermath player gets eliminated by Searight. 3-0 HURRICANES

With less than 2 minutes on the clock we made one adjustment to ensure we got 5 bodies out alive without sacrificing guns on the break and it paid off.  Kill two Aftermath on the break.  5 on 3, we don’t have to do anything… made them come to us into the meat grinder.  We drew a minor but so did Aftermath.  Chaos there at the end. I didn’t envy the refs on this field. We will take it.

FINALS VS SAN DIEGO DYNASTY

Dynasty came out of a grinder bracket.  They were looking like the champions they are, and I don’t see why anyone would think any different.  We certainly didn’t have it easy during our tournament journey, not just because of our opponents but because of ourselves.  If we could fix the one or two mistakes we kept making, if we could process the scramble a little quicker, and keep our guns hot winning the breakout… we could win the event.  That’s what I was telling myself.  Yes, that is a lot of things when going up against the dragon but at no point was I doubtful that we would do these things.  We must, there is no other way to win.  That’s the difference maker in the pro division… processing speed and mistake free paintball.  Usually, the person who makes the first mistake pays for it.

I have heard the speculation that the moment might have been too much for us.  Whereas it is true this is our first trip to a finals match in the pro division, it isn’t our first trip to a finals match.  My guys did not feel any different than before any other match.  Yes, it was for all the marbles.  Didn’t change anything.  It doesn’t matter who we play or when we play them, we have to win.  Its so simple and people who make that part of the game, I get it… but it wasn’t an issue here. Again, I can understand those who thought it might have played a part.

I do want to address something that I heard over and over again this past week or so.  Why did we go defensive against Dynasty when we were up points?  I have a question in return… what match were you watching?  It wasn’t that we went defensive.  Dynasty’s guns got hot on the break and our processing slowed down.  They shot our attack on the break.  And our “attacks” were injured too.  My hat is off to my ones who were running their butts off and giving me everything I asked of them and then some.  Now, if you want to say we squandered some opportunities to have additional offense/aggression, that is where we will have common ground.  That is essentially where our “foot came off the gas” but I wouldn’t say we were defensive.  We gave every ounce of what we had left… and made some mistakes in the scramble. If you really want to dumb it down, it came down to two points. Choose any two points of regulation that we lost, give me one guy that stays alive for 5-6 seconds longer… and we would win 4-3 in regulation. Woulda, coulda, shoulda. It wasn’t our time. But we will get there.

Proud of my guys.  They played well.  They recognize what is in front of them this season.  It will not be easy. As Jocko Willink would say, “Good…”

Lao Tzu said that, “The key to growth is the introduction of higher dimensions of consciousness into our awareness.”  The Canes are aware now. And we are redefining our goals for the season.

Our journey is never ending. There has to be growth, there has to be improvement.  And it will most certainly come with and from some adversity.  We have to live in each of these moments and learn from them.  We must strive to do what is right and virtuous… the winning will come.

“If you aspire to the highest place, it is no disgrace to stop at the second…” – Cicero

Be water my friends.

Critical Mass… or is it?

zenandtheartofpaintball3 Comments

How many of you take stock at the end of the season with your own introspection?  What do I mean by this… put plainly, do you or did you take the time to truly examine your own mental and emotional processes.  Did they serve you well during the season?  Did you falter at some point?  If so, why, and how did you address it? This should be done after each practice, each event, each performance, and not just at the end of the season in my opinion.

Did you go back and watch tape?  Did you go back and read notes?  Did you even take notes? Did you track what you were doing, how you were doing it, and why?  What was working and wasn’t working throughout the season?

If you aren’t doing this or something similar to it, you are probably failing yourself as a player… and most certainly as a coach. That is the first point I wanted to make.

But I want to get into something way more introspective, maybe even a little controversial, and heavy. But, hey, this is my blog and if you don’t agree or don’t like it, kick rocks and pound sand. I’m feeling called to talk about this so here we go.

If you have followed me for any amount of time, you have heard me quote the stoics at least once… Outside of my Catholic faith (but not necessarily mutually exclusive), I try to live by the stoic principles of life.  If I were to sum up the stoic mindset, it would be that we are how we react to experiences.

Socrates said, “Let him that would move the world first move himself.”

“I am not Socrates… and that’s okay.” – photo courtesy of Fava Photography

But what is the opposite of this?  What is the counter to a person who tries to be the best version of themselves and where can that counter come from?  And why does it rear its ugly head?  If you don’t or haven’t experienced this, outstanding!  If you do, perhaps what I am going to share will help in some small manner.

I am very critical of myself.  More so than with my players.  I hold myself to a standard that, when I feel I have not met it, I become supercharged, almost rabid about trying to “fix” or improve it. In some cases, carelessly so. After all, I am only human. 

I have met people who are similar but don’t have my response. In fact, they have quite the opposite response and you are seeing it become quite prevalent in many of the younger generation. And that is what I want to talk about. It is easy to fall for that inner voice that sows doubt, confusion, and distress.  But what is that?  What is that really?

I was recently exposed to several people like this over the past few months and didn’t realize it until I had a conversation with my wife. So I started reading about it.  In Psychology, there is a phrase called the “critical inner voice”.  It is defined as “… a well-integrated pattern of destructive thoughts toward ourselves and others.”  It’s that voice in your head that leads you to detrimental behaviors or keeps us from avoiding the effort it would take to improve.

I am going to try and apply this to Paintball. Recognizing that you are being too critical of yourself, or your team is difficult but important.  There has to be a balance with criticism, a point that isn’t necessarily crossed.  No, I am not saying you need to be nice or to act or speak about how “everything will be okay.”  I am simply saying we should try to recognize that there may be factors outside of what is really happening that are adversely affecting you or the player or the team’s performance that you may not immediately recognize or see.  THIS IS NOT AN EXCUSE.  I hate excuses. This is recognizing a problem, albeit a convoluted and mysterious one, and trying to solve it.

Criticism is important as long as it is constructive. It doesn’t have to be harsh…

How many of you have said to yourself, “I suck at this.”?  Why?  Did someone tell you were bad at a thing?  Was that person a subject matter expert on this thing or perhaps someone with authority or position?  Did they somehow set a bar that you didn’t immediately meet?  Did they express disappointment and gave up on you?

I will share a personal story with you.  Several years ago, I was told that I wasn’t very good at paintball.  As a matter of fact, I was told, “We can’t win with you on the field, but we can’t win without you at the event.”  I didn’t agree… at all.  And I knew better.  All that did was motivate me, drive me, and believe it or not, that was the catalyst that led to the creation of http://www.Zenandtheartofpaintball.com.

That is an example of an external voice but what about the internal ones…the ones we create.  The external voices from our past can certainly create the internal voices of today.   That devil on your shoulder telling you all the negative things about yourself is a manifestation of some earlier experience.  I’ll share another personal story.  When the New Orleans Hurricanes won the pro spot at the end of ’21, I had an inner voice telling me, “This is a WHOLE different level.  You can’t coach at this level.  You are going to make mistakes and they will be on the webcast for all to see… and they’re all going to laugh at you.  Zen and the art of paintball… ha!  No one thinks the Canes’ can compete at the pro level!  And everyone thinks your processes and your blog are stupid.”

That voice was LOUD.  But that’s all it was… noise.  I would do my best and continue to learn and grow with the team.  And that’s what I did. I doubled down on my thoughts, procedures and processes. And my team doubled down with me and supported me with their incredible minds and work ethic as well. I/we shut that voice up.

When Matty Marshall first asked me up into the booth to commentate (and each time since actually), here came that voice… “You are going to sound or say something stupid.  And then you will become an internet meme. You will no longer be taken seriously!”

I believe this was my 3rd time in the booth. Learned a lot from these two gentlemen, and continue to do so

Yet Matty keeps asking me up.  And that voice has been awfully quiet.  Sure, I hear it way in the distance but I enjoy commentating with Matty and all the cool cats I get to commentate with. I learn so much when I am up there. I look forward to it now because it is an opportunity to learn and, let’s face it, it can be a lot of fun.

When my friend Ryan Gray asked me to do a podcast with him, there came a chorus of voices!  “You are not on the same level as this man or any of the other professional coaches for that matter.  You will be exposed when they hear how you do things, and you will be laughed at by everyone. Not only that, but this is not your radio days, you have a FACE for radio and now you will be on camera.  So not only will you sound stupid, you will look stupid too.”

That voice was with me at the first show having just come off a 1-3 performance at Cup. But the more I listened to my friends, constituents, and the other coaches, I realized they weren’t much different from me. I haven’t heard it since. I look forward to each and every show now. The thing we fear is rarely the monster we make it out to be.

We all have our heroes.  Whether they are a family member, a musician, an actor, a friend, a literary character, what have you… they are our heroes because they were able to DO something, OVERCOME something, SUCCEED at or ACCOMPLISH something.  Now they may have been able to do it without adversity or criticism or made it look easy… but I promise you, at one point, they had a doubt or hurdle that they had to overcome. Heck, my heroes had to overcome HORRORS!

Coach Ryan Gray and author Mike Bianca (Zen) – check us out on our Podcast “The Coaches Show”

Here’s my point.  What is the difference between the hero and the coward?  It’s simple really, the hero acts.  That’s it, that’s the difference.  They both experience fear but one simply doesn’t let it control him. Read that again.

I believe that leadership and accountability start at the top.  The coach is responsible for how the team prepares and ultimately performs. The buck stops here.  So, that inner voice has told me plenty of times that I couldn’t hack it.  True story, I have been told that A LOT through out my life.  But like I have always done, I fought back.  But before I could, I had to recognize a few things.

Where was this doubt, this critical thought process of my capabilities, coming from? Oh, I knew.  It was like clockwork. When I set out to do something and didn’t succeed at first, I was usually told by someone, (whether that was a family member, a friend, or heck, myself!) “You can’t hack it… move on, do something else.  You aren’t built for this or that.”  But if you truly want something, you will find a way.  Otherwise you will find an excuse. And what do we think of excuses?

According to Marcus Aurelius, the rules of a stoic mind are as follows:

  1. Keep an untroubled spirit.
  2. Look things in the face and know them for what they are.
Marcus had an epic beard and Aaron Pate hair…

The ancient stoics didn’t let hardships throw them off balance.  Instead, they looked at situations objectively.  They were able to understand them and recognize them for what they really were… not what their emotions made them out to be.  That’s why we must develop the strength to not immediately jump to conclusions.  We should not LEAD with emotions.  We must be disciplined in our approach.  If we can do that, we can keep that critical inner voice in check and our spirit untroubled, but more importantly, keep our judgement sharp. 

But what if you are struggling on this front? What if that critical inner voice is starting to grow loud and, God forbid, win out? The first thing you need to understand and recognize is that voice is NOT a moral compass. It is not a conscience or anything of the sort. If it were, it certainly wouldn’t be so negative. No, that voice is the enemy. And just like an enemy, it must be beaten, conquered, and diminished to never be a threat again! Once you become cognitive of this, you can challenge it and you can defeat it. Know thy enemy. You are in control and you can now act against that voice and what it is advocating. Take back what is yours and actively pursue your own improvement and happiness. No one needs to be a victim unless you actively choose to be. Look at Epictetus, a famous stoic… he was born into slavery but they could not chain his mind… imagine that kind of power.

You can do this.  If I can, anyone can.  Now… go get some.

Be water my friends

NXL Sunshine State Major 2023 Recap

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When the draw was first released, I was very pleased. I knew that if we could get through that crucible of a prelims to start the season off, it would not only be a good event, but set the stage for the rest of the season for the squad. Getting tested early is always a good thing.
Here is how I looked at it. Heat was the #2 team in the world headed into this event and I wanted them first. They would be a great test early on for our unorthodox approach to the layout. We had Revo next. I also wanted to catch them early. Revo is one of those teams that usually the deeper you meet them, the better they are. Obviously Mark Johnson’s power moves in the off season with AC Diesel would make for a rather difficult test for our sophomore debut. And finally, my friends Shane Pestana and Mike Paxson coaching and rebuilding the Ironmen was going to be a “hum-dinger” for sure.

There were two ways to play this field successfully in my view. Knowing where your opponent is and where he wants to be is an important aspect of the game (duh). My approach to this particular layout was you either took ground early and aggressively, then permeated and let your opponent fight his way to you, forcing moves, or you sat back, let things develop a little, and then threw a well planned/timed counter punch. This concept of mine was initially met with some consternation from my guys. And that was understandable. We like data and knowing where people are for zone control, counter punching, and offense. But you couldn’t always know where an opponent was on this field. Sure, you had an IDEA…but you didn’t really know for sure until you did and even then, he may have switched positions seconds later. So, we had to make fear of the unknown our ally. And we did. We did this through intelligent assumption (we will say deductive reasoning) and focusing on our communication. With the right discipline and comms, the guys would discern the data.

Vs Houston Heat

We wanted to get a little aggressive the first point. We pushed dorito side. The penalty on Stuart Ridgel was absolute horse manure. I watched him from the pit because he and I discussed getting his gun up and moving from center up into the center aztec to make a read. When he went into the bunker he steps on a ball and it squirts paint up on the back of his left thigh. I know this because I watched it happen. I thought the ref was headed in to wipe him off…
Anytime you are in a 2 body deficit against Heat, it is grim. Time was important on this field (I had determined 70% “slow” and 30% “fast” at the previous weekend’s practice) so when we lost Britt almost 3 minutes after the penalty, I figured I’d give my guys a few seconds to dig a surprise kill out, especially when the two are Drew Bell and Aaron Pate. Heat did press but I decided to get 5 guys back out there and start fresh. 0-1.

Our guns on break and zone control gave us a 2 body advantage on the next point. Then we began our slow meticulous squeeze. My guys didn’t get in a hurry, understood their roles and what needed to happen when we drop the d side. On this field, just because a side was blown did not mean there were not threats. However, we also know that if you are in that position, you will want to spread if possible. We positioned appropriately and made Heat fight too many fronts. 1-1.

The next point ultimately decided the outcome of the match. Both teams traded bodies early from key positions creating a 4 on 4. Heat established a center presence early but Mike Brown’s discipline on his job was outstanding. Unfortunately, MB got caught (hey, it happens) creating a 3 on 3 scenario. And this is where I feel the deciding factor took place in the match. Sam Monville’s patience can only be described as extraordinary. It’s almost as if he was wearing a Canes jersey. He became a part of that bunker. And, as was apt to happen on this field, we lost a body in the scramble and didn’t piece his position together. The guys would tell me later where they thought he was. The clock continued to dwindle. At one point, I got pretty excited because Sam did come off his post and went inside for a moment. When Nic did decide to go, I thought to myself, he knows and is going to stick Sam! He did not.This point I feel would be completely different if Nic traded or we knew where Sam was to begin with. Lesson learned (and discussed at length)

We were now forced to press into the guns with 1 minute left. We actually made our spots but our snake side attack looked into the first ball once there. The coup de gras was another minor, this one legit. A good chess match but penalties killed us. Two penalties and a loss by two. Coincidence? Probably not. But that’s my story and I’m sticking with it. Britt Simpson would have pulled off a point stealing run if there would have been 2-3 more seconds on the clock in the final breakout. Heat wins 3-1.

Vs Baltimore Revo

We never played Revo in our rookie season last year. I always thought it would be an interesting match up of styles. We only had a chance to scout their match against AC Diesel, and even then it was while we were playing. Even with the limited data, we were able to extrapolate a rough conceptual idea. Then it was a matter of addressing that concept with our own approach. Like I said earlier, Revo is one of those teams that gets better as the event goes. Revo liked to get those guns up D side with a pocket shooter (I think they used Benny Carrol for this) so we thought on the first point, we should take advantage of that. Revo won some first engagement shots though and went up bodies early. They were quick to their secondaries too, much faster than in their first match (good adjustment). They made some good reads and upped the aggression. My guys quickly adjusted to slow things down and assess that first point but Revo found the hole. 0-1.

Next point we wanted to spread and see. We lost one on the break but we get one back due to an over eager Revo player. Coupled with the data we already had, this was really the point that gave me the insight we needed. They wanted to control the center. Zone control with over-watch gave us another kill. First engagement issues continued to plague us but we closed the point out. 1-1

The next point our play goes a little south as we lost two on the break but we evened it up almost immediately based off the hole Revo showed. Then Stuart Ridgel did some Stuart Ridgel stuff. This man is quickly becoming elite and if his dissection of that close out didn’t show it, I don’t know what else you have to do. 2-1

*Zen note – Just a personal opinion here and I am obviously biased but my thought is he should have got move of the prelims and the $500 cash. It is move of the prelims, not “scenario move” of the prelims. Nothing against Askren but if you don’t know to run your ass down the field with 10 seconds left to try and steal a point, your PB IQ is deficient. But if you can single handedly figure out how to do a 3 pack clean against Revo… that’s DOING something and shows a high in game processing speed.

I decided to get aggressive snake side and see Revo’s reaction. They reacted well but this allowed us to put an asset in position right behind our initial goal and create tension for the center, which is what Revo wants to control. But, best laid plans seldom survive first contact. We peeled one off but lost Nic. Stu played savior once again and traded. Even if he hadn’t, it’s a 2v2 and we were in position where we could burn the clock since we were up 1. However, it was not necessary as Stu did get his trade and we closed it out. 3-1

Still plenty of time on the clock. As the Hurricanes have proven several times this year, the clock is an integral part of the game. Knowing Revo wanted to get that extra gun up, we wanted to try pressing the issue again D side and it paid off. We got a kill on the break and established a heavy D presence off the rip. The beauty of this was, if/when my D side attacker makes it, now they HAD to contend with his presence and they could only do that from one of a few locations (based off their breakouts). If he wasn’t successful, I still felt confident we would kill off time. Couple that with Revo having to push, this would offer us opportunities to intercept them. The asset up front in conjunction with the spread created a win/win scenario. That successful D side run and the short snake presence allowed us to really stymie any aggression from Revo. Then the “Bash Brothers” pull one of their patented “make coach pee himself a little” moves… but it actually ended up working out. Revo doesn’t see Drew join Britt in his bunker. Britt’s gun was inside making Revo think, okay, there he is, and allows Drew to peel two off. 4-1

Revo called a timeout since they only had 3-4 minutes to score 3 points and/or reduce the point spread. There was a small misunderstanding on the box for the Canes. Yes, we had a conversation about it in the pit afterwards but as a coach, you certainly don’t want to let your team dwell on something like that. Especially since I felt I was accountable for not being more clear and concise in my explanation of what I wanted. Move on, next point. Revo did a good job and took advantage to get the point with just over 2 minutes left on the clock. 4-2.

In the final point of the match, we wanted to contest them with a center presence and take the corners in case it didn’t work out. We shot two on the break but they eliminated our center presence. At that point I knew it was in the bag because of positioning. My guys don’t have to engage but can control a zone. A Revo player tried to get creative D side, it didn’t pay off, leaving the two remaining Revo players with a heavy lift of pushing into 3 disciplined Hurricane guns. A trade happened snake side leaving it a 2 on 1, Hurricane’s favor. Pate re-positions to snake corner and Johnny’s your uncle. Canes win 4-2.

One and one for the day. Both our matches were afternoon (2 and 4pm). The next day though we were looking at an 11:20 am match followed by a 4 pm match. That is a LOT of downtime. So we got together for a team meeting, did our homework on Diesel and Ironmen, and then developed our logistics for the next day. We also knew we would have an opportunity to scout the Ironmen one more time. With our plans set, we went to sleep feeling rather confident.

VS AC Diesel

I felt like Mark had respect for us and would not be flippant about our match. We anticipated a slow grind. We wanted to set the pace and drag them into the deep end of the pool with our style of play. We had a good understanding of the field and we wanted to leverage that. But we also felt like they would adjust. It is always a crap shoot day 2 on what your first opponent on day two will present. First point, we got our guns up, got 5 out alive in an effort to assess and counter. As expected, when Diesel saw an opportunity they capitalized. We lost some gun fights but now we were smarter for it. For this particular field, you didn’t necessarily have to engage. We decided to spread and assess again. Small hiccup to begin with but it pays off. Tie ball game. 1-1

We knew there was a statistical probability they were going to spread the next point, it was just a matter of who we were going to pick on off the break. The paint shot straight and true and we found ourselves with a 4 on 2 advantage pretty quick. Knowing we had the higher probability of going up a point while burning clock, Diesel smartly conceded the point to get 5 fresh back out there. And why wouldn’t you? On paper, you had to think to yourself, “AC’s best 5 versus the Canes best 5, AC wins the majority of the time.” But people said that all last year to us. We would just smile and think, keep telling yourself that, it’s eventually going to bite you in the ass, develop lockjaw, and drag you to death. 2-1 Canes

Again, we determine Diesel wanted to stack that snake side. We decided to spread the field with a free wheeler. Their stack would determine where our free wheeler would become a force multiplier. Sure enough, Diesel conceded the d-side, content to hold and stacked the snake side. We contained d side essentially with one gun (a risk but based off 2 days of playing and watching the layout, it seemed worth it). Once the widest D side fell, it forced their home to plug the hole and turn a gun from snake side to contend. Thing is, we weren’t in a hurry. We had the advantage and we were going to make them work for it at this point. And our free wheeler never had to really commit to anything. My guys won some good gun fights too. 3-1

It was obvious now, even with the time left, they would now try to get out D side. Nico was out there so we were confident in the call. We put two guns on it and it paid off. Interesting fact, I am pretty sure we shot that player in the D side can 2-3 different times but the ref could never find the hit. The guys didn’t get rattled though, maintained composure and let that clock roll while nullifying any potential counter push. Spicka tried a desperation move up the center. No go. I was hoping Greg Pauley would let it go a little longer but he is too smart for that. 4-1.

Up by 3, there was still a lot of time on that clock. And with the roster we were facing, you couldn’t count them out. So we had to be smart. We were in X-ball and felt confident in the game plan. But again, that’s where things can get sideways sometimes. And this would be one of those times. We knew they would be aggressive off the break to an extent. We decided to shoot wide and set up to contain. We lost one of our containment shooters on the break though which allowed them to get two bodies to join their center push from the break. We made a valiant counter but not quite enough. 4-2

We had to ask ourselves an important question, would it be best to get 5 bodies out alive and concede ground or fight fire with fire? We chose fire. We make our goal for the point by getting wide and far d side which should slow any progress through center/snake. But we lost Pate on the break from a key spot for the game plan. This made Stu have to come off his assignment and get snake way to help Nic. Either way, once we were set, I felt we were really in position to dictate the point. The break down happened when our D side presence comes off his assignment (he was asked to check something and he trusts his teammate). Once that happened, it allowed two Diesel players to reposition. We actually bounced the one who shifted out to the dorito… it’s a different point I feel if that ball broke (woulda coulda shoulda). We picked up A-rod’s move to get wider on D side. But Britt had to get small at first and was forced to re-engage Mark Johnson in the center. Mark got a ball on him which opened the hole. They got lucky again when Nic bounces Mouse at the snake 50. How lucky? With Mouse’s second life, he peeled off Drew Bell creating a 2 on 1. Mark closed the point out with about 50 seconds left. 4-3

Now they had to come. What would a team’s best access points be down the field? If you aren’t practicing 60 second points, you’re doing it wrong. We knew what we would do in that situation so we prepared to repel it. We made positions 5 alive and once that happened, I knew we were solid with the win. We shot one on the break which helped as well. I preach discipline to the point of nausea. If they were able to get through a line who only had one job, I would be impressed. We hold on with 5 alive and they lost everyone. 4-3

What I didn’t tell my guys was how, inside, I was a little disappointed we had tossed that spread away from a seeding perspective. Would have been nice to have a plus 6 at the end of the day… that’s called “foreshadowing”.

VS Ironmen

My guys were focused during the downtime , staying hydrated, getting some food, keeping out of the sun, and watching some games. We had to beat the Ironmen. We had watched Heat send Diesel home earlier that afternoon. If the Ironmen beat us, they would take the heads up and go on to Sunday. We had data on them but they were kind of everywhere. There were holes in their game but they were random and difficult to pinpoint. We felt that we had better comms and discipline though and decided to leverage that. We tried a goal oriented play D side first point. Interestingly enough, they ran an almost identical play. The only difference being we took advantage first. They did appear to have had two of their players doing the same job though. What didn’t help was my friend on the Ironmen, Mike McGowan, slips a shot in on Britt and in an effort to fill the spot before the men can react Drew Bell quite literally pulls a Goldberg from WWE and speared Britt on his way into Britt’s former bunker! This caused Drew to get shot. So now our D side presence was blown. Ridgel pulled the “get the hell out of dodge” card but gets it declined at check out while Nic decided, hey, we got nothing to lose – full send! Point one to Ironmen. 0-1.

After a short discussion about a PB show from a few years ago called “The Short Bus”, I got my guys refocused on the task at hand. We understood where the domino fell and went back to basics. We would spread and make the appropriate reads/counter based off the Ironmen. Low and behold, we have the same idea again as both teams spread but the Ironmen struck first shooting our wide D side. However, Ironmen dropped a zone and we got back out wide to contest as well as get an asset in place to support. At the same time, we took just enough ground snake side to keep their D side wary. It seemed as if the Men forgot the shadows get long at this time of day (as a team we had discussed using this). Aaron Pate did use that to make a counter digging out a kill from the center. Then it appeared the Ironman in the snake side brick panicked a little and tried a desperation run through to dig out Pate. But over-watch by Drew Bell snuffed that idea out. Head on a swivel, Pate took up zone control and caught another Ironman over extending. We were now in a 4 on 3 body advantage and were in position to counter push which we did. A mistake by the last Ironmen player got them a major. This not only tied us up but put us on the power play next point with a two body advantage. 1-1.

I knew the moment they lost the first body Shane and Pax would concede the point giving us the 2-1 lead with 4-5 minutes left. So I told my guys to go out, make the primaries we have identified and make the point last. We actually shot their D side runner on the break (damn it!) but the concession didn’t come. Or so I thought as it did about 10 seconds later. I got that they were hoping we would get into a feeding frenzy and run down to our deaths or draw a penalty. When it became apparent we weren’t going anywhere, they conceded. 2-1.

With just over 5 minutes on the clock and Shane/Pax at the wheel, I found myself honestly a little stumped. I decided to take a little ground snake side and put my other guys in position to contain and counter easily. Sure enough, the Men took snake brick, the center wedge, and the d side wedge. I watched the Ironmen player wrap inside the snake brick and launch to our center/snake wedge. As he did this, I saw a hit come off his shoulder. I don’t know if it was one my guys or one of his own. But what I saw did, in fact happen, since a ref ran in and a flag went up. This left the Ironmen with one body up the center and two across the back line. My guys now understood we are up 5 bodies to 3 with a 1 point advantage. We don’t have to force the issue but allowed the Men to kill themselves as the clock dwindled down. The Center brick got crafty but his shadow gave him away. He made the mistake of popping the top and got eliminated. The remaining two Ironmen were still in the back. With the body advantage and the lead, Shane/Pax conceded the point leaving about 2 and half minutes in the match. 3-1.

With just over 2 minutes left, we knew if we could get wide, we should be able to seal the deal. We got out 5 alive and I looked at everyone in the pit and said, “Game”. We had a single snake side gun controlling the snake side entrance and an Ironmen ran into it. Their home decided to spread wide going behind the first D side can to the d side corner. He and his teammate in the inset D side can both get eliminated. This left snake side wedge and the snake side “block”. Wedge (Gomez maybe?) moved to snake side brick. So, not only are they down bodies but essentially linear. Turns out that snake side block was Al Fernandez and he moved to snake side wedge. No longer linear but still not optimum (what can you do though?). We shot Gomez and then Al. With the heads up play, Nic Ripple rushed in for the point to help with margin.

Vs Los Angeles Infamous

We went home and did our homework. We had set the goal to make Sunday for this event. Now that we were there, the next goal was to win our first match. We had made Sunday twice last season but lost our first match each time. We were determined not to let that happen again. The more I looked at Infamous’ tape, it was obvious they were highly aggressive on this layout, taking ground early and with speed. And why not when you have that type of speed. But after further study, it became apparent their approach essentially consisted of wanting to use the two center bricks to cross up defensively and let their other three “play around” in the back. Remember at the beginning of this, I said their were two ways to play the field? Yeah, they were most definitely the first approach. So we decided to take Lao Tzu’s approach to this match. “An army that cannot yield will be defeated. A tree that cannot bend will crack in the wind. The hard and stiff will be broken; the soft and supple will prevail.” We decided to concede that positioning since it appeared the way they played was to simply take away the head of the snake and the dorito 2-3 gap. Okay… we won’t go there. We will set traps since you are basically taking two of your guns out of the fight leaving us 5 guns to pick on the 3 behind them.

I know what you are thinking. Boring! Yes, you are absolutely right. But our goal was to win. If I see something we can exploit, a win is a win. Say what you want about that match but it was a controlled chess match. The guys executed perfectly. And we had the pieces on the board standing at the end of it.

We knew our basic set up was a good way to control the Infamous approach. And we knew EXACTLY what Infamous would do (scouting and statistical analysis for the win). So that’s what we did. Sure enough, Infamous came out hard straight to the snake 50 brick. They also positioned the center/d side wedge player who would want to go inside to the center 50 brick. The easiest to isolate was the wedge and he was the first to die. We then spread because, with that wedge eliminated, the snake side brick can’t stop the counter very well. The risk was worth it. We let them spread D side too though. Because we knew that snake side brick wanted to control the 2-3 dorito gap, we snuck into the dorito side to keep their dorito player honest and ensure that Snake side brick STAYED that way allowing us access to him. Stuart made the read, saw the opportunity and got the elimination. If that hadn’t worked, the goal was set to get another gun out behind our first dorito and bully the crossed snake side gun (there was a bounce shot). Their dorito presence somewhat stifled that though. Stu then carefully set another trap with a tactical retreat (we had worked this a few times at practice to good success). Regrettably, Stu misses the opportunity as Infamous got crafty D side and dug one of our dorito side attackers out. Opportunity missed, Stu tries to get clever by resetting to our secondary plan…but just a little too much as Brusselback wrapped on his blocked out creeping (he showed just a smidge and Tim got the shot). But in order to get that shot on Stu, Tim exposed himself and gets eliminated as well.

What took place next is textbook. We didn’t have to worry about margin. A win was a win at this point. So we took our time piecing things together with our snake corner staying in reserve if necessary. Infamous had both corners. We owned the snake, the snake corner, and Dorito 4. Pate became aggressive because he was out of paint. I’m pretty sure all 5 remaining players were anemic on paint as the shooting was quite sporadic. Comment of the event though was the question posed by Nic to Pate. “Pate, do you want me to get in the snake now?” In typical Pate fashion, he responded with, “Hell yes I do”. This is because Nic was no longer needed for reserve and we could now press the advantage. Mike Brown’s presence was a thorn so Infamous smartly tries to progress down the D side but Nic had begun crawling forward and had the infamous player’s side. Nic scalped him. This happened at almost 10 minutes in! This created a 3 on 1 Canes advantage and Travis was quick to towel. 1-0

We knew this is when Infamous would send Sam and Zack to the two center bricks. Were the rolls reversed, this would have been the play. It was time to implement and execute our pre-planned response. I gave the audible from the pit to the box when I saw Sam and Zack line up (we had a call ready for this). They went right where we called it. Their two center players shot a lot of paint at gaps that no one was going to go through. And because we knew to control the wides behind them, they couldn’t really generate an attack. It also allowed our back center to play tall, pick shots and see the field. He shot their snake side tower followed by the dorito corner. Three Infamous players now had to push into 5 zoned guns and they got chopped up. We actually had the time to hit the buzzer but it wasn’t necessary. We wanted to be respectful.

Milestone and goal #2 reached.

Vs New York Xtreme

Similar to Infamous, Xtreme really played the layout aggressively and fast. Yyou had to respect it because it appeared they were doing it with significant success. They really worked in the off season and it showed. It was like a whole new team out there. But we had scouted them and felt we had the right game plan to beat them.

And our game plan looked solid the first point in. 1-0

That second point was a friggin bloodbath of a knife fight but Nic Ripple said not today satan. 2-0

Nothing is ever in the bag, especially with this layout, with that much time left, against a Sunday quarters pro team.

The third point we know they will go center brick with the route through the center. I put Drew bell off the right hand side of the home to shoot that lane. Xtreme shot our dorito corner runner but we definitely shot their center brick runner. Our entire pit saw it happen. Ref runs in and calls it rub… jeez. Okay. Fine. We tied the body count up by shooting Cantor. About 3 mnutes went by and we ended up losing our dorito side can when Corey Hall and Drew trade. But Xtreme has Cantor in our 40. He could have closed it out sooner as our center line was exposed (I was chewing gum vigorously hoping he wouldn’t think of or see the line). Around 4 minutes left, Cantor and Caro figured it out. Both Pate and Camp got peeled quickly followed by Nic. They hit the buzzer with 3:45 left. 2-1

NYX’s guns were solid on the next point as we lost two on the break. We took Pat Kraft out of the center too. But Xtreme capitalized on the kills by quickly and efficiently taking ground. My boys held tough and Drew Bell took 2 of them with him. We both decided to wait the clock out and let the overtime point decide it. 2-2.

I felt confident we were going to take this match. The play call was good, we were set up for success. Lot to dissect on what happened that overtime point… but not today. This is long enough as it is.

Congratulations to NYX making top 4! A tremendous amount of growth. Mad respect to that crew. And of course, congrats to Dynasty.

I have this theory that I was told sometime ago. It is called the ratio of thirds. It’s for when you are chasing a goal or doing anything difficult or hard:

A third of the time you’re going to feel absolutely great… on top of the world, all is going well, you are seeing what you want and need to see.
A third of the time you’re going to feel “okay”… not great, not bad, its not a bad spot or a good spot, you’re just kinda there.
And then, a third of the time you’re going to feel like crap. Nothing is going right, you’re frustrated, you aren’t seeing or feeling or hearing what you need.

It’s a cycle and it repeats… sometimes. But I would argue that, if you maintain this ratio, you’re actually doing pretty well.

You might think the Canes are feeling “okay” about this event or maybe even “crappy”. But you would be wrong. We feel great. We finished last season in 11th place and a 3rd tier team after working our way up from 5th tier. We made Sunday this first event and met another milestone by winning our wild card match on Sunday morning. Lots to be happy with. We know there is more work to do but we look forward to it. We are up for the challenge and can’t wait for the next test. See you in Texas.

Be water my friends.