Monday, July 17, 2023

The captains have agreed to follow AQI forecast from Accuweather when the air quality is in question, and further agreed to cancel games if the AQI is forecast to be above 125. Tonight, the Accuweather forecast was for AQI of 118. Weather Underground forecast the AQI would be 134 - above the captains' agreed threshold. Dan also brought his own AQI meter to the field, and it registered... in the 160s! Yeah, the air was hazy and bad, but that may actually have had less of an impact on games than the field itself. After starting the season with the Kiln's turf hard as a rock, the recent rains have brought the Kiln back to its usual swampy sog - especially on the far side of the field away from the sidelines. So, all in all, not our best conditions of the season, but the games happened anyway.

Best Fronds had many leaves at the early game, while the Sky Bison herd was only six at the first pull of the disc. The game's points were long and there were many break opportunities. It was nearing 7PM when Fronds took half with a narrow lead, including a lovely score to Cassandra. The Bison made the most of a strong second half, however, and came away with the win 13-10, hard cap. Best Fronds have put together some impressive first halves, and it is only a matter of time before they complete the deal in the second.

In prime time, Black Pepper and Bottomless Mimosas squared off in a battle of seasonings versus sips. Both teams got great performances from their DoWs, with Caro and Mikayla playing a lot of points for Pepper, while Mimosas countered with Torch, Sammy, Ava, and Beth. Andres made a layout bid into the mud on defense for Pepper, and Caro made a layout snag to keep possession later in the game. Both players got exceptionally dirty in the process, but I think Andres won the prize for most mud. Pepper took half up a break, 8-6. Mimosas held to start the second half and kept it close for a few points before Pepper got a few more breaks and earned a hard-fought victory 13-10, matching the score of the early game.

Ice Ice Babies and Purple Rain matched up for the late game. Babies had a chilly O point to start the game 1-0. The rest of the first half went point by point with intensity from both teams, but Babies took half with a break 8-7. Royal-T was getting UP with multiple jump balls and impressive scores. Babies upped their intensity in the second half to get good separation on Purple 13-9. Captains on both sides talked to uphold spirit of the game and to keep spirits up in a high intensity match up. Purple came out of the timeout ready to go and scored 3 points followed by a honey point with Mirsad throwing to Corinna to tie the game 13-13. It was a battle to the death in Universe with Blue coming in on O. Both teams turned the disc but Purple got it back with some solid movement followed by an up-line cut from Lindsay into the end zone with a beautiful assist from, you guessed it, Mirsad. Purple wins 14-13. Shout out Nina for running a 5k prior to tonight and then continue by playing every point of the game!!

Tonights results have made the standings extremely close once again. Purple Rain and Ice Ice Babies are tied atop the standings at 8-4, with Purple Rain holding the tie break at 2-0 versus Ice Ice Babies (their other matchup so far was rained out). Black Pepper and Sky Bison's wins keep them tied at 7-4, with Pepper winning the only head-to-head matchup between the teams so far this summer (the other two have both been AQI'd out). Mimosas had won two in a row before their narrow defeat tonight, and Best Fronds are hungry like Audrey II in a Little Shop of Horrors.

Looking forward to fresher air, less mud, and more disc!