An Early End to the Season
Another Florida Warm-Up, another goofy group photo
Since I’m graduating and this is likely my last post on the Hodag Website, it’ll be less of a “season recap” and more just the thoughts of a graduating player. I wrote this a couple months ago when Nationals got “indefinitely postponed” but I couldn’t bring myself to post it until now.
The season is over. There, I said it. COVID-19 has officially brought a premature end to my last season of College Ultimate. If I’m being completely honest, I have mixed feelings about this. The part of me that doesn’t want to cry too much is glad to have more time to focus on my senior thesis. The rest of me… is crying a lot. This is mostly going to be my reflections on the 2020 season, and my time on the Hodags so if you’re not interested in that, feel free to stop reading.
I’ll start with the 2020 season since it was cut so short. This season was filled with disappointment. We lost to Purdue at MLC. We lost to Minnesota and Texas at Florida, and we got stomped by Brown and CUT at Smokey Mountain Invite. As a senior on this team I feel those disappointments rest largely on my shoulders. Despite those disappointments, I can still look back on this season and smile.
This season was the most spirited I’ve experienced on the Hodags. I love spirit of the game, and sometimes college Men’s Ultimate doesn’t live up to my standards of good spirit. The Hodags did that this year. We played against some of the worst spirit I’ve ever seen, and we never faltered. We held our heads high and played with integrity. I’m excited for the future of the Hodags as a competitive, AND spirited college Men’s team. I’m proud to be a part of that.
The best part about this team is not our spirit, or our legacy of success and victory. The best part is the friendships, and memories. I’m leaving this team with friends and memories to last a lifetime. The memory of playing give-and-go with Schewe against UNC all the way down the field in one of only 3 points I played at Easterns my first year. The memory of almost puking during a track workout and being told by David Yu “that’s awesome, we need more of that!”
The memory of throwing a goal-line turnover against Victoria and busting my ass to D the full-field huck that followed. The memory of spending way too much money on the best dumplings in San Francisco because Max ordered double of everything (we ate it all). Klaus and Logan fighting over who the Alpha was. Film sessions with Nick. Jeff talking about homeostasis. The feeling after needing to beat CUT to go to nationals and doing it. The memory of being down 7-11 to Texas and scoring 6 points in a row to pull off the comeback on their home turf at Nationals. I could probably go on for another page and a half of memories about every single person on this team, but I won’t. These are the memories I’ll carry with me, and these are the reasons I got my first tattoo.
I’m sad that this is over. I’m sad that at my very last practice as a Hodag I separated my shoulder. I’m sad that I may never again play competitively on the same team as some of my best friends. I’m sad that I won’t get to have Nationals training followed by bagels forever this May. But I’m happy too. I’m happy for all the memories. I’m happy for the amazing support the parents have given us. I’m happy that when the dust clears from COVID-19 I’ll get to come back and be on the winning team at alumni weekend. I’m happy to be a part of the Hodag Family.
Hodag Love,
-Dan
P.S. Thanks to all the parents, fans, family and friends that make this team possible!
The season is over. There, I said it. COVID-19 has officially brought a premature end to my last season of College Ultimate. If I’m being completely honest, I have mixed feelings about this. The part of me that doesn’t want to cry too much is glad to have more time to focus on my senior thesis. The rest of me… is crying a lot. This is mostly going to be my reflections on the 2020 season, and my time on the Hodags so if you’re not interested in that, feel free to stop reading.
I’ll start with the 2020 season since it was cut so short. This season was filled with disappointment. We lost to Purdue at MLC. We lost to Minnesota and Texas at Florida, and we got stomped by Brown and CUT at Smokey Mountain Invite. As a senior on this team I feel those disappointments rest largely on my shoulders. Despite those disappointments, I can still look back on this season and smile.
This season was the most spirited I’ve experienced on the Hodags. I love spirit of the game, and sometimes college Men’s Ultimate doesn’t live up to my standards of good spirit. The Hodags did that this year. We played against some of the worst spirit I’ve ever seen, and we never faltered. We held our heads high and played with integrity. I’m excited for the future of the Hodags as a competitive, AND spirited college Men’s team. I’m proud to be a part of that.
The best part about this team is not our spirit, or our legacy of success and victory. The best part is the friendships, and memories. I’m leaving this team with friends and memories to last a lifetime. The memory of playing give-and-go with Schewe against UNC all the way down the field in one of only 3 points I played at Easterns my first year. The memory of almost puking during a track workout and being told by David Yu “that’s awesome, we need more of that!”
The memory of throwing a goal-line turnover against Victoria and busting my ass to D the full-field huck that followed. The memory of spending way too much money on the best dumplings in San Francisco because Max ordered double of everything (we ate it all). Klaus and Logan fighting over who the Alpha was. Film sessions with Nick. Jeff talking about homeostasis. The feeling after needing to beat CUT to go to nationals and doing it. The memory of being down 7-11 to Texas and scoring 6 points in a row to pull off the comeback on their home turf at Nationals. I could probably go on for another page and a half of memories about every single person on this team, but I won’t. These are the memories I’ll carry with me, and these are the reasons I got my first tattoo.
I’m sad that this is over. I’m sad that at my very last practice as a Hodag I separated my shoulder. I’m sad that I may never again play competitively on the same team as some of my best friends. I’m sad that I won’t get to have Nationals training followed by bagels forever this May. But I’m happy too. I’m happy for all the memories. I’m happy for the amazing support the parents have given us. I’m happy that when the dust clears from COVID-19 I’ll get to come back and be on the winning team at alumni weekend. I’m happy to be a part of the Hodag Family.
Hodag Love,
-Dan
P.S. Thanks to all the parents, fans, family and friends that make this team possible!
Smokey Mountain Invite Recap
Jake getting a D with his face... I think?
In the second tournament of the season, the Hodags had an up and down weekend at the brand-new Tennessee Smokey Mountain Invite. We decided to drive down early and do some hiking on Friday before beginning competition Saturday morning. The sunrise was beautiful over the mountains, the bear cubs sounded cute from afar, and there was at least one ghost spotted hiking near a waterfall. All in all, a great day of sightseeing.
Saturday morning despite the field complex being closed when we got there, we got off to a good start with a win over Texas Tuff 12-10. Next up Brown put together a clean offensive game and capitalized on our errors for a final score of 8-13. Getting some of our energy back we played a spirited game with tournament hosts Tennessee (12/10 would recommend SMI) with a final of 13-11. Our pre-quarter matchup against UNC-Wilmington was a battle of breaks, but we just weren’t able to punch in enough to take the lead back, final score 13-15.
Sunday morning, we started out the day with a regional matchup against our friends on Carleton CUT. Highlight of the game was Luke getting a ridiculous chest high layout block, but we just had too many errors and lost 9-15. Next up was a revenge match against Purdue from MLC, and this time we had the energy on defense, finished the game 15-11. Last game of the weekend and we agreed to play to 13 since both teams had a long drive home. NC-State went up early and we weren’t able to get the breaks necessary to win the game, final score was 10-13.
After games some cars went to a truck stop to shower, some cars started their drive home right away, and one car decided screw it we’re in Tennessee, let’s get burgers and shakes. Stock and Barrel had, and I’m not exaggerating, the best fries I’ve ever tasted in their Duck Fat Fries, and don’t get me started on the burgers. For dessert we went over to Phoenix Pharmacy where Wham scarfed down an entire Fat Elvis sundae. I’m still not sure how he finished that sundae, but the incredible food was well worth the later arrival back in Madison.
With the global pandemic upon us we’re not sure if there’s going to be any more to show for the 2020 season but stay tuned for updates. We’re not ready to call it a season until USAU tells us we have to! I’m not crying you’re crying…
Thanks again to our amazing friends and family for coming out to support us and setting up the best snack table in all of Ultimate!
Saturday morning despite the field complex being closed when we got there, we got off to a good start with a win over Texas Tuff 12-10. Next up Brown put together a clean offensive game and capitalized on our errors for a final score of 8-13. Getting some of our energy back we played a spirited game with tournament hosts Tennessee (12/10 would recommend SMI) with a final of 13-11. Our pre-quarter matchup against UNC-Wilmington was a battle of breaks, but we just weren’t able to punch in enough to take the lead back, final score 13-15.
Sunday morning, we started out the day with a regional matchup against our friends on Carleton CUT. Highlight of the game was Luke getting a ridiculous chest high layout block, but we just had too many errors and lost 9-15. Next up was a revenge match against Purdue from MLC, and this time we had the energy on defense, finished the game 15-11. Last game of the weekend and we agreed to play to 13 since both teams had a long drive home. NC-State went up early and we weren’t able to get the breaks necessary to win the game, final score was 10-13.
After games some cars went to a truck stop to shower, some cars started their drive home right away, and one car decided screw it we’re in Tennessee, let’s get burgers and shakes. Stock and Barrel had, and I’m not exaggerating, the best fries I’ve ever tasted in their Duck Fat Fries, and don’t get me started on the burgers. For dessert we went over to Phoenix Pharmacy where Wham scarfed down an entire Fat Elvis sundae. I’m still not sure how he finished that sundae, but the incredible food was well worth the later arrival back in Madison.
With the global pandemic upon us we’re not sure if there’s going to be any more to show for the 2020 season but stay tuned for updates. We’re not ready to call it a season until USAU tells us we have to! I’m not crying you’re crying…
Thanks again to our amazing friends and family for coming out to support us and setting up the best snack table in all of Ultimate!
Here are photos from the weekend courtesy of Carol Roan:
Florida Warm-Up Recap
Harry yeeting on some poor BYU dude
This Valentine’s day the Hodags welcomed an escape from the -10° weather in Madison for a blistering and romantic 70° and sunny at Florida Warm-Up. A little rain Friday morning passed quickly and opened up the sky for a full weekend of sun. Before I recap the games, a big thank you to all the family and friends that make this tournament an incredible experience every year! Florida warm-up uses a different format than most tournaments, opting for a USAU algorithm-based bracket.
Friday morning, we started out the season with a close game against BYU losing 10-13 as the rain subsided. We had some breaks and kept execution errors low in the first half, but in the second half BYU picked up their execution and really took advantage of every break opportunity as our execution wavered. Normally under the lights in the evening our yearly bout with Florida was second on the schedule. The game was back and forth with both teams getting breaks and stretching the field. We eventually won on serve 13-12. Third game of the day was a filmed game against eventual tournament champions Michigan. Their handlers worked the disc well and had well timed hucks. They ran an effective zone and took advantage of break opportunities. We weren’t able to generate the energy necessary to get those breaks back, eventually losing 10-12. To finish off Friday we had another filmed game against Auburn. They threw a couple junky defensive looks our way, but we found our execution on offense. On defense we were able to generate more intensity and really take advantage once we got the disc, final score 12-9. Finished Friday 2-2, stretched and prepared for Saturday.
Saturday morning, we faced Virginia Tech first thing. They gave us another zone look on defense but this time we were able to work through it with ease giving up zero breaks. On defense we pushed our energy levels higher and felt unstoppable, finishing the game 13-6. Last game of pool play was against Texas Tuff. Texas came out with more intensity than us taking an early lead. We rallied in the second half to bring it back to 7-8 but couldn’t manage to get those last couple breaks and eventually lost 8-11. With a long break and no idea who we played next we decided to go get some sun by our hotel pool while we waited for the last pool play results to come in. At 6pm we faced off against regional opponents Minnesota Greyduck. They came out fiery and again we dug ourselves into an early deficit. Their deep game was working well, and we couldn’t seem to find the energy needed eventually losing 10-15. Finished Saturday 3-4 total.
We got to sleep in a bit on Sunday with our first game at 10am against Cornell. Wanting to finish the weekend strong we warmed up with the bonesaw stretch. Once warmed up we came out firing on all cylinders getting break after break. We surrendered zero breaks again and finished the game 15-6. Last game of the weekend was against Texas Dallas. They threw mostly junk and zone looks our way, but our offense was ready. A couple execution errors allowed them to break, but we got our breaks back and then some eventually winning 14-11.
All-in-all this Valentine’s weekend was one of building for the Hodags. We were trying out new lines and working on our tans for the first time in months. We’re looking forward to continued growth and bringing the energy to our next tournament in Tennessee!
Thank you to James Hill and Jim Schewe for being our dedicated tweeters this weekend. Thank you to Jennie Miller and Carol Roan for the photos. And thank you to all the other parents, friends, and family for bringing the love, support, and amazing tournament snack table!
Friday morning, we started out the season with a close game against BYU losing 10-13 as the rain subsided. We had some breaks and kept execution errors low in the first half, but in the second half BYU picked up their execution and really took advantage of every break opportunity as our execution wavered. Normally under the lights in the evening our yearly bout with Florida was second on the schedule. The game was back and forth with both teams getting breaks and stretching the field. We eventually won on serve 13-12. Third game of the day was a filmed game against eventual tournament champions Michigan. Their handlers worked the disc well and had well timed hucks. They ran an effective zone and took advantage of break opportunities. We weren’t able to generate the energy necessary to get those breaks back, eventually losing 10-12. To finish off Friday we had another filmed game against Auburn. They threw a couple junky defensive looks our way, but we found our execution on offense. On defense we were able to generate more intensity and really take advantage once we got the disc, final score 12-9. Finished Friday 2-2, stretched and prepared for Saturday.
Saturday morning, we faced Virginia Tech first thing. They gave us another zone look on defense but this time we were able to work through it with ease giving up zero breaks. On defense we pushed our energy levels higher and felt unstoppable, finishing the game 13-6. Last game of pool play was against Texas Tuff. Texas came out with more intensity than us taking an early lead. We rallied in the second half to bring it back to 7-8 but couldn’t manage to get those last couple breaks and eventually lost 8-11. With a long break and no idea who we played next we decided to go get some sun by our hotel pool while we waited for the last pool play results to come in. At 6pm we faced off against regional opponents Minnesota Greyduck. They came out fiery and again we dug ourselves into an early deficit. Their deep game was working well, and we couldn’t seem to find the energy needed eventually losing 10-15. Finished Saturday 3-4 total.
We got to sleep in a bit on Sunday with our first game at 10am against Cornell. Wanting to finish the weekend strong we warmed up with the bonesaw stretch. Once warmed up we came out firing on all cylinders getting break after break. We surrendered zero breaks again and finished the game 15-6. Last game of the weekend was against Texas Dallas. They threw mostly junk and zone looks our way, but our offense was ready. A couple execution errors allowed them to break, but we got our breaks back and then some eventually winning 14-11.
All-in-all this Valentine’s weekend was one of building for the Hodags. We were trying out new lines and working on our tans for the first time in months. We’re looking forward to continued growth and bringing the energy to our next tournament in Tennessee!
Thank you to James Hill and Jim Schewe for being our dedicated tweeters this weekend. Thank you to Jennie Miller and Carol Roan for the photos. And thank you to all the other parents, friends, and family for bringing the love, support, and amazing tournament snack table!
Carol Roan’s Photos:
Jennie Miller’s photos:
Mixed Regionals Recap
Wisco Mixed Co. was back at it again at this year's North College Mixed Regionals in Fair Oaks, Indiana, where the fields are flat and the milk is milky.
With the early arrival of winter weather, the squad only had one indoor practice to transform members from all four programs into one cohesive unit. The focus of the weekend centered around building chemistry with our teammates as well as supporting them after mistakes. It was also an opportunity to work on inclusion on and off the field as our program hosted a gender equity talk after the Saturday games again this year.
The team improved over the course of the weekend with each game providing new challenges. Falling just short of finals bid on universe, Sunday, the team finished out the tourney in 12th. However, I think most of us would agree that Denny's was the real winner this tournament.
With the early arrival of winter weather, the squad only had one indoor practice to transform members from all four programs into one cohesive unit. The focus of the weekend centered around building chemistry with our teammates as well as supporting them after mistakes. It was also an opportunity to work on inclusion on and off the field as our program hosted a gender equity talk after the Saturday games again this year.
The team improved over the course of the weekend with each game providing new challenges. Falling just short of finals bid on universe, Sunday, the team finished out the tourney in 12th. However, I think most of us would agree that Denny's was the real winner this tournament.
MLC Recap
Ted admiring Pauls Mustache
Another MLC has come and gone and with it a weekend of hard work, growth, and that warm Missouri air. We decided that this year instead of Missouri, Mustaches loved company so we donned our mustaches ranging from a light stubble all the way to “Damn Daniel you’re totally pulling that Mustache off!” The Hodags went 6-2 with wins on Saturday over Iowa State, Texas A&M, and Minnesota, but one loss to Colorado. Sunday wins over Kansas, Cincinnati, and Oklahoma St. with one loss to Purdue. More work to be done, see you all in the spring.
2019-2020 ROOKIES!
First Tournament of the year is in the books! No Wisconsequences concluded our grueling month-long tryout process with a weekend of big plays and cold wind. Congratulations to the 2019-2020 rookies!
Paul McAllester - 1st Year
Noah Nicol - 3rd Year
Andy Paulson - 2nd Year
Nico Ranabaht - 1st Year
Pieran Robert - 1st Year
Thomas Walker - 1st Year
Luke Youngdahl - 1st Year
Noah Nicol - 3rd Year
Andy Paulson - 2nd Year
Nico Ranabaht - 1st Year
Pieran Robert - 1st Year
Thomas Walker - 1st Year
Luke Youngdahl - 1st Year