Show's over

So, it's been a few weeks, but since we just had the Hounds End-of-Season Party, some closure on our Monday shenanigans this past season is in order.

It all started when the lineup of Austin, Bonnie, Chris, Christian, Laura, Lyanne, Nat, Pierre, Simon and Tien was augmented with our best recruits ever: Carla, the Dans, Nadia and Owen. We had new uniforms, we were playing on a new night, we were ready to go.

Instead of going through every game individually (that would be a waste of time), I'll be putting the games into groups.

The Hounds move to Mondays

The initial seedings gave pegged us at 14th...on Mondays we were a relatively unknown team, so we were going to have to earn our place. After our first three games, we overwhelmed the competiton: Drastic Plastic, Grilled Cheese and Flowbee. The games were relatively easy, ending with scores of 17-5, 17-4 and 17-7 respectively. After those first three games, it appeared that we were seeded a little low to start (Oh, you think so, doctor?). While the games were easy, it allowed us to integrate the new players, and bump us up in the ladder, which meant that tougher games were on the horizon.

The Hounds meet the big boys

The big wins to start the season moved us up to play the strong, experienced Monday teams. We started with Disc-Horde, and showed that we did indeed belong in the Top 8 with a convincing 17-11 win. We were feeling good about our new surroundings...approaching the top of the Monday standings. Unfortunately it also raised the ire of everyone else, and they struck hard, struck fast, with no mercy. Lopsided losses to Big Hammers, Mandrew, and Ninjastars were frustrating and they showed the Hounds still had a lot work to do before we could consider ourselves to be among the top Monday teams. But there was more than that...those losses, coupled with the change of nights caused us to stray away from what made the Hounds experience so fun...this was something that had to be remedied. A new plan that would improve our on-field focus to go along with a renwed commitment to social events. Back to Hounds basics: playing well and having fun on and off the pitch.

The Hounds get their shit together

The previous losses meant that we had crashed down the ladder, so we had to work our way back up to get to where we knew we belonged. With central leadership on the field, we put forth solid efforts against Hootenanni Pussywillows, El Kabong and 4D. The Hounds also finished 7th in the Mid-Season Tournament that was enhanced with the some friends ("enhanced" meaning Nat and I emailed everyone we know to get enough players to get a team in).

The Hounds vs the big boys 2: The Legend of Simon's Gold

The three big wins in a row resulted in another jump in the standings, which meant another run at the top teams, with the first game against the venerable Mandrew. We knew going in it was going to be a challenge, and while the score did not reflect it, we gave a much better effort. Of more importance though was the roster shuffle: the returrn of Joel from knee surgery and Pierre's final game.

Following that game, we defeated two of the second-tier Monday teams, Fisheyes and Disc-Horde. These games were sandwiched around Nationals, which had quite the Hound presence, with Carla, Chris, the Dans, Laura, Lyanne, Nat and Tien taking part.

Going into the final two games, we were up against two of the elite Monday teams, and earned our 4th place regular season finish with ties against both Ruckus and Big Hammers. It was a great finish to the season, as we very well could have won both of those games.

A tough pill to swallow

With those big results against the Hammers and Ruckus, the Hounds were primed to do some serious damage at the playoffs. However, due to a confluence of work, family and travel commitments...it created the perfect storm that caused us to miss the Playoff Tournament. Needless to say, it was extremely disappointing.

Regardless of that, it was still a great season. We went 9-4-2, and ended up with a perfect spirit rating. We had a lot of fun, and we continued to put the Hounds name out there. I know I'm looking forward to next year.