Hodags 2000-2001. A team brought together in the fall for one common goal. Show the Nation in the spring that we are a powerhouse to be dealt with, qualify for the College Championships, and play out the season in one hot weekend. Fall short of that, and graduate half the team in disappointment.

Though the season began early on, with tournaments in Georgia, California, North Carolina, Madison, and Iowa, our eyes were on one city alone: Boston, MA, host to the national championships. The road to qualify for the Natties started in Madison, WI, at the always-amusing Sectional Tournament. The top 5 finishers would qualify for the Regional Tournament to be held in Iowa City 2 weeks later.

A taste of what Sectionals has been in the past: last year the Hodags ended a game against Whitewater with a World’s Greatest throw by Jason Ludden for the score to clinch the victory, 15-1. Sectionals began as it often does for the oppressive Hodags, with a clear 13 or 14-point victory over a flaccid opponent, most likely another UW branch. The day continued accordingly, with the Hodags downing opponents with Gusto. Sunday’s semifinal game featured Steven’s Point bowing down quietly after a brief fight, and a finals victory against our own B-team. The only notable fact of the weekend was our veteran Bryan Paradise being directly responsible (i.e. tipped it) for the only upwind goal scored on us by another team.

Having jumped that hurdle, Wisconsin went to Regionals as the second seed behind CUT, and looking for a victory or strong showing against them to qualify for Nationals. The Hodags proved to be victims of their own sectionals lethargy, barely snaking past Winona State 15-13 in semis, then getting their underpants handed to them by CUT in finals 15-6. The Hodags once again had to play the Winona State Experience to qualify, and once again, despite some bad play, the Hodags managed to squeeze out a victory 15-12. On to Boston for Nationals in three weeks!

The Hodags were seeded 5th of the 16 teams, putting them in a pool with 16th seed Upenn Void, 9th seed UNC Wilmington, and our regional rivals, Carleton CUT.

Friday morning saw the weekend start off with a match against Upenn. The first goal of the tourney was a forehand huck from captain Opie O’Connell to a fully horizontal Hector Valdivia in the endzone. As the Mexican flag waved on the sidelines, the Hodags never looked back, putting Upenn away with little sweat. The Hodags then had time to watch a stunned CUT lose to Wilmington 16-15. While the rest of the teams could scarcely believe it, the Hodag machine licked its lips, knowing that they would be playing a tired and drained Wilmington in their next game.

The game began quickly, as Wilmington scored the first point with ease. The Hodags answered back in turn, and then placed their tenacious zone defense down with the game tied 1-1. Resident Bezerker Rob Wagner made the Wilmington offense work for every throw, making the second point last better than 15 minutes. The offense played steady but showed signs of wearing down. Just when it seemed that the defense was giving up, Rob Wagner turned on his Hulk powers and found in him the strength to double his speed and fear factor. Two throws later, Wilmington turns it over and the Hodags break their back by scoring to make it 2-1. From this point on the Hodags never stopped playing zone defense and Wilmington never stopped turfing the disc, as we scored a Nationals-unprecedented 15 straight points to win 15-1. Final embarrassment came courtesy of Mark Sweeny, who scored a Callahan (defensive) goal in Wilmington’s endzone on a tipped pass.

The Hodags were now poised to beat CUT and take first in their pool. Or so we all thought. Like children who never learn their lesson, we came onto the field and hung with the boys from Carleton only to deflate in the second half and lose 15-8. By point differential, that score would have put us first in their pool, assuming Wilmington beat Upenn. However, Wilmington couldn’t secure a victory over UPenn, leaving us 2nd in the pool over all.

Saturday morning’s pre-quarter match vs. the geeks from Harvard set the tone for the rest of the day. Having stripped the Harvard Red Line of disc and lunch money, the Hodags could not close the game and saw Harvard prolong the game an extra 7 points. It may have proved to be the difference in the Hodags’ quarterfinal game against Oregon.

With the entire senior class pumped for this game and the rest of the team fired up to win, Oregon’s intense defense and the Hodags’ poor decisions left them spectators, losing 15-8. The loss was a team effort as everyone took part in throwing the disc out of bounds or to the opposite team. Although not as close as they would have liked, the Hodags were satisfied with what they had accomplished throughout the season and looked forward to the night’s tournament party.

Having lost to Oregon EGO in the game, the Hodags were not about to lay down and let the west-coasters take party honors. Led by a dancing Hispanic and Beer-stuffed Midwesteners, Wisconsin showed Boston how to have a good time.

Sunday saw the sadness of defeat replaced by that mysterious element, Hodag Love. Everyone shared stories from the year, and looked forward to another season wearing and representing the Baby Blue. Those that graduated pledged not only emotional support in the future, but also hefty monetary help, remembering how much it sucks to pay for plane tickets around the country.

By Hector Valdivia

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