TFDA Blog

Congratulations to Hatchet, winner of the 2012 Spring Core League season and the Bliss Cup! With its short, hammer-perfect handle, the red team captained by Taylor Pope and Sharon Tucker hacked down the competition during Sunday's Spring League playoffs. That makes two Spring League titles in consecutive years for Hatchet and two consecutive league championships for Pope (having won the Winter League championship in February).

Before we get to the weekend's details, the commissioners would like to thank those players who stepped up to captain teams this year. Several captains volunteered or were coerced at the last minute when teams had no one to draft for them. A big "Huzzah!" to all of the captains.

We would also like to thank all the Spring League players for their patience with public-field issues. After our initial run-in with Bethesda Athletic Association, there were no further confrontations regarding dogs or alcohol or trash. In fact, it eventually became clear that the trash problem occurred only on weekends when league games were canceled because of rain.

So, great work, everyone! Thanks for keeping up our reputation with Durham Public Schools. (And please donate to the Ultiplex so we can play un-harassed!)

Regular Season Standings

East Division:

West Division:

Spring League 2012 Tournament

As per usual in Spring League, the standings coming out of the regular season weren't entirely representative of team strength. Spring busy-ness and active high school and college seasons prevented full rosters at many of the regular season games.

Complicating the picture were some last minute substitutions that left several teams with replacement players and the green team of LeMuell with essentially new captains for the weekend, Sasha Resnick and Dave Snoke replacing Becky LeDonne and Matthias Mueller. David Trett, unable to play for Black Sabbath (Greene and Mitchell), was replaced by Eric Martin.

The teams met Saturday in two pools of four teams at Lowe's Grove and Bethesda:

Bethesda Pool Results:

The West division's Safety First, captained by Matt Bode and Jesse Lieberman, dominated the day's pool play at Bethesda. Black Sabbath took the pool's second seed, and the graphite-wearing Fool's Gold (Askew and Peed) took third. Although Bethesda Athletic Association never showed up to eject the hairy beasts, injuries and no-shows kept All for the Wookiee (Guthrie) in last place in pool.

Lowe's Grove Pool Results:

LeMuell won the pool at Lowe's Grove decisively, relegating Blue Dogs (Hoyle and Gifford) to second seed and Team Kessler (Faulkner and Kessler) to third.

The Lowe's Grove match-ups took an unexpected turn when three of Hatchet's leading men decided their day would be better spent playing golf, and off they went halfway through the first game of the day. So, missing Taylor Pope, Brian Lang and Mick Ribault, as well as Jon McLeod,  who was unable to play on Saturday, Hatchet was left with one male sub. The red team still managed to post 12 points in its loss to Team Kessler, it's closest rival on the day.

Playoff Sunday

Of course, pool play in an eight-team tournament is just gravy. Quarterfinal matchups:

Team Kessler, possibly the oldest team ever to complete a TFDA league season, parlayed its extra 112 years of life experience to a universe-point win over the youngest team in the league, Black Sabbath. On the other field, Fool's Gold did indeed turn out to be just graphite, losing cleanly to Blue Dogs, 10-17.

In the second round of quarters, All for the Wookiee got a fresh shot of Brian Brickhouse to replace an injured Pete Wentz and looked to be clawing its way into the semifinals against LeMuell, taking half at 9-8. But LeMuell returned from half with fresh shots all round and a pressure D that allowed only two more Wookiee points. Final score: 17-11, LeMuell.

The top seeded Safety First, expected to advance easily to the semis, would have been a shoo-in but for the Ringer reunion happening on Hatchet, their last-seeded opponent. Expecting fireworks from the captains, spectators lined the field, wondering if Bode v. Pope would be as exciting as Bode v. Proctor had been in Winter League. But even with Matt Bode, Jesse Lieberman and Katy Harris leading the charge, Safety First left the field chopped and bloodied, losing 15-12 at the time cap. Game Highlight: James "Freight Train" Morton leaving his man in the dust for a nearly full-field huck from Lieberman and a leaping back-line catch for the score.

In the semis, LeMuell handled the oldsters of Team Kessler with aplomb, 17-9, and was rewarded with 30 minutes to rest before the finals. Hatchet felled Blue Dogs, 17-12, in a much longer battle that sent the bloody reds into the finals glistening with sweat and complaining about 17-point playoff games.

LeMuell's opening cheer: "Bury the Hatchet!"

While temperatures the day before had barely gotten above 65 degrees, with clouds lingering all day, by Sunday afternoon the players were drinking gallons of Gatorade and huddling under parasols. To make matters worse for Hatchet, the game started off with six points of back and forth that featured multiple turnovers and left the score at only 3-3 after 20 minutes.

As the game wore on, Hatchet lost track of the score and began to hallucinate. Several players insisted there were points missing from the scoreboard. Unfortunately, the scorekeeper was too hot and heckled to remember much of the final game besides the exceptional number of turnovers and the fact that Hatchet started gradually to widen its lead. The team's huckers began to find good long cuts, and all of a sudden it was halftime, Hatchet 9 - LeMuell 5.

Hatchet's opening cheer: "Hatchet to the face!"

The bloodbath promised in the opening cheers looked to be taking form, even though play on the field was well spirited. LeMuell didn't gain much traction immediately after the halftime break. Hatchet scored two unanswered points to go up, 11-5. Then began a slow Green march, almost imperceptible. From six points down ... to four points down ... to game point ... another game point ... and another. But at 15-16, LeMuell could stave off the swinging axe no longer. The hatchet was indeed buried to the hilt. Final score: Hatchet 17 - LeMuell 15.

Congratulations once again to the 2012 Bliss Cup winners and defending Spring League champions, Hatchet!