POSITIVE MINDS, POSITIVE RESULTS.
Spring Lube
1st Place, and AIM's First-Ever Tournament Win.
TOURNAMENTS
Richard Szabo
5/24/20262 min read
Saturday
The Herd was fired up for its 2nd tournament of the season. Our Israeli Cows, Omri Ben-Zion and Erel Shilony, were finally rejoining the team, as well as our American/Romanian Cow and Davenport University player, Noah Schade.
Bright and early, The Herd was on field waiting at the feeding trough for a long-awaited rematch against the Czech U20 and FUJ players in Game 1. The pasture was rocky under The Herd's hooves, but after finally finding a groove, there was little any team could do to slow the stampede.
AIM rumbled forward to win three games in a row against Czech U20 Open, Terrible Monkeys, and Ravens Wroclaw. Then The Herd met its match in a tough-battling German/Heidees team that tormented AIM's defense with great handler movement. The Herd fell 11-14 to finish Day 1 of Spring Lube, but with ambitions still on the moon.
Sunday
Coming into Sunday morning, The Herd was looking weary from endless sushi with Wroclaw's famous Sushi Master. The Cows knew that winning its first game would put the team in position to have its last game effectively be the tournament final.
Game 1 against the Ukrainians was not as smooth as The Herd had hoped. The Ukrainians came to play and had a fire burning within them to taste raw beef today. AIM held on to win the game, setting up a highly-anticipated final against the Israeli National Open Team.
The Final was electrifying from the start. The Israelis scored within 3 passes to start the first point, and immediately the game got HOT HOT HOT. Sizzling beef on a George Foreman grill hot. Friendly taunting and teasing was coupled with blistering intensity and hardcore defense. The Herd was shaking the earth as it began to gain ground with a few breaks, taking the score all the way up to 7-5.
After an absolute nightmare of miscommunication and misunderstanding about how the timed half-time should occur, the two teams found themselves in a cathartic spirit circle. The Chief Cows, Richard Szabo and Yaron Katzir, were able to get the game back on track, but the bitterness hung in the air like Lemon-Scented Pledge cleaner.
Then it was 9-9 and The Herd was on Defense for Universe Point. Exactly where it wanted to be. Flying down like Flying Squirrels from the Australian Bush, The Herd made IFDA fight for every inch. The pressure was too much in the end, and a dropped in-cut pass set up an AIM endzone. Disciplined pass after disciplined pass was all The Herd needed to find a crack in the armor for Magas Dávid to do what he does best, score goals.
AIM went home with its first-ever tournament win AND Spirit of the Game win.
1. "Magas" Dávid Tiszay - 22G, 2A
2. Ábel Csillag - 7G, 11A
3. Erel Shilony - 7G, 9A
4. Ferenc Klément - 3G, 11A
5. Elisha Schade - 11G, 2A
New Calves
1. Gellert Csillag - 3G, 1D
2. Bence "Karate Kid" Szodorai - 2G, 1D
3. Alex Mihaileanu - 2G
