2022 Week 8

CUDL 2022 WEEK 8

Henry Rummel - 7.7.22

First impressions

Week eight was nothing short of awe-inspiring.

Mostly, at least.

The possibilities going into week eight were just about limitless. Depending on how the games went, Teal could clinch a bye week and first place or lose it altogether. The Landsharks could drop to last or rise to second. Both Hammertime and Gray could be leading contenders or fighting for the vague possibility of a second-place finish.

Underdogs won across the board. Tight games turned into prevailing wins and crushing defeats.

And yes, the mighty Turtles have fallen again.

All of this begs the question...

What Happened?

They said Teal was undefeatable. For six straight games- two-thirds of the regular season- The turtles lived up to that standard. Teal's accuracy was on point, their offense effective, their defense strong, their endurance off the charts.

Yet week seven saw them lose to Green in a spectacular way. Which, in turn, prompted a relatively shallow dive into the recesses of the Turtles' mind game. Teal stumbled- would they fall?

Week eight saw them fall. 20-16, Hammertime over the Steal Turtles. In some ways, it wasn't even close. True, Teal was only four points behind. That's not much to a team that had a point differential of +39 two weeks ago. But Hammertime scored the first point- a break, by the way- and never lost the lead. They led 5-4 at the first quarter, 10-8 at the half, 15-12 at the third quarter, and went 5-4 in the final twelve minutes.

Teal clinched their first-place playoff berth in week six. They haven't won since.

I have to think that Hammertime could go to the championship. And although I hesitate to even think it, they might just have what it takes to win there, as well. They haven't lost since week four. Only one loss since week two. Hammertime has exhibited a huge presence in defensive play and boasts an extremely impressive offense. They're a force to reckon with. Can they be beaten when it matters most?

But let's turn to the elephant in the room: Green Eggs and Hammers.

The Hammers were 1-4 in three weeks ago. Their only win was against a team that has a .143 win rate. They'd lost to every other team. I'd like to point out, however, that something has changed. Maybe it's a strategy change. Maybe it's team camaraderie. Maybe it's surprise players that turned out to be better than expected. Maybe it's a massively improved defense. Who knows?

It could be any or all of these things and more. But regardless of the cause, the results are certainly there.

20-2 over the Scoobers, the greatest margin of victory in any CUDL game ever.

15-7 in a routing of the previously undefeated Turtles.

15-9 upset over vastly preferred Wind.

Three games in a row, all decided by at least six points, mostly against teams to which they should have lost. All three games kept their opponents below 10 points. They had a total of 18 points scored against them over those three games, allowing an average of only 1.5 goals per quarter.

They're now ranked third, with a chance at a playoff bye week if Red loses their next game. Green plays Purple this week. I don't know what will happen. They've played before, and Purple won. Decidedly. But like I said, something has changed on Green's end of the game. I am highly anticipating the Landsharks vs Hammers rematch in week nine.

The Golden Scoobers needed a win in week eight. So did the Purple Landsharks. The matchup would, in many ways, decide sixth seed, as well as give the winner a much-needed facelift. Both teams came into the game on losing seasons. Both teams had almost full rosters present.

Yet the results weren't there once again for the Golden Scoobers. The score was tied at 5-5 by the first quarter, and 9-7 at the half. But the Landsharks pulled out a huge 15 points in the second half, winning the game 24-19- even with an overturned goal at the end of the game. If I'm not mistaken, That score is the second-highest in the CUDL this year, behind Teal's 27 points in week one (Interestingly, that game was against the Landsharks).

The Scoobers have descended to (1-7-0) and have clinched the last-place seed in the playoffs. They play Hammertime in week nine, a team that is expected to beat them soundly. But we saw what happened with Green- can Yellow get their game together in enough time to take down Red's winning streak?

Week nine alone will tell us.

final buzzer:

CUDL 2022 has taught us to expect the unexpected. The league has grown incredibly since its inception just one year ago. We have seen the level of play rise extraordinarily high- even over the course of just this season. And the season's not over yet. With one week of regular season play left, there are exactly 4 weeks, 10 games, 40 quarters, and approximately 11 hours of playing time left in the season. During that time, seeds will be decided, berths clinched, battles won and lost. One by one, five teams will be eliminated- until one team stands as Champion of CUDL 2022. There will be pain. There will be a lot of sweat. There will probably be blood. But there will also be epic bragging rights and a gold trophy at the end.

And there's going to be some great Ultimate along the way.