UPA Regionals Diary of a General Strike Captain

Nation,

I recently talked to Kyle Parker of Winnipeg's General Strike. I thought it would be interesting for viewers to get some thoughts on a Canadian team not named Furious or GOAT making a run at Sarasota.

Obviously upset at the losses at regionals and the absence of Mark Lloyd (Who is the 18 year old Winnipeg prodigy now wearing University of Western Ontario garb, Parker nonetheless had some valuable thoughts on their UPA attempt, the games they played and the team's off season plans. He's a straight shooter. Think Brett Taylor or that guy on your team who will tell you when you're not giving enough effort.

Here's the gist of my questions and his answers. If it helps any team prepare for next summer/fall, then I'm glad. Otherwise, you'll just get the same chuckle from his takes that I did.

How did the team perform at Regionals?

We were brutal at Regionals. We played like total sacks against all of the teams that were worth playing against... We definitely needed a heavier dose of Mark Lloyd.

What was your perception of the teams that you faced? What was the summary of the games you played?

Day 1

• 11-4 L to BAT. That BAT team wasn't even that good either.
• 11-10 W over St Louis. Because of some call/rule issues, Parker thought "It was ever-so-sweet to beat them on double game. They were basically a 2-man team. We were once again not very impressed."
• 11-8 W over LouEVIL: Played a bit better in this one. I think we were up 10-6 and had a bad drop in the endzone that allowed them to score a couple more points. They weren't very good.
• BYE: I can't believe they close down their outdoor pools for the winter in Oklahoma once the temperature dips down to the 25C mark. What a joke.
• 11-? (7-8-9) W over Kansas: Lowest seed in our pool and they seemed like they were just in it for fun. They had some talent, but weren't quite as determined to compete. Used their height and had some weapons; if they were a tighter, more serious unit, I think that they'd do some damage. We probably played our best game of the tournament here.
• 11-5? L to Madison (Frontline): We played against these guys in the last game of the day on 3 of 4 days of Fall Series action. They killed us each and every time. In fact, in this Regionals game, our D-line didn't get 1 turnover against their O-line. They absolutely destroyed us.

Day 2

• 11-5? L to Madcow: Last game of pool play was Sunday morning. It was raining during the first half which is usually a great equalizer. Unfortunately our O-line got broken early and often and we were down 6-1 at half. It should be noted that these guys were playing an all-out inter-squad game during their BYE on Saturday, because they had about 35 players. When we arrived at the fields Sunday morning to play them, they were already in full-on Seattle. This team was serious about making Regionals and fell just short yet again this year. They can play with anybody, but they didn't seem all that impressive in our game with them - but that could've been the rain. Hey, is the UPA/CUPA going to wake up and put a cap on rosters at some point? Having more than 30 players is ridiculous.

• 15-5 L to Van Buren Boys: Great game played by a team with a great name. These guys were playing lights out against us and I'm not surprised to see that they qualified for Nationals later that day. Our O had nothing against their D and our D had nothing against their O. These guys will get absolutely kicked around in Sarasota, but they deserve to be there.

What are your team plans for the off season? (training, coed/men's tourneys, etc)

• We have no plans for the fall and winter. Hopefully we can get it back together again next season. I guess it'll all depend on whether we can get Mark Lloyd back.