2nd Subic Bay Apo's Cup: Simple Lang
Have you ever been into that one tournament where you said to yourself, “Yeap, This is going to be just another two-day tourney in the Ultimate Calendar.” And when you get at the airport and about to board your flight home, you realize and say “Damn, that was a heck of a weekend!”
That's what the weekend in Subic felt like during the 2nd Subic Bay Apo's Cup. With only 8 teams participating in what the organizers called “A simple tournament”, Kulai Pineda together with his team, Team Minions did an impressive job on making Apo's Cup as one of the tournaments that I had a great time with this year. Well, except for the rain of course. I don't know about you, but every time I am in the North, the rain never miss the party as well! I think the Weather God hates me. But hey, the show must go on, right? Right.
The organizers were so kind enough to set up tents on both ends of the field so I could camp myself there when the rain is about to beat the heck out of everybody. It turned out that I stayed under the tents most of the day because the rain comes and go literally for like every 15-20 minutes. Still, the 8 teams played great even though the playing fields are showing signs of mutation, from that green green grass of home to chocolate brown mud pit.
With 8 teams from Luzon fighting their way to the top of pool A, you can immediately see who will go all the way. Tandang Sora Pleasure (TSP) and Cabalernkz of Pampanga fighting for the top spot all throughout the weekend, while local teams Space Cakes and Minions are making their presence felt. Manila teams Barangay Ultimate and Team GP's are also giving the other teams a hard time. Baguio Lions are also in the mix, while the newly formed team SBUC are doing the best they can to keep up with the other experienced teams. I guess the tournament organizers were right. It was a Simple tournament.
With a hangover from the Saturday night shenanigans at Subic Bay Peninsula Hotel (Yes, the party was in a nice looking function hall with beer pong tables, unlimited drinks and fish crackers, and a local band which played 90's music all night long), Day 2 was still wet and brown. But with the addition of some key players in the team rosters, the games stepped up a little bit. Some games were an absolute blowout but most of the games turned into a high-flying battle to the end.
As TSP and Cabalernks were preparing for the Pool A Finals and Team Minions and Space Cakes are about to begin their Subic Bay showdown in the Pool B championship, the dark clouds finally went on to their merry way and gave us beautiful blue skies. I finally had the chance to shoot the games between the two playing fields for a more intimate experience with these four remaining teams and to be in the danger zone, with bodies flying all over the place. Finally, I felt the excitement on searching for that one shot while trying not to get hit by a mud-covered ultimate player. It was fun!
After a bunch of sky grabs, mudslides, layout D's and more mudslides, The team in chocolate red was just too tough for the team from Pampanga as Tandang Sora Pleasure cruised their way to win the 2nd Subic Bay Apo's Cup. Cabalernkz had a great run trying to bounce back, but TSP has a lot of power to get the job done. Space Cakes, on the other hand, took home the Pool B trophy from the much younger host team Minions.
It sure was a simple tournament. The games were fun. The party was awesome. But sometimes, it isn’t really about the exciting games or the competition. Most of the time it is because of the people who are in it. The people who make the event possible for the rest of us to enjoy. The people who welcomed us with open arms into their city and show us their hospitality. Kulai, Tiny and the rest of the Minions did all that. They showed me that sometimes simplicity is the perfect way to go to make an ultimate weekend special.
I know that they wanted to make this tournament small, probably because they are having a hard time finding a bigger venue, but if only they could cater to a few more teams in the future, I would consider Apo's Cup to be one of your tournaments to visit the next time you are working on your Ultimate Calendar.
See you next time Ulo Ng Apo!
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