Inception has lost in the game-to-go year after year, but they always come back for more.
October 23, 2019 by Patrick Stegemoeller in Profile with 0 comments
We’ve all heard the apocryphally attributed Einstein quote about the definition of insanity. Doing the same thing over and over but expecting different results is, evidently, not how sane people behave. Of course, rational prudence hasn’t always been a strong suit of those in pursuit of the sublime.
Part I: Losing in the game to go sucks. How about losing seven in a row?
You’ve probably heard of Denver Inception in passing. Maybe it’s in the backstory of some player from Johnny Bravo who started out there before moving on. Maybe it was looking at a team’s regular season results when making your Nationals picks and seeing that they narrowly beat Inception 15-13 at Elite-Select. Maybe it was because you were talking about the ludicrous dream thief movie and someone asked you, “wait, you mean Inception, the ultimate team?” And no, of course that’s not what you were talking about.
Inception lost in the game to go to Nationals this year, lurching to a 12-7 defeat at the hands of Johnny Bravo. Game-to-go losses are among the cruelest of ultimate’s annual offerings. On the precipice of glory, a team’s season ends just in front of the gates of heaven. The elysian vision of being a Nationals team is a mere 15 completions away, so close to validating the time and toil spent, and entering the exclusive club of people who aren’t a joke for tossing a disc.
But then the door slams shut, and there is nothing on the outside but cold emptiness. While teams on the inside rejoice in the warmth of Nationals and whatever eternal life that Score Reporter can provide, teams that lose in the game-to-go fade to dust in the void of being a ‘regionals level team.’ You’re a few moments away from being a team people actually recognize, and not one that gets you confused with Christopher Nolan movies.
Inception lost in the game-to-go last season as well, to Bravo again. In 2017, it was to Doublewide. Same in 2016. Plug in one of Doublewide or Bravo and you can run that back for 2015, 2014, 2013… seven years straight of losing in the game to go to Nationals. The pain and disappointment of one game-to-go loss can sour your relationship with the sport, but seven straight?
Worth The Disappointment: How Inception Reframes Years Of Nationals Near-Misses is only available to Ultiworld Subscribers
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