Rustbelt '09
Of all the larger-scale poetry events I have been a part of of, this year's Rustbelt was the most overall positive experience I've had. I had a great time on stage and off. Within 20 minutes of the team being together, we were giggling and supportive and remained that way until we got home. I couldn't have asked for much more. For the nerds: We decided that I was going to make the calls as far as bouts were concerned. From jumpstreet I opted to have Jamaal and I "bookend" the bouts, with Jamaal going first because he is the most accessible, high-energy poet we have. (It didn't hurt that his scoring consistency is unparalleled.) I took the backend because I have the most "range." In the prelims the planned worked perfectly.
On night one, Jamaal jumped out to a huge lead and all Karrie and Tom had to do was hold it until I could come in and clean up. I'm happy to report that Karrie and Tom came through even bigger than they needed to. Tom, in fact, won his round and got the highest score of the night. With a 2+ point lead going in to the last round, my job was easy. However, in the slot before mine, Toronto sent up a cat who turned the room to an awkward chucklefest. And that shit scored. In a last minute decision I went up and did the Kerry Wood joint, knowing that even if the judges didn't love it, the crowd would and it would at least score high enough to keep the lead. The gamble paid off. We won handily.
On day two, we decided to keep the same strategy. Once we found out that Indies were ranked by round and then by score (as opposed to overall) it became clear that we could have 2 poets in the finals. Like before, Jamaal murdered the first round and secured his place. We schemed a bit and put Tom up in round 3, where he had the best chance of winning the round; he did and moved us into a tie with Toronto going in to the last rotation. The bout resting squarely on me, I decided to wait and feel the room before choosing a poem. The Indy poet ahead of me dropped his piece to a heartbreaking degree and sucked last remaining energy out of the joint. I put up "Fissure" because I like kicking people when they're down. It won the round and the Poet's Choice Award.
*Sidenote: Jamaal won indies. Tom and Will Evans brought the noise but couldn't quite take him. Very proud of all the boys*
Finals was a tougher battle. With both Tom and Jamaal in indies (and going up againsts the bangers I knew Columbus was pocketing), I had to play a bit more Chess. The show was also running reeeeeaaaallly long so we were battling crowd fatigue and judge apathy. Knowing that Will had his biggest piece left, I decided to push him and make him throw it in the first round. I put up Jamaal eventhough he had just been up 3 times knowing that Will would counter. Jamaal did his thing and scored very well considering the position. I figured that even with Will's monster, it wouldn't crack the 29s in the first round, especially with new judges in place. I was wrong. Will fucking killed it. I was a hair away from full-on weeping. He was rewarded with a standing ovation and something like a 29.4.
From then on we were in chase mode with Columbus. We would get close and then they'd pull away. We had the shitty position of having to close Round 2 and open Round 3. Karrie and Tom went back to back and did the best they could but by then we were losing the energy battle in a show that was now well over the 3 hour mark. We pulled within striking distance until Barbara scored big with Pink Dress and put it almost out of reach. I needed a 29.8 for the win. I didn't produce. I didn't suck or anything, but by that point in the night nothing I had in my bag could have done it. Columbus won it, and deservedly so.
On night one, Jamaal jumped out to a huge lead and all Karrie and Tom had to do was hold it until I could come in and clean up. I'm happy to report that Karrie and Tom came through even bigger than they needed to. Tom, in fact, won his round and got the highest score of the night. With a 2+ point lead going in to the last round, my job was easy. However, in the slot before mine, Toronto sent up a cat who turned the room to an awkward chucklefest. And that shit scored. In a last minute decision I went up and did the Kerry Wood joint, knowing that even if the judges didn't love it, the crowd would and it would at least score high enough to keep the lead. The gamble paid off. We won handily.
On day two, we decided to keep the same strategy. Once we found out that Indies were ranked by round and then by score (as opposed to overall) it became clear that we could have 2 poets in the finals. Like before, Jamaal murdered the first round and secured his place. We schemed a bit and put Tom up in round 3, where he had the best chance of winning the round; he did and moved us into a tie with Toronto going in to the last rotation. The bout resting squarely on me, I decided to wait and feel the room before choosing a poem. The Indy poet ahead of me dropped his piece to a heartbreaking degree and sucked last remaining energy out of the joint. I put up "Fissure" because I like kicking people when they're down. It won the round and the Poet's Choice Award.
*Sidenote: Jamaal won indies. Tom and Will Evans brought the noise but couldn't quite take him. Very proud of all the boys*
Finals was a tougher battle. With both Tom and Jamaal in indies (and going up againsts the bangers I knew Columbus was pocketing), I had to play a bit more Chess. The show was also running reeeeeaaaallly long so we were battling crowd fatigue and judge apathy. Knowing that Will had his biggest piece left, I decided to push him and make him throw it in the first round. I put up Jamaal eventhough he had just been up 3 times knowing that Will would counter. Jamaal did his thing and scored very well considering the position. I figured that even with Will's monster, it wouldn't crack the 29s in the first round, especially with new judges in place. I was wrong. Will fucking killed it. I was a hair away from full-on weeping. He was rewarded with a standing ovation and something like a 29.4.
From then on we were in chase mode with Columbus. We would get close and then they'd pull away. We had the shitty position of having to close Round 2 and open Round 3. Karrie and Tom went back to back and did the best they could but by then we were losing the energy battle in a show that was now well over the 3 hour mark. We pulled within striking distance until Barbara scored big with Pink Dress and put it almost out of reach. I needed a 29.8 for the win. I didn't produce. I didn't suck or anything, but by that point in the night nothing I had in my bag could have done it. Columbus won it, and deservedly so.