Tour 3 can usually be seen as a defining point in the season. If Tour 1 is about making a statement, and Tour 2 is for ironing out glitches, then Tour 3 is when you lay a marker for the end of the season. It should be the first step on gearing up for Nationals.

It isn't, though. While the above may hold true for teams at the sharp end of the A Tour, it is not nearly as relevant to a predominantly student-based team whose most recent practices have consisted of two rounds of disc golf. And while dropping from 5th seed to 14th is less than ideal, there's little use in shaking our fists at the sky and muttering "we're better than this." The fact that it happened implies that we are not.

Perhaps it is the arrogance of youth to believe that a team that has not practiced together for nearly three months can suddenly come together by 9am on Saturday. Perhaps we - as a team - have underestimated the level of ability in the B Tour. After all, riding the coattails of genuinely talented and gifted players at the wrong end of the A Tour is one thing. Making it for ourselves at the top of the B Tour is another entirely. It is going to be difficult, perhaps too much so.

NB: It should be noted that I'm not actually going to make Tour 4. I never was, so please don't think I'm ducking the challenge. Also, I was going to post some photos from Tour 3 to my Flickr photostream, but I didn't take any.