Last Week of Falltimate

"Time, you've had more than your share of mine
I'm a criminal with no crime
Sing like a bird that is now released
Like an angel with clip-on wings
Yeah nothing that's etched in stone
See I'm already who's already gone."

Collective Soul - General Attitude

Instead of using a complimentary quote from Mehmet about a bid made during today's game, I decided to pull out the best opening line of any Collective Soul song (my favorite group). The first two lines reflect how I feel about the whole IID/IAD thing right now. It's over, it wasn't worth the time and energy I put into overanalyzing it, and I'm moving on. With the last week of fall ultimate behind me, and the FCS dome still in storage, this could be my last weekly recap entry for a month or more. Against my better judgement and an aching groin, I decide to pack as much ulty as possible into the last week of falltimate.

- On Monday, Employee of the Month shut up (well, not so much, there was even more sideline taunting than usual) and ran (more so the ladies than the fellas) in beating Shut Up and Run 15 – 9. After the frustrating game against Cruisin', this contest was much more fun due to EoTM having almost two full lines of players, and looking to enjoy our second last game of the fall.
- Personal high-light was the first half. You won't hear me say this often, but I was very satisfied with my level of play, especially given how sore I was feeling. If memory serves, I caught 4 goals as EotM jumped out to an 8-6 half-time lead.
- Personal low-light was the entire second half. I contracted a bad case of the dropsies, and proceeded to bungle 3 relatively easy goal catches. If that wasn't bad enough, after being strongly encouraged by the sideline (read: heckled), I tried for a "wetback" over an unsuspecting defender. As Tron acutely pointed out to me after my ill-fated attempt, you need a receiver in order to get a wetback. Note to self: Ensure Aggie knows what you're going for on the endzone line. Luckily, the other team found the attempt humorous.
- Tuesday got off to a great start when I received a reply from Carl with feedback about my IAD tryout the week prior. He gave me five points to work on, but one really resonated with me. Apparently when I defend, I'm leaning instead of hunching, my base is too narrow (which takes me longer to change directions), and my head is focused on the person I'm guarding, as opposed to being on a swivel. This is something I'll focus on improving in winter league play.
- On the plus side, Carl commended me on my decision making which didn't make him cringe. Since last winter was all about making better decisions, that comment made me happy.
- Tuesday's KJ approved workout was productive. I increased the weight in the push-ups-to-rows by 3 lbs up to 15 lbs, and then squeezed out 2 more push-ups-to-rows on my third set (yay 12!). Sadly, it's now too cold to enjoy a post-workout gelato *sigh*.
- Wednesday was a pretty crappy day. Although I was happy to find out a couple of friends made IAD, as my October 22nd entry indicates, I was upset after discovering my own fate. I'm reminded of the words of a scholar, intellect, and poet "That which does not kill me, only makes me stronger" (K. West).
- While I was still angry on Wednesday, I joined DVC for their second last game of the season against Slappy Butts…a team they apparently had some Spirit issues with in their previous encounter. On a freezing cold night, I turned the anger into energy, and lit up Slappy Buts for 2 goals, and 3 assists. Oh, and I played shutdown D. Not bad considering DVC lost 15-9.
- High-light of the game came courtesy of the Almighty Mahatma, who was having a rough night. After dropping the disc near the end zone, the Great Kamastura carefully kneeled down, and proceeded to spank the disc! Once my laughter subsided, I couldn't help but wonder if the nickname "Disc Spanker" is taken?
- Low-light was back-talking a team-mate who felt the need to repeatedly tell me to "run" while he was on the sideline, doing what he does best, standing stationary. From anyone else on DVC, I'd happily oblige and run to/from the disc as directed. This idiot is only on the team due to his partner, and is by far the laziest player I've ever met. Plus, he caught me on a bad night.
- As my October 24th entry indicates, things got better on Thursday. My new favorite ultimate parody song broke me out of my rut. Then I "officially" got accepted into IID Wednesday via email from the disc spanker himself.
- We did 45 second reps at Thursday's KJ…no wait…Michelle class. Without my two BF team-mates, I was left to dominate the wall-sit (3 minutes), push-up ladder, and contra-planks. I've already signed up for the next five week session of classes that will consist of circuit training.
- The strangest part of Thursday was an email I got from Reza containing Spence's feedback on my tryout (Spence evaluated me). The first two points made sense (I have good hands and my defense was hot/cold), but the third point was ridiculous. It was almost laughable, and goes against the whole "team" concept of ultimate. Since it doesn't warrant repeating, my "personal vendetta" goal for next summer is to play Spence and thread him like a needle with a series of crisp throws to team-mates (ones who will actually lay out and strike deep) to work it up the field for a point.
- I lifted for about 30 minutes on Friday, before going out and seeing Wes's band play at Philthy McNasty's. Wes plays the base as well as he plays the cup...which is saying something given his defensive prowess.
- EoTM's last game of the season against the Outlaws was...wet. The captains decided on a 10 point game, which EoTM took 10 - 8 to finish the season strong.
- High-light was that it was fun. Yes, both teams tried their best to win, and Michael made this ridiculous bid on a pick call to come up with a disc, but it was just nice to get in the last game of the year with a lot of Fish and friends.
- Low-light, hmm, I probably threw it away more times than I'd care to admit.
- Sunday DVC won our last game of the year 15-12 over the Rump Shakers (or something like that). As rainy as it was on Saturday, it was windy on Sunday.
- Since it was so windy, time to blow my own horn: as indicated in the introductory paragraph, I made I sweet bid to come up with a pass (mis)thrown by the Almighty Kamasutra to keep possession on an upwind point that we ended up converting. I should really start paying Stu royalties everytime I come up with a disc on a layout.
- On the flip side, I told the same annoying team-mate to "shut-up" when he was trying to direct me from his semi-permanent pulpit on the sideline. As much as I enjoy playing with his partner, his cheap calls, poach D, and lazy hucks really piss me off.

With that, fall season is officially over. Both of my teams ended up top 5 on their respective nights, with EotM probably placing 4th or 5th, and DVC up around 3rd. Taking a step back, my OCUA team last fall ended up third last on Monday nights (they were dead last without me this year), and my PROUF team last year won one game (they were in the bottom ten on Monday in OCUA this year). Things have really changed in terms of the caliber of ultimate that I'm playing. Every mistake I make (mental or execution) is magnified on teams on which I have to challenge myself to keep up with my peers. It's on higher caliber teams like this where I'll inevitably learn the most from my team-mates and competition.

All in all, it was a fantastic fall season. As much as I'm looking forward to the friendly confines of indoor at FCS, I really need a few weeks to stretch and strengthen my sports hernia to get it ready for 20 weeks of indoor games. Enjoy the fall colors! Until next time, happy hucking!