Which type of ultimate player are you?
Do you play ultimate for the glory of winning, for the satisfaction of defeating your opponent, and because you're naturally good at it?
Yes: You are an Athlete.
Is ultimate one of many strange, random, and passionate pursuits in your life?
Yes: You are an Oddball.
If you're willing to dig around a bit, there are some excellent ultimate frisbee books in circulation. One of these books Ultimate: The Greatest Sport Ever Invented by Man, was recently suggested by one of my BF team-mates. Since I trusted this team-mates assessment that I would enjoy the book since the author writes sarcastically ("just like you"), I ordered a couple copies. The author, Pasquale Anthony Leonardo sent me a note the same night, indicating that he'd ship the books as soon as he got back from the Potlatch tournament.
After previewing the book at the author's website, and flipping through a few pages of my team-mates copy, I wasn't sure how much more to expect in the 130-page publication. To say that I was pleasantly surprised after determining how complete of a guide the book is to all things ultimate is a huge understatement. Confidentially, I'll call this book The Greatest Book About The Greatest Sport Ever Invented by Man (TGBATGSEIBM).
My favorite element of the book are the eight profiles that ulty players can be categorized into (the two I'd fall into are included above). Having played ulty for a tad over two years, it's amusing to categorize my various team-mates and acquaintances into each of the categories.
The book also contains tips from legends of the games about the things they do best. Tips regarding getting layout D's, skying taller players, and throwing 30 foot scoobers for goals are all informative and will be helpful on the field (ok....so maybe not the scoober tip in my case).
Other laugh-out-loud sections are the 40 most common ultimate nicknames, pick-up tips for tournaments, formulating team names, on/off field ultimate related games, alternate Ro-Sham-Bo games, common responses people give when hearing you play ultimate, how to play on little to no sleep, how to know if your co-worker is an ultimate player, and a brief history and future of the sport. It's also great that Ottawa gets mentioned three or four times throughout the book (yay OCUA....and PROUF!). Lastly, there is a pretty comprehensive glossary of ultimate terms that covers everything from "Throwing Fire" to "Land Sharks".
What makes this such a great read is the fact that the author really knows the sub-culture of our sport. He has been to the great tournaments, he obviously has the contacts to write the informative tip sections, he has figured out what makes ultimate players tick, and yet, he doesn't take the sport too seriously. If you're a beginner, intermediate, or full-fledged ulty addict, you need to order this book. Although I have an extra copy, there's no way you're getting it :P
Sidenote, as mentioned in previous posts, I'm on vacation, and won't be updating regularly. I'll try to do a weekly recap, and look forward to writing a bit about No Borders, but make no promises. Until next time, happy hucking!
Friday, July 18, 2008
Friday, July 11, 2008
Tragedy of Errors
"What's love got to do with what you got?
Don't let a win get to your head, or a loss to your heart."
Public Enemy – He Got Game
In my el-jay, I've described my support for the Seinfeld philosophy that life tends to even out. A great week, like last week, is inevitably followed by a tough week, like this one.
- Poached Motel lost 15-10 to a veteran filled PUMP team on Monday. The fact I was running on empty was obvious during two defensive sequences when I physically couldn't keep up with my player. On the plus side, we achieved double digits in points for the first time since May.
- Personally, the low-light of the Poached game was not effectively challenging for three high disks thrown my way. I got out jumped and out positioned by a 6'3 veteran with fresh legs.
- My personal high-light of the Poached game was throwing a bunch of points (4-6) for our team. They weren't all "smart throws", but found their targets for scores.
- Tuesday's practice was cancelled and since I was feeling sorry for myself (more on that later), I decided to take a day off. I briefly considered subbing for Disco Fever, but a night of eating ice cream, chips, and chocolate sounded more appealing.
- Turns out I don't have to buy a round of drink for Urban Sprawl, as they got hammered 15-3 last week by the Gullwings. Losing by so many points bumped us way down the latter (from 5th to 8th), behind a bunch of teams we've already beaten. My fingers are crossed for a rematch this summer, since I'd like to dismantle the Gullwings who will undoubtedly underestimate us.
- For whatever reason, I arrived uber early to Thursday's practice. Glenn was there, and we had a nice chat. General observation: Glenn knows everything about BF/ultimate/life.
- Tom's ladder workout was the high-light of practice. In running terminology, it was an inverse ladder, which means more reps of challenging exercises at the start and end of the progression. - Personally, the low-light of practice was my inability to read long/high discs during the modified huck drill and in the scrimmage. I MUST improve at this.
- Gav talked about how we need to show more confidence after we do something well on the field. Outwardly, this is unlikely for me. However, inwardly, I gave myself a pat on the back for attempting a forehand huck after an in cut during the scrimmage. Even though my receiver didn't catch it, I have the throw, it was a decent put, the captains saw I can make the throw, and I'm glad I tried it.
- Nick from BFC was nice enough to bring us Creamsicles to thank us for cheering on his team during Regionals.
- Random practice observation: Nikki has game throws that I wouldn't even think of practicing. There's probably a valid reason why she's not on BFC, but it's a mystery to me.
- Although I try to keep my mouth shut and ears open during practice, sadly, I found myself repeating "I'm not going to Montreal this weekend" when team-mates asked or incorrectly assumed. It hurt to keep saying it, but, it'll drive me to push myself harder to make the tournament roster next year.
- Friday's Sprawl game was interesting in that our opponent Sky Sky Sky Branch Tree was a complete unknown to me. I'd never heard of the team, nor did I recognize any of their players. When they were warming up, I noticed a Chess Club player who was at the open pre-tryouts. The game turned out to be way too much of a one-on-one battle between the two of us, and sadly, and fittingly given the events of the week, we lost 15-12. Even though I threw a pile of points on offense, I blame myself for the loss in that I couldn't stop the Carleton player's beautiful hucks on defense. It was fitting that he burned me for the winning point.
Coming off the high of competing with BF at Regionals, this week was a big reality check. Since it was my last week at work before 3 weeks of vacation, my reality there was rushing to complete a number of projects. Away from ulty, partially because of ulty, I have been putting friendships on the backburner, and had a non-ulty friend call me on that. My ultimate reality check came when I realized I wouldn't be joining BF at the Comedy of Errors tournament in Montreal this weekend. Despite playing with the team at NF and Regionals, I'm still only a member of the practice roster. Since Glenn can compete with BF at the rest of their tournaments this summer, and because he adds so much experience to the team, I'm back to playing hard at practices trying to impress the captains enough to make the actual roster next year. Oh well, the two tournaments were phenomenal experiences, and I fully intend on busting my ass in practice (not in a Duffy-sense). Plus, with No Borders only a week away, reality is I have a lot of work to do to prepare.
This brings me to this week's lesson learned: Don't get ahead of yourself. On the field, if you think about making a throw before you catch the disc, you're bound to drop it. Off the field, if you're a practice roster player, don't think that a decent performance at one tournament changes anything. Hopefully that doesn't come across too negative, but instead realistic. Until next time, happy hucking!
Don't let a win get to your head, or a loss to your heart."
Public Enemy – He Got Game
In my el-jay, I've described my support for the Seinfeld philosophy that life tends to even out. A great week, like last week, is inevitably followed by a tough week, like this one.
- Poached Motel lost 15-10 to a veteran filled PUMP team on Monday. The fact I was running on empty was obvious during two defensive sequences when I physically couldn't keep up with my player. On the plus side, we achieved double digits in points for the first time since May.
- Personally, the low-light of the Poached game was not effectively challenging for three high disks thrown my way. I got out jumped and out positioned by a 6'3 veteran with fresh legs.
- My personal high-light of the Poached game was throwing a bunch of points (4-6) for our team. They weren't all "smart throws", but found their targets for scores.
- Tuesday's practice was cancelled and since I was feeling sorry for myself (more on that later), I decided to take a day off. I briefly considered subbing for Disco Fever, but a night of eating ice cream, chips, and chocolate sounded more appealing.
- Turns out I don't have to buy a round of drink for Urban Sprawl, as they got hammered 15-3 last week by the Gullwings. Losing by so many points bumped us way down the latter (from 5th to 8th), behind a bunch of teams we've already beaten. My fingers are crossed for a rematch this summer, since I'd like to dismantle the Gullwings who will undoubtedly underestimate us.
- For whatever reason, I arrived uber early to Thursday's practice. Glenn was there, and we had a nice chat. General observation: Glenn knows everything about BF/ultimate/life.
- Tom's ladder workout was the high-light of practice. In running terminology, it was an inverse ladder, which means more reps of challenging exercises at the start and end of the progression. - Personally, the low-light of practice was my inability to read long/high discs during the modified huck drill and in the scrimmage. I MUST improve at this.
- Gav talked about how we need to show more confidence after we do something well on the field. Outwardly, this is unlikely for me. However, inwardly, I gave myself a pat on the back for attempting a forehand huck after an in cut during the scrimmage. Even though my receiver didn't catch it, I have the throw, it was a decent put, the captains saw I can make the throw, and I'm glad I tried it.
- Nick from BFC was nice enough to bring us Creamsicles to thank us for cheering on his team during Regionals.
- Random practice observation: Nikki has game throws that I wouldn't even think of practicing. There's probably a valid reason why she's not on BFC, but it's a mystery to me.
- Although I try to keep my mouth shut and ears open during practice, sadly, I found myself repeating "I'm not going to Montreal this weekend" when team-mates asked or incorrectly assumed. It hurt to keep saying it, but, it'll drive me to push myself harder to make the tournament roster next year.
- Friday's Sprawl game was interesting in that our opponent Sky Sky Sky Branch Tree was a complete unknown to me. I'd never heard of the team, nor did I recognize any of their players. When they were warming up, I noticed a Chess Club player who was at the open pre-tryouts. The game turned out to be way too much of a one-on-one battle between the two of us, and sadly, and fittingly given the events of the week, we lost 15-12. Even though I threw a pile of points on offense, I blame myself for the loss in that I couldn't stop the Carleton player's beautiful hucks on defense. It was fitting that he burned me for the winning point.
Coming off the high of competing with BF at Regionals, this week was a big reality check. Since it was my last week at work before 3 weeks of vacation, my reality there was rushing to complete a number of projects. Away from ulty, partially because of ulty, I have been putting friendships on the backburner, and had a non-ulty friend call me on that. My ultimate reality check came when I realized I wouldn't be joining BF at the Comedy of Errors tournament in Montreal this weekend. Despite playing with the team at NF and Regionals, I'm still only a member of the practice roster. Since Glenn can compete with BF at the rest of their tournaments this summer, and because he adds so much experience to the team, I'm back to playing hard at practices trying to impress the captains enough to make the actual roster next year. Oh well, the two tournaments were phenomenal experiences, and I fully intend on busting my ass in practice (not in a Duffy-sense). Plus, with No Borders only a week away, reality is I have a lot of work to do to prepare.
This brings me to this week's lesson learned: Don't get ahead of yourself. On the field, if you think about making a throw before you catch the disc, you're bound to drop it. Off the field, if you're a practice roster player, don't think that a decent performance at one tournament changes anything. Hopefully that doesn't come across too negative, but instead realistic. Until next time, happy hucking!
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Controversial Ulty Blog
"Now this looks like a job for me
So everybody, just follow me
Cause we need a little, controversy
Cause it feels so empty, without me."
Without Me - Eminem
As mentioned in past posts, I enjoy reading other ulty blogs. Beside Steve's superior blog (which you should be reading instead of these ramblings), another local ulty blog is located on the Ottawa open program's website, and is written by Phoenix player Mike Wronski (aka "M-W" or "The Polish Prince"). I'll preface all subsequent comments by saying that I had the pleasure of playing with Mike once when he captained my team in the 2007 men's indoor spring tune-up tournament, and he's an amazing player and teacher.
Mike wrote an interesting post a few months ago as Ottawa open tryouts were winding down (this post has recently been deleted), and I remember wondering if he was referring to any player in particular, or just making general comments about players trying out for different teams and committing after finding out which teams they made. Since Mike seemed like a nice guy during our brief encounter, I assumed the latter. Like so many of my assumptions, turns out I was completely wrong.
The post was directed to one player in particular, who had tried out for both open and mixed, and decided to play for the mixed team after he was offered spots in both programs. Apparently he was offered a spot on Firebird (the open "B" team), but chose to play for BFC (the mixed "A" team) instead. Of course Mike's open team-mates commented supporting his "controversial" post.
My primary disagreement with Mike's reasoning is that there is nothing wrong with keeping your options open in ulty (and life), and then evaluating choices in an objective manner. Weighing the pros and cons of different options shows sound judgment and wisdom, not weakness. I agree with Mike that commitment is an important character trait, but disagree when it comes to committing to something prematurely.
Knowing the player who was the target of the post makes me question Mike' motivation for writing it. The player is friendly and easygoing. I'd hope that Mike at least confronted the player in person before writing the post. I'd also hope that Mike put himself in the shoes of the player in question, since not everyone has Mike's skills and abilities. Lastly, I'd hope Mike chose his words carefully, as I'd tend to disagree with him in that the player in question is a difference maker for any team (even Phoenix) and does indeed "piss excellence".
Open ulty isn't for everyone. As indicated in a previous post, one of my personal reasons for not pursuing this option (rather than my lack of skills, speed, talent, etc.) is the testosterone that seems to be dominate the division. Despite my experiences that lead me to believe that the large majority of open players are great guys off the field, knowing the story behind the post only furthers my opinion of the open division as being a glorified pissing contest.
Unlike Mike's post, this isn't meant to be controversial. It's simply my humble attempt to defend an awesome player who didn't deserve to be slighted. I'm happy that the player in question chose to play on BFC this year. The team's success and his own success demonstrate that he made the right decision. Until next time, happy hucking!
So everybody, just follow me
Cause we need a little, controversy
Cause it feels so empty, without me."
Without Me - Eminem
As mentioned in past posts, I enjoy reading other ulty blogs. Beside Steve's superior blog (which you should be reading instead of these ramblings), another local ulty blog is located on the Ottawa open program's website, and is written by Phoenix player Mike Wronski (aka "M-W" or "The Polish Prince"). I'll preface all subsequent comments by saying that I had the pleasure of playing with Mike once when he captained my team in the 2007 men's indoor spring tune-up tournament, and he's an amazing player and teacher.
Mike wrote an interesting post a few months ago as Ottawa open tryouts were winding down (this post has recently been deleted), and I remember wondering if he was referring to any player in particular, or just making general comments about players trying out for different teams and committing after finding out which teams they made. Since Mike seemed like a nice guy during our brief encounter, I assumed the latter. Like so many of my assumptions, turns out I was completely wrong.
The post was directed to one player in particular, who had tried out for both open and mixed, and decided to play for the mixed team after he was offered spots in both programs. Apparently he was offered a spot on Firebird (the open "B" team), but chose to play for BFC (the mixed "A" team) instead. Of course Mike's open team-mates commented supporting his "controversial" post.
My primary disagreement with Mike's reasoning is that there is nothing wrong with keeping your options open in ulty (and life), and then evaluating choices in an objective manner. Weighing the pros and cons of different options shows sound judgment and wisdom, not weakness. I agree with Mike that commitment is an important character trait, but disagree when it comes to committing to something prematurely.
Knowing the player who was the target of the post makes me question Mike' motivation for writing it. The player is friendly and easygoing. I'd hope that Mike at least confronted the player in person before writing the post. I'd also hope that Mike put himself in the shoes of the player in question, since not everyone has Mike's skills and abilities. Lastly, I'd hope Mike chose his words carefully, as I'd tend to disagree with him in that the player in question is a difference maker for any team (even Phoenix) and does indeed "piss excellence".
Open ulty isn't for everyone. As indicated in a previous post, one of my personal reasons for not pursuing this option (rather than my lack of skills, speed, talent, etc.) is the testosterone that seems to be dominate the division. Despite my experiences that lead me to believe that the large majority of open players are great guys off the field, knowing the story behind the post only furthers my opinion of the open division as being a glorified pissing contest.
Unlike Mike's post, this isn't meant to be controversial. It's simply my humble attempt to defend an awesome player who didn't deserve to be slighted. I'm happy that the player in question chose to play on BFC this year. The team's success and his own success demonstrate that he made the right decision. Until next time, happy hucking!
Monday, July 7, 2008
Regionals Recap
"Just let it happen."
- J. Lester (multiple times both on and off the field at Regionals)
Below is a semi-brief recap of the Ontario mixed Regionals for 2008.
- No matter what you read, BigFish finished 8th (not 9th). We beat the 9th place team (The Company) to get into the game to qualify to battle for 6th (there were six spots for Ontario teams at Nationals), and proceeded to give Zen (Toronto) all they could handle in a very close 15-12 loss. We had Zen on the ropes, and just didn't have the killer instinct to put them away. Next year, and even later this season, it'll be a different story. As a consolation, Zen was absolutely drained after the game, and last time I checked the score, they were getting killed by Tundra in the 6th place game 12-3.
- After losing to Zen, a lot of my BF team-mates were sore or injured, but The Company really wanted a rematch after sticking around for over two hours. Being a great ultimate ambassador, and possibly since he wanted to try for his third Callahan in consecutive games, Gavin granted them a rematch. Sadly, I can't remember too many high-lights, but the caking incident after the game was hilarious.
- BFC finished a very strong 3rd. They might not be as dominant as they were last year when they finished 2nd in Canada, but they did a fantastic job representing Ottawa ultimate. Kudos to their captain Geofford for getting so much out of his team.
- I know Tournament Directors have very hard jobs, and politics are alive and well in ultimate, but making lower seeded teams (i.e. BigFish) play three or four games in a row without a break is ridiculous when higher seeds always seem to get a well-placed break between games.
- The emails that the veterans sent out explaining how Regionals were different than other tournaments were absolutely true. When I used to day-dream about "competitive ultimate" last summer, it was a situation like Regionals that I thought about. Every team is strong, every player deserves to be there, and it's all business on and off the field.
- Personally, I've never felt more apart of BigFish than at Regionals. There's a tremendous bond that develops when you see all your team-mates giving 100%, and how much support there is on and off the field. Rushing the field after every score was awesome....and BigFish had the loudest sideline at the tournament.
- I'll openly admit to being surprised with the amount of field time I got on Sunday. I know there were some injuries and other issues, but it felt awesome to have the captains show so much confidence in me to leave me on the field at key times in important games.
Now for a couple of random tidbits.
- Every game we played was winnable. There were no truly dominant teams, just experienced ones who used their strengths well.
- It was fun to get to know Alex and Laura a little better. Turns out Alex and I have very similar taste in music. Laura is extremely modest about her on field accomplishments, and taught Matt and I a fun game to play on two-lane highways. As a bonus, turns out I'm better than both Alex and Laura at pediddle!
- It was weird to see two familiar faces from the Ottawa ultimate scene show up and play for Big Hammers. I'll never understand the politics of competitive ultimate.
- I had a bit of an awkward moment after our last game Sunday when I overheard a tad too much of a conversation. It didn't dampen an overall good day though.
- The "G" in "G-star" could very well stand for "Golf".
- Favourite quote of the weekend was captain Julie saying "Flick attack mother fuckers!".
- The quote that makes me wonder if the apocolypse is upon us "James, that was some shit hot D". I'll withold the name of the quoter in an effort to keep them out of the Royal Ottawa.
- BF's loud sideline not only helped our team, but it helped BFC pull off a come from behind win on Saturday.
- Mr. Callahan is by far the best mini-golfer on the team.
- It was great to see Ariel bounce back from a tough Saturday with a spectacular Sunday.
- Watching Jordan handle is fascinating. He has these crazy fakes that markers tend to bite on. Reminds me of the O-P-dope in basketball.
- Jer is such a defensive machine. I love the way he D's discs at the last possible second. He's got very deceptive speed.
- This is a good spot in the post to hide one of my favourite moments of the weekend. I put a tonne of sunscreen on over the weekend, but left a gob on my neck prior to a game on Sunday. While we were circling up to cheer, one of my hottie team-mates noticed my clumsy sunscreen skills, and rubbed the gob in Lol. I know, I know....corny....but it was sweet of her.
- The one thing I have to work on most in league over the next few weeks is going up and challenging for high discs. Although I can generally get away with out jumping league players, I need to work on establishing superior positioning, and timing my jump to catch the disc at my zenith. Jer gave me some great tips on how to attack high discs.
- In my mind, the two players that stepped up the most were Michael and Laura. Laura seemed to catch half our points, and Michael was everywhere on offense and defense. He puts so much effort into the game, and makes remarkable catches seem routine.
- At the risk of having him link through FB and read this, I really want to play more like Alstair as I mature. He makes smart decisions everytime he has the disc, and knows how to play within himself. He's also very willing to pull people aside and teach them at any point in the game.
- I'm officially envious of D's beautiful backhand pulls.
- Speaking of D, I need to find a new home for BF mascot Stewie (who was stuffed in my travel bag). This might be tough given I'm not gauaranteed to be on the roster for any future tournaments.....but I'll try my best.
I went to bed happy last night knowing I left it all on the field. Tonight's league game with Poached was uber tough, cause I'm still physically and emotionally drained. That's ok though, since I gave it my all when it counted....and will work harder than ever to get back to the show next year with BigFish. That hard work started last night with a 20 minute run, continued today with 30 minutes lifting, and included hauling my tired ass to a Poached game tonight. It'll continue for the next 364 days....promise.
My big lesson learned from Regionals was that just because you fall short of your goals, doesn't mean you failed. My offensive goal was not to drop a catchable disc all weekend. Impressively, I managed to get through four games on Saturday without a drop. However, I dropped a catchable disc in our first game Sunday, and then didn't challenge for a few high discs as well as I should have. Luckily, I didn't get down on myself, and instead took Glenn's advice and worked extra hard to try to get the disc back on defense. Drops happen, even to good people (Stevie and Ariel come to mind), but it's how you bounce back that counts. Not acheiving my goal was a tad disappointing, but staying positive, and giving everything I had on each point made me feel good about my overall effort. Stretch goals are meant to be challenging, and I'm always up for a good challenge :) Until next time, happy hucking!
- J. Lester (multiple times both on and off the field at Regionals)
Below is a semi-brief recap of the Ontario mixed Regionals for 2008.
- No matter what you read, BigFish finished 8th (not 9th). We beat the 9th place team (The Company) to get into the game to qualify to battle for 6th (there were six spots for Ontario teams at Nationals), and proceeded to give Zen (Toronto) all they could handle in a very close 15-12 loss. We had Zen on the ropes, and just didn't have the killer instinct to put them away. Next year, and even later this season, it'll be a different story. As a consolation, Zen was absolutely drained after the game, and last time I checked the score, they were getting killed by Tundra in the 6th place game 12-3.
- After losing to Zen, a lot of my BF team-mates were sore or injured, but The Company really wanted a rematch after sticking around for over two hours. Being a great ultimate ambassador, and possibly since he wanted to try for his third Callahan in consecutive games, Gavin granted them a rematch. Sadly, I can't remember too many high-lights, but the caking incident after the game was hilarious.
- BFC finished a very strong 3rd. They might not be as dominant as they were last year when they finished 2nd in Canada, but they did a fantastic job representing Ottawa ultimate. Kudos to their captain Geofford for getting so much out of his team.
- I know Tournament Directors have very hard jobs, and politics are alive and well in ultimate, but making lower seeded teams (i.e. BigFish) play three or four games in a row without a break is ridiculous when higher seeds always seem to get a well-placed break between games.
- The emails that the veterans sent out explaining how Regionals were different than other tournaments were absolutely true. When I used to day-dream about "competitive ultimate" last summer, it was a situation like Regionals that I thought about. Every team is strong, every player deserves to be there, and it's all business on and off the field.
- Personally, I've never felt more apart of BigFish than at Regionals. There's a tremendous bond that develops when you see all your team-mates giving 100%, and how much support there is on and off the field. Rushing the field after every score was awesome....and BigFish had the loudest sideline at the tournament.
- I'll openly admit to being surprised with the amount of field time I got on Sunday. I know there were some injuries and other issues, but it felt awesome to have the captains show so much confidence in me to leave me on the field at key times in important games.
Now for a couple of random tidbits.
- Every game we played was winnable. There were no truly dominant teams, just experienced ones who used their strengths well.
- It was fun to get to know Alex and Laura a little better. Turns out Alex and I have very similar taste in music. Laura is extremely modest about her on field accomplishments, and taught Matt and I a fun game to play on two-lane highways. As a bonus, turns out I'm better than both Alex and Laura at pediddle!
- It was weird to see two familiar faces from the Ottawa ultimate scene show up and play for Big Hammers. I'll never understand the politics of competitive ultimate.
- I had a bit of an awkward moment after our last game Sunday when I overheard a tad too much of a conversation. It didn't dampen an overall good day though.
- The "G" in "G-star" could very well stand for "Golf".
- Favourite quote of the weekend was captain Julie saying "Flick attack mother fuckers!".
- The quote that makes me wonder if the apocolypse is upon us "James, that was some shit hot D". I'll withold the name of the quoter in an effort to keep them out of the Royal Ottawa.
- BF's loud sideline not only helped our team, but it helped BFC pull off a come from behind win on Saturday.
- Mr. Callahan is by far the best mini-golfer on the team.
- It was great to see Ariel bounce back from a tough Saturday with a spectacular Sunday.
- Watching Jordan handle is fascinating. He has these crazy fakes that markers tend to bite on. Reminds me of the O-P-dope in basketball.
- Jer is such a defensive machine. I love the way he D's discs at the last possible second. He's got very deceptive speed.
- This is a good spot in the post to hide one of my favourite moments of the weekend. I put a tonne of sunscreen on over the weekend, but left a gob on my neck prior to a game on Sunday. While we were circling up to cheer, one of my hottie team-mates noticed my clumsy sunscreen skills, and rubbed the gob in Lol. I know, I know....corny....but it was sweet of her.
- The one thing I have to work on most in league over the next few weeks is going up and challenging for high discs. Although I can generally get away with out jumping league players, I need to work on establishing superior positioning, and timing my jump to catch the disc at my zenith. Jer gave me some great tips on how to attack high discs.
- In my mind, the two players that stepped up the most were Michael and Laura. Laura seemed to catch half our points, and Michael was everywhere on offense and defense. He puts so much effort into the game, and makes remarkable catches seem routine.
- At the risk of having him link through FB and read this, I really want to play more like Alstair as I mature. He makes smart decisions everytime he has the disc, and knows how to play within himself. He's also very willing to pull people aside and teach them at any point in the game.
- I'm officially envious of D's beautiful backhand pulls.
- Speaking of D, I need to find a new home for BF mascot Stewie (who was stuffed in my travel bag). This might be tough given I'm not gauaranteed to be on the roster for any future tournaments.....but I'll try my best.
I went to bed happy last night knowing I left it all on the field. Tonight's league game with Poached was uber tough, cause I'm still physically and emotionally drained. That's ok though, since I gave it my all when it counted....and will work harder than ever to get back to the show next year with BigFish. That hard work started last night with a 20 minute run, continued today with 30 minutes lifting, and included hauling my tired ass to a Poached game tonight. It'll continue for the next 364 days....promise.
My big lesson learned from Regionals was that just because you fall short of your goals, doesn't mean you failed. My offensive goal was not to drop a catchable disc all weekend. Impressively, I managed to get through four games on Saturday without a drop. However, I dropped a catchable disc in our first game Sunday, and then didn't challenge for a few high discs as well as I should have. Luckily, I didn't get down on myself, and instead took Glenn's advice and worked extra hard to try to get the disc back on defense. Drops happen, even to good people (Stevie and Ariel come to mind), but it's how you bounce back that counts. Not acheiving my goal was a tad disappointing, but staying positive, and giving everything I had on each point made me feel good about my overall effort. Stretch goals are meant to be challenging, and I'm always up for a good challenge :) Until next time, happy hucking!
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Waterloo or Bust(s?)
"Respect everyone and fear no one. "
- G. Ford
What I thought would be a relatively quiet week of practices before Regionals turned out to be hectic. Below are some of the highs and lows from this shortened week of ulty.
- Since Gav suggested ditching our league teams this week, I arranged a sub for Poached Motel (who lost…again). Around noon, I got a message from the B&Es captain asking me if I'd like to sub. Being an ulty addict, I justified subbing by telling myself I wouldn't play hard. Not playing hard lasted until Black Velvet Elvis scored the first point.
- The low-light of the B&E vs. BVE game was my inability to turn it down a few notches. Intensity is a good thing, but yelling at a team-mate for not swinging the disc and holding it behind their back is a sad reflection of how seriously I take this game. I apologized to said team-mate, but still feel awful about being a jerk.
- As mentioned in my last post, the B&E game was a rather productive one for me. After "turning it on", I threw the next couple of points, and ended up figuring into the majority of B&E offense. Another positive is that the team won 15-11.
- This week's sign that the apocalypse is upon us: One of my "experienced" (i.e. elderly) B&E team-mates told me that I should look up field instead of just dumping the disc when I sit on zone offense. Having never been accused of using my dump too frequently (impossible btw), I "blame" the BF captains and coach Stu ;-)
- Tuesday's Canada Day practice with BFC (+ a few Stella ladies) was a blast…except for the resulting sunburn on my arms, shoulders, and neck.
- High-light of practice was throwing with Damian from BFC for about 20. Damian was responsible for getting me to step out and extend on my flick (Learn to Play clinic 2007). Having watched him play on DVD with BFC against TFP in the CUC 2007 finals a few days prior to the practice, it was an honor to throw with the guy.
- Low-light #1 of practice was marking Damian, Jamieson, and Pete Hook on BFC. I feel proud that those guys are marking up against me when I'm on offense, but, my chances of stopping any of those speedsters on defense are practically non-existent.
- Low-light #2 of the practice was dropping a beautiful Tron put on a designed play during a BF black / BF white scrimmage. Gavin joked about it, but I felt like a nob.
- Good place in the recap to hide this: my sports hernia has been giving me some grief lately. It's nowhere near the pain of last fall/early winter, but sore enough to make me increase the amount of physio stretching and exercises for it. On the bright side, the more effort I put into stretching and strengthening the relevant muscle groups, the less it bothers me on the field. On a related note, thank god for Core shorts.
- My "off day" on Wednesday consisted of hitting the gym, the trails for a fartlek, the exercise mat for physio stretching, and the physio ball. Before you feel sorry for me, I'll admit to treating myself to a donair for supper.
- A downside of going to Waterloo is not FINALLY getting to play the Gullwings. The Gullwings have won the Friday night crown the last couple years, and I've wanted to play them ever since being coached by Gord (a former Gullwing) a winter ago. Sadly, the Gullwings are not the team they used to be. Regardless, I've offered to buy Sprawl a round of drinks if they can pull off the victory this Friday.
- Another reason I wanted to play the Gullwings is they used to have one of the hottest women ulty players in Ottawa on their team. How gorgeous is she? I'm incapable of playing decent ultimate if she's within 30 feet of me. For instance, after noticing her at the Canada Day practice, I proceeded to shank a backhand so badly during the slant-to-huck drill that it almost hit Alstair's dog out of bounds on the opposite sideline I was aiming for *sigh*.
- Not only will I be volunteering at No Borders this year, I managed to pick up on Mule. Finally getting to meet Jack Webb (esq.) should be awesome, as will getting to play with MHJ for two days in a row.
- We were supposed to scrimmage against Arrested Development for Thursday's practice, but it got cancelled due to saturated fields. I'm glad the AD scrimmage got called off, as it would have been a distraction.
- Instead of having the practice, a couple of veteran BF'ers sent out awesome emails that have added fuel to my fire for Regionals. Hearing the words of wisdom from players who I idolize really motivates me. As stated in a previous post, no matter how little I play this weekend, I promise to leave it all on the field.
On that note, it's Waterloo or bust for me. Since I'm driving down with the two people I know least about on BF (and Matt), it should be interesting. Whatever happens at Regionals, I'm sure it'll be a fantastic experience. Until next time, happy hucking!
- G. Ford
What I thought would be a relatively quiet week of practices before Regionals turned out to be hectic. Below are some of the highs and lows from this shortened week of ulty.
- Since Gav suggested ditching our league teams this week, I arranged a sub for Poached Motel (who lost…again). Around noon, I got a message from the B&Es captain asking me if I'd like to sub. Being an ulty addict, I justified subbing by telling myself I wouldn't play hard. Not playing hard lasted until Black Velvet Elvis scored the first point.
- The low-light of the B&E vs. BVE game was my inability to turn it down a few notches. Intensity is a good thing, but yelling at a team-mate for not swinging the disc and holding it behind their back is a sad reflection of how seriously I take this game. I apologized to said team-mate, but still feel awful about being a jerk.
- As mentioned in my last post, the B&E game was a rather productive one for me. After "turning it on", I threw the next couple of points, and ended up figuring into the majority of B&E offense. Another positive is that the team won 15-11.
- This week's sign that the apocalypse is upon us: One of my "experienced" (i.e. elderly) B&E team-mates told me that I should look up field instead of just dumping the disc when I sit on zone offense. Having never been accused of using my dump too frequently (impossible btw), I "blame" the BF captains and coach Stu ;-)
- Tuesday's Canada Day practice with BFC (+ a few Stella ladies) was a blast…except for the resulting sunburn on my arms, shoulders, and neck.
- High-light of practice was throwing with Damian from BFC for about 20. Damian was responsible for getting me to step out and extend on my flick (Learn to Play clinic 2007). Having watched him play on DVD with BFC against TFP in the CUC 2007 finals a few days prior to the practice, it was an honor to throw with the guy.
- Low-light #1 of practice was marking Damian, Jamieson, and Pete Hook on BFC. I feel proud that those guys are marking up against me when I'm on offense, but, my chances of stopping any of those speedsters on defense are practically non-existent.
- Low-light #2 of the practice was dropping a beautiful Tron put on a designed play during a BF black / BF white scrimmage. Gavin joked about it, but I felt like a nob.
- Good place in the recap to hide this: my sports hernia has been giving me some grief lately. It's nowhere near the pain of last fall/early winter, but sore enough to make me increase the amount of physio stretching and exercises for it. On the bright side, the more effort I put into stretching and strengthening the relevant muscle groups, the less it bothers me on the field. On a related note, thank god for Core shorts.
- My "off day" on Wednesday consisted of hitting the gym, the trails for a fartlek, the exercise mat for physio stretching, and the physio ball. Before you feel sorry for me, I'll admit to treating myself to a donair for supper.
- A downside of going to Waterloo is not FINALLY getting to play the Gullwings. The Gullwings have won the Friday night crown the last couple years, and I've wanted to play them ever since being coached by Gord (a former Gullwing) a winter ago. Sadly, the Gullwings are not the team they used to be. Regardless, I've offered to buy Sprawl a round of drinks if they can pull off the victory this Friday.
- Another reason I wanted to play the Gullwings is they used to have one of the hottest women ulty players in Ottawa on their team. How gorgeous is she? I'm incapable of playing decent ultimate if she's within 30 feet of me. For instance, after noticing her at the Canada Day practice, I proceeded to shank a backhand so badly during the slant-to-huck drill that it almost hit Alstair's dog out of bounds on the opposite sideline I was aiming for *sigh*.
- Not only will I be volunteering at No Borders this year, I managed to pick up on Mule. Finally getting to meet Jack Webb (esq.) should be awesome, as will getting to play with MHJ for two days in a row.
- We were supposed to scrimmage against Arrested Development for Thursday's practice, but it got cancelled due to saturated fields. I'm glad the AD scrimmage got called off, as it would have been a distraction.
- Instead of having the practice, a couple of veteran BF'ers sent out awesome emails that have added fuel to my fire for Regionals. Hearing the words of wisdom from players who I idolize really motivates me. As stated in a previous post, no matter how little I play this weekend, I promise to leave it all on the field.
On that note, it's Waterloo or bust for me. Since I'm driving down with the two people I know least about on BF (and Matt), it should be interesting. Whatever happens at Regionals, I'm sure it'll be a fantastic experience. Until next time, happy hucking!
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