"I hurt myself today,
to see if I still feel.
I focus on the pain,
the only thing that's real."
Johnny Cash - Hurt
First thing is first - thank you to Employee of the Month sub Jon for giving me the link so that I could fix my blog url! No longer is my blog url totally misleading :) Now I expect the profile views and hits to level off or possibly decrease *fingers crossed*. On that note, the following is my recap of the last week in "falltimate".
- Employee of the Month lost a battle against Glenn's Ragin Gaijin team on Monday night by a score of 18 - 10. This was our first fall game at Frankly Crumbling Stadium (FCS), and definitely won't be our last as we have another there this coming Monday.
- Personal high-light of the game was getting a few cuts against the likes of Damian, Glenn, and Lorenz. I respect and admire all three of these individuals, and it was a privlege marking and being marked by them.
- Personal low-light of the game was throwing away three passes. It was a windless night, and even though I didn't drop anything, I have to minimize turnovers if I want to make IAD this winter.
- Further to that point, the winter leagues in Ottawa have changed quite a bit this year. They'll be no Elite ulimate at FCS (4 teams last year), and IID and IAD at FCS will run with 2 less teams each (8 vs. 10). Since I changed the URL, I'll go on record and say this is a dumb financial decision. Cutting 8 "higher caliber teams in favor of new rec leagues at the FCS will cost OCUA approximately $9,600 ($100 difference per team x 12 people per team x 8 teams). There were never a shortage of people wanting to play in the higher caliber leagues.
- My plan is to tryout for IAD, but with the numbers the way they are, I'll expect to play IID again on Wednesdays this winter. It's not that I don't think my game has progressed since last winter, it's basically that with some Elite players dropping down to Advanced, and a lot of the Advanced spots already taken by returning players and "grizzled vets" who provide leadership, my chances aren't good. Plus, and again I'll put this in here since my URL has changed, I don't know Reza, he doesn't know me, which means he's much more likely to take one of his buddies for the league.
- Between games, I attended the OCUA AGM this past Tuesday. Although I didn't count, apparently 22 of nearly 5,000 OCUA members showed up. Luckily, BF captain Sandra worked her but off to gather proxies, guaranteeing that the 2% quorum was acheived.
- For those of you who've never attended the AGM, I'd strongly recommend it. Although there were no controversial motions, there was some interesting discussion concerning a variety of relevant topics.
- EotM was lucky enough to be chosen to play in the feature game at the new Aviation Museum fields for the grand opening on Saturday. We won against Cruisin' by a final score of 15-13. After Cruisin' took a 5-1 lead, we clawed our way back thanks to a number of our veterans stepping up.
- Personal high-light of the game was a layout catch for a point on a second effort after I tipped it in the air.
- Low-light for me was throwing the disc away 3 times while handling. If my team trusts me enough to let me handle, I can't turn the disc over. It's that simple.
- A second low-light, and the reason for the song choice, is that both of my feet really hurt after the game. I've been too lazy to put my Superfeet insoles in my new cleats, and the rock hard fields (sorry OCUA...but it's true), really aggrivated my sensitive feet.
All in all, that was a pretty busy week of ultimate. With IAD tryouts fast approaching, I'm working out quite hard away from the fields, and plan to do a consultation with KJ this Tuesday to see if I can get set up with a workout plan. Until next time, happy hucking!
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Who's got Spirit?
"We've got spirit, yes we do
We've got spirit, how bout you?"
Popular cheer at highschool and college football games
The last BigFish tournament of 2008 was Spirit. The fields at the Hornet's Nest were soft (it's been raining a lot this fall in Ottawa), the temperature was perfect (low 20s with no wind), and the competition was tough. Below is my recap of the day from a BF perspective. The scores are estimates, since my record keeping took a back seat to my laziness.
Raijin Gaijin 15, BigFish 10
Shame on The Ageless Wonder, Glenn, who jumped ship on Fish for the day to play with Raijin. This was a pretty competitive game, and had Glenn played on the right team, the score would probably have been reversed. After getting the green light from the captains early, I threw three hucks, two for scores, one to our secret speedster weapon - Gavin. Why did the captains give me the green light to throw up field? Honestly, I have no idea...but I'm thankful for it.
Uber Skuber 15, BigFish 11
Another game that easily could have went the other way. Sadly, what I remember from this game was an odd exchange with 4 disc space violations being called on the same person, on the same play. On the upside, given my usual aggressive marking, I wasn't the "violator". Not much else about this game stands out. To be honest, it wasn't very fun due to a tonne of calls.
Family Feud 15, BigFish 6
There's this mid-tier Monday league team named Family Feud, who I thought might have mistakenly entered the competitive division. When three Alexender brothers (of Phoenix fame) showed up with a couple of their open buddies, and picked up the talented V from BFC and a couple of other speedy ladies, I knew we were in BIG trouble. Props to the BF captains who managed to keep this game fun. One of CPO's little brothers played a point for us, making three huge catches, and then throwing a point. A personal high-light was marking / being marked by Derek Alexander ("The Franchise") and some other open guys. Also memorable was BF's speedster striking for a couple of points against Billy Alexander.
Hot Seat 13, BigFish 10
Hot Seat was Manny's team, and this was a fun game to end the day. We played on this ridiculously short field, and implemented the North Bay 2-point behind-the-back catch rule. Of course Mr. Two-Pointer made two spectacular behind-the-back catches for BF. I probably had my best game of the day, catching a couple of points, and handling semi-competently. One of those bizzaro moments happenned when I accidently shouldered Manny in the jaw on a dump cut. He "pretended" to be mad, kicked the disc before I tried to pick it up a couple times, then ended up striking on me as "payback". He's definitely a fun guy, who I look forward to playing with and against in the future.
It's worth noting that Family Feud went onto beat Hot Seat in the soon-to-be-televised "final" 15-7. If the endzones look short or long, blame me, since Gav/Jer/Allistair mistakenly trusted me to set them up *sigh* After catching a bit of the final, some of us headed over to Alex's place for a BBQ. Alex makes a mean burger, and Laura has mad skills at selecting quality cookies. Also of note is that BF team-mate G kicked some serious ass in fundraising for Spirit, bringing in over $1400! Further proof that she's totally awesome both on and off the field.
On that note, this might be the last post at this url. A very helpful ultimate player gave me some links to check out with respect to changing the url. As the profile views and hits continue to climb to increasingly scary levels, it's probably worth investing an hour to see if I can make the change. Thanks to all the readers who've left comments, talked to me about posts, or wrote messages....your input is valued. Until next time, happy hucking!
We've got spirit, how bout you?"
Popular cheer at highschool and college football games
The last BigFish tournament of 2008 was Spirit. The fields at the Hornet's Nest were soft (it's been raining a lot this fall in Ottawa), the temperature was perfect (low 20s with no wind), and the competition was tough. Below is my recap of the day from a BF perspective. The scores are estimates, since my record keeping took a back seat to my laziness.
Raijin Gaijin 15, BigFish 10
Shame on The Ageless Wonder, Glenn, who jumped ship on Fish for the day to play with Raijin. This was a pretty competitive game, and had Glenn played on the right team, the score would probably have been reversed. After getting the green light from the captains early, I threw three hucks, two for scores, one to our secret speedster weapon - Gavin. Why did the captains give me the green light to throw up field? Honestly, I have no idea...but I'm thankful for it.
Uber Skuber 15, BigFish 11
Another game that easily could have went the other way. Sadly, what I remember from this game was an odd exchange with 4 disc space violations being called on the same person, on the same play. On the upside, given my usual aggressive marking, I wasn't the "violator". Not much else about this game stands out. To be honest, it wasn't very fun due to a tonne of calls.
Family Feud 15, BigFish 6
There's this mid-tier Monday league team named Family Feud, who I thought might have mistakenly entered the competitive division. When three Alexender brothers (of Phoenix fame) showed up with a couple of their open buddies, and picked up the talented V from BFC and a couple of other speedy ladies, I knew we were in BIG trouble. Props to the BF captains who managed to keep this game fun. One of CPO's little brothers played a point for us, making three huge catches, and then throwing a point. A personal high-light was marking / being marked by Derek Alexander ("The Franchise") and some other open guys. Also memorable was BF's speedster striking for a couple of points against Billy Alexander.
Hot Seat 13, BigFish 10
Hot Seat was Manny's team, and this was a fun game to end the day. We played on this ridiculously short field, and implemented the North Bay 2-point behind-the-back catch rule. Of course Mr. Two-Pointer made two spectacular behind-the-back catches for BF. I probably had my best game of the day, catching a couple of points, and handling semi-competently. One of those bizzaro moments happenned when I accidently shouldered Manny in the jaw on a dump cut. He "pretended" to be mad, kicked the disc before I tried to pick it up a couple times, then ended up striking on me as "payback". He's definitely a fun guy, who I look forward to playing with and against in the future.
It's worth noting that Family Feud went onto beat Hot Seat in the soon-to-be-televised "final" 15-7. If the endzones look short or long, blame me, since Gav/Jer/Allistair mistakenly trusted me to set them up *sigh* After catching a bit of the final, some of us headed over to Alex's place for a BBQ. Alex makes a mean burger, and Laura has mad skills at selecting quality cookies. Also of note is that BF team-mate G kicked some serious ass in fundraising for Spirit, bringing in over $1400! Further proof that she's totally awesome both on and off the field.
On that note, this might be the last post at this url. A very helpful ultimate player gave me some links to check out with respect to changing the url. As the profile views and hits continue to climb to increasingly scary levels, it's probably worth investing an hour to see if I can make the change. Thanks to all the readers who've left comments, talked to me about posts, or wrote messages....your input is valued. Until next time, happy hucking!
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Falltimate!
"You don't know what you've got, til it's gone."
Cinderella (bad 80s hair band)
One of the 'Zip Tips' is that if you ever feel like ultimate is becoming a burden, take a few days away from it and it's inevitable you'll come back with a renewed passion for the game. After suffering through two ultimate-less weeks, strapping on a new pair of cleats and playing with Employee of the Month (EotM) last Saturday felt amazing! Below is an abbreviated ultimate recap from the last week.
- Friday night was the BigFish season end party. Mr. Two Pointer offered his house for the occasion, which included a pool, pool table, ping pong table, and a fully stocked beer fridge. Even though everyone couldn't make it, it's safe to say that a good time was had by all in attendance.
- As part of the party, G & I worked on the "top secret" surprise project of creating a Go Fish deck of playing cards (Berry's awesome idea) with everyone represented. G's artwork, design, and layout were exceptional. Her creativity and attention to detail is inspiring. All I had to do was draft some text, which G, Pete and Julie supplemented with their fantastic ideas. Everyone seemed very impressed with the decks that will serve as a great keepsake to commemorate a fun summer.
- What's on my card? I'll try to scan it at some point, but I was thrilled to find out that Julie considered me the Most Improved Player with Fish this year. A summer of hard work paid off.
- Saturday morning's game against Shut Up and Run (love the name) was a blast. Granted, we only had four guys and four ladies for most of the game (Gav played the first few points before heading out), but we came from behind (10 – 13 ) to win 15 – 13.
- High-light of the game for me was getting a chance to handle on a STACKED team that included Tron, Ariel, Terry, Sandra, and D. Low-light is equally easy, as I was the main reason our team fell behind, after dropping 3 points in the early going. Not to make excuses, but it rained throughout the game, and the disc was quite slippery. Still, I can't drop points (especially ones thrown by Gav) if I plan to make Fish next year.
- The captains plan to get some EotM shirts made this fall. I'm totally down for this, as the front of the brown shirt has a picture of a "Fart Factory" and the team name is on the rear. Gavin takes the EotM name and concept quiet seriously, and insisted that I parked in the "management lot" at Potvin on Saturday, and should have moved my car down the road with the other entry level employees.
- Saturday afternoon and evening was Urban Sprawl's year end party at Paul's place. Big props to Paul for hosting the shindig. It was nice to see a few team-mates loosen up and enjoy themselves. Hopefully a good time was had by all.
- EotM's game Monday ended up getting cancelled when the gate to the diamond we were supposed to play on was locked. It's crazy how we managed to get OCUA's Executive Director on the line in about a minute. It pays to have a couple of Board members on the team!
- One last ultimate thing: I love my new Under Armor football cleats. They are "mid" cut, which provides excellent ankle support. They have that middle toe peg that I can't do without after playing with Gaias. Lastly, for a pair of heavier cleats, I can still run pretty quickly in them.
Since BigFish plays our last tournament of the year this coming weekend, expect a recap of Spirit next week. Personally, I'm looking forward to playing BFC and Lunchbox (or whatever Manny calls his squad this year). If Reza happens to reformulate Practice, I wouldn't mind a chance at redemption against them either. Until next time, happy hucking!
Cinderella (bad 80s hair band)
One of the 'Zip Tips' is that if you ever feel like ultimate is becoming a burden, take a few days away from it and it's inevitable you'll come back with a renewed passion for the game. After suffering through two ultimate-less weeks, strapping on a new pair of cleats and playing with Employee of the Month (EotM) last Saturday felt amazing! Below is an abbreviated ultimate recap from the last week.
- Friday night was the BigFish season end party. Mr. Two Pointer offered his house for the occasion, which included a pool, pool table, ping pong table, and a fully stocked beer fridge. Even though everyone couldn't make it, it's safe to say that a good time was had by all in attendance.
- As part of the party, G & I worked on the "top secret" surprise project of creating a Go Fish deck of playing cards (Berry's awesome idea) with everyone represented. G's artwork, design, and layout were exceptional. Her creativity and attention to detail is inspiring. All I had to do was draft some text, which G, Pete and Julie supplemented with their fantastic ideas. Everyone seemed very impressed with the decks that will serve as a great keepsake to commemorate a fun summer.
- What's on my card? I'll try to scan it at some point, but I was thrilled to find out that Julie considered me the Most Improved Player with Fish this year. A summer of hard work paid off.
- Saturday morning's game against Shut Up and Run (love the name) was a blast. Granted, we only had four guys and four ladies for most of the game (Gav played the first few points before heading out), but we came from behind (10 – 13 ) to win 15 – 13.
- High-light of the game for me was getting a chance to handle on a STACKED team that included Tron, Ariel, Terry, Sandra, and D. Low-light is equally easy, as I was the main reason our team fell behind, after dropping 3 points in the early going. Not to make excuses, but it rained throughout the game, and the disc was quite slippery. Still, I can't drop points (especially ones thrown by Gav) if I plan to make Fish next year.
- The captains plan to get some EotM shirts made this fall. I'm totally down for this, as the front of the brown shirt has a picture of a "Fart Factory" and the team name is on the rear. Gavin takes the EotM name and concept quiet seriously, and insisted that I parked in the "management lot" at Potvin on Saturday, and should have moved my car down the road with the other entry level employees.
- Saturday afternoon and evening was Urban Sprawl's year end party at Paul's place. Big props to Paul for hosting the shindig. It was nice to see a few team-mates loosen up and enjoy themselves. Hopefully a good time was had by all.
- EotM's game Monday ended up getting cancelled when the gate to the diamond we were supposed to play on was locked. It's crazy how we managed to get OCUA's Executive Director on the line in about a minute. It pays to have a couple of Board members on the team!
- One last ultimate thing: I love my new Under Armor football cleats. They are "mid" cut, which provides excellent ankle support. They have that middle toe peg that I can't do without after playing with Gaias. Lastly, for a pair of heavier cleats, I can still run pretty quickly in them.
Since BigFish plays our last tournament of the year this coming weekend, expect a recap of Spirit next week. Personally, I'm looking forward to playing BFC and Lunchbox (or whatever Manny calls his squad this year). If Reza happens to reformulate Practice, I wouldn't mind a chance at redemption against them either. Until next time, happy hucking!
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Stylin' Frisbee Accessories
"Money, it's gotta be the shoes!"
Mars Blackman (aka Spike Lee) - from a series of memorable Nike commercials.
Every ultimate team has a fashion guru who sets the bar for other team members. These fashionistas are easy to pick out since they put more thought and effort into coordinating their wardrobe than the rest of their team-mates do combined. Although ultimate accessories won't make you a better player, they do make you look better while playing. What follows is a brief overview of ultimate accessories ranging from necessary, to functional, to superfluous.
Necessary
Cleats – Cleats form the basis of your entire ultimate wardrobe. A boring pair of black soccer cleats indicate you're uncreative and uninspired. On the other hand, a flashy pair of gold Nike Vapors, or Gaia G4's held together by flaming red duct-tape show you have game, and aren't afraid to let others know it!
Braces – Any "serious" ultimate player will rock at least one brace at any given time. Braces are an excellent way to draw attention to your battle scars, and at the same time give a false sense of security to unsuspecting opponents who overlook the hundreds of hours that you've inevitably spent rehabbing your injuries. Braces can be further snazzed up by adding colorful athletic tape to hold them in place, but I'm getting ahead of myself.
Compression Shorts – After suffering my sports hernia, my physiotherapist recommended an obscenely expensive brand of compression shorts in order to enable me to continue to play. I was initially a little apprehensive about wearing compression shorts since I thought they'd limit my movement, but that apprehension went out the window during the mixed tryout process. I quickly noticed that the great majority of competitive ulty players in Ottawa don't leave home without compression shorts.
Orthotics - Also during the mixed tryout process, the number of players with orthotics / ankle braces / Superfeet became apparent to me. With the amount of pounding your feet take during a competitive ultimate tournament, keeping your tootsies happy is highly recommended.
Functional
Hats / Visors / Headbands / Bandanas – After considering adding headgear to the 'Necessary' category, I flopped and put it here only because it is possible to play ultimate without it…but I wouldn't recommend it. Not only does headgear keep the sun and sweat out of your eyes, it's a great chance to show others what kind of player you are through a stylish accessory. Although I'm relatively certain it's about to disintegrate, I shudder at the thought of how badly my "game" will fall off after my 'Undisputed World's Heavyweight Champion' hat goes onto hat heaven. For advice on visors, I recommend contacting the Scarlet ladies. If you need help with headbands, the Physbees men are your best bet. For bandanas, there's a guy that works at Treasury Board (David something) who can rock a bandana with the best of them.
Wristbands – Not only will wristbands help pull together your ultimate ensemble, they're quite functional to wipe the sweat off your hands, and to decrease the impact when people hack at your wrists when handling and receiving. Wristbands are most important for tall players (who get hacked frequently in league play). As for the choice of whether to wear one or two wristbands, it's a complicated personal decision that should be contemplated at great length.
Athletic Tape – Does something hurt on your body? (Dumb question, of course it does or you'd be a wimpy soccer player). Do you have $5 to blow in an attempt to make your pain decrease marginly? (Dumb question, of course you do or your team would have kicked you off for not contributing to the beer fund). If you've answered yes to both of these questions, consider buying a roll of colored athletic tape (white = boring) and searching the Internet for tips from some 14 year old kid with no medical training.
Socks – The number of league players who wear athletic socks from Wal-mart amazes me to no end. A week after Bryce Ring taught me how to cut properly, I had painful protusions of black skin all over my feet. The answer? A box of six pairs of Thorlo maximum protect every year. These also come in handy when someone plants off your foot…which happens almost weekly if you play enough.
Water Bottles – Also a borderline necessity, but if you're only playing one game, you can get away without drinking (if you don't mind passing out on the way home). Whether you throw caution to the wind and continue using a Nalgene, or shell out for a stainless steal bottle, the most important thing to keep in mind is that you MUST cover your bottle with stickers. Preferably ulty stickers, but other cool ones will do in a pinch.
Superfluous
Gloves – Self-respecting ultimate players don't let a little cold weather stop them, and see fall as an excellent season to show off their cold weather ultimate accessories. Although receiver gloves come in many interesting styles and colors, throwing with even the best fitting pair of gloves is damn near impossible. Don't be like OJ, scrap the gloves!
(*Disclaimer: This advice is given by a guy who owns four ill-fitting pairs of receiver gloves and uses them regularly when it's cold and/or wet)
Tights - Any former runners turned ulty players know the advantages of wearing tights in cool weather (they keep your muscles warm, and provide for excellent range of motion compared to warm-up pants), but did you know tights also help when playing on the "field turf" (term used loosely) at FCS, BFP, and the Thunderdome? Although superfluous for league play, tights become a necessity if you plan to lay out at all during winter indoor games.
Sunglasses – Perhaps a little anecdote from mixed tryouts will explain why sunglasses are considered superfluous.
Ahmad – First thing is first, take off the shades!
Me – Huh? Are you serious?
Ahmad – BigFish rule – no sunglasses!
Me – Oook…this better not be a joke.
Ahmad – Eye contact man, eye contact!
To summarize, sunglasses in league play are fine (actually, they're not, eye contact is important), but don't even think of wearing them on a comp team.
Field Flask – Another little anecdote for your reading enjoyment.
Me (after seeing a blue flask) – What the hell Pete? Is that some sort of mineral water you're bringing to games?
Pete – It's scotch. Want some?
Me – Like you'd bring scotch to a tournament. Scotch isn't blue.
Pete (slides off blue cover of clear flask, takes a slug) – Don't say I didn't offer it to you.
If you're an ulty player and / or heavy drinker, the field flask might be for you! Apparently they're readily available at camping outfitting stores and online.
Gaia Robe – The hottest fictional accessory on the OUHA message boards became non-fictional due to the printing / sewing / creative genius of one of my Fish team-mates. The best part about this is that I have photographic evidence of its existence (see my Facebook page)! Could a purple Gaia robe be far behind? Only time will tell… only time will tell.
A couple other points are worth mentioning:
1. When wondering about the color of your ultimate accessories, remember that your chances of winning are always best when wearing black (it's psychologically devastating for your opponents to see you wearing hot black garb). However, PURPLE trumps every other color (including black...but it's close). Therefore, the equation to remember is:
purple > black > red > blue > white (which is a color that only suckers will wear)
2. Coordinating your outfit so that one or two key colors match with all your accessories also increases your chances of winning. Although I have yet to see the perfectly matched and accessorized outfit, I'm holding out hope that someone will rock my socks off someday!
If you take the above advice under consideration, you could very well up as the best dressed player on your ultimate team. Even if you're not the most stylin' person on your team, you'd definitely earn my respect for taking a chance in the ulty wardorbe department. Until next time, happy hucking!
Mars Blackman (aka Spike Lee) - from a series of memorable Nike commercials.
Every ultimate team has a fashion guru who sets the bar for other team members. These fashionistas are easy to pick out since they put more thought and effort into coordinating their wardrobe than the rest of their team-mates do combined. Although ultimate accessories won't make you a better player, they do make you look better while playing. What follows is a brief overview of ultimate accessories ranging from necessary, to functional, to superfluous.
Necessary
Cleats – Cleats form the basis of your entire ultimate wardrobe. A boring pair of black soccer cleats indicate you're uncreative and uninspired. On the other hand, a flashy pair of gold Nike Vapors, or Gaia G4's held together by flaming red duct-tape show you have game, and aren't afraid to let others know it!
Braces – Any "serious" ultimate player will rock at least one brace at any given time. Braces are an excellent way to draw attention to your battle scars, and at the same time give a false sense of security to unsuspecting opponents who overlook the hundreds of hours that you've inevitably spent rehabbing your injuries. Braces can be further snazzed up by adding colorful athletic tape to hold them in place, but I'm getting ahead of myself.
Compression Shorts – After suffering my sports hernia, my physiotherapist recommended an obscenely expensive brand of compression shorts in order to enable me to continue to play. I was initially a little apprehensive about wearing compression shorts since I thought they'd limit my movement, but that apprehension went out the window during the mixed tryout process. I quickly noticed that the great majority of competitive ulty players in Ottawa don't leave home without compression shorts.
Orthotics - Also during the mixed tryout process, the number of players with orthotics / ankle braces / Superfeet became apparent to me. With the amount of pounding your feet take during a competitive ultimate tournament, keeping your tootsies happy is highly recommended.
Functional
Hats / Visors / Headbands / Bandanas – After considering adding headgear to the 'Necessary' category, I flopped and put it here only because it is possible to play ultimate without it…but I wouldn't recommend it. Not only does headgear keep the sun and sweat out of your eyes, it's a great chance to show others what kind of player you are through a stylish accessory. Although I'm relatively certain it's about to disintegrate, I shudder at the thought of how badly my "game" will fall off after my 'Undisputed World's Heavyweight Champion' hat goes onto hat heaven. For advice on visors, I recommend contacting the Scarlet ladies. If you need help with headbands, the Physbees men are your best bet. For bandanas, there's a guy that works at Treasury Board (David something) who can rock a bandana with the best of them.
Wristbands – Not only will wristbands help pull together your ultimate ensemble, they're quite functional to wipe the sweat off your hands, and to decrease the impact when people hack at your wrists when handling and receiving. Wristbands are most important for tall players (who get hacked frequently in league play). As for the choice of whether to wear one or two wristbands, it's a complicated personal decision that should be contemplated at great length.
Athletic Tape – Does something hurt on your body? (Dumb question, of course it does or you'd be a wimpy soccer player). Do you have $5 to blow in an attempt to make your pain decrease marginly? (Dumb question, of course you do or your team would have kicked you off for not contributing to the beer fund). If you've answered yes to both of these questions, consider buying a roll of colored athletic tape (white = boring) and searching the Internet for tips from some 14 year old kid with no medical training.
Socks – The number of league players who wear athletic socks from Wal-mart amazes me to no end. A week after Bryce Ring taught me how to cut properly, I had painful protusions of black skin all over my feet. The answer? A box of six pairs of Thorlo maximum protect every year. These also come in handy when someone plants off your foot…which happens almost weekly if you play enough.
Water Bottles – Also a borderline necessity, but if you're only playing one game, you can get away without drinking (if you don't mind passing out on the way home). Whether you throw caution to the wind and continue using a Nalgene, or shell out for a stainless steal bottle, the most important thing to keep in mind is that you MUST cover your bottle with stickers. Preferably ulty stickers, but other cool ones will do in a pinch.
Superfluous
Gloves – Self-respecting ultimate players don't let a little cold weather stop them, and see fall as an excellent season to show off their cold weather ultimate accessories. Although receiver gloves come in many interesting styles and colors, throwing with even the best fitting pair of gloves is damn near impossible. Don't be like OJ, scrap the gloves!
(*Disclaimer: This advice is given by a guy who owns four ill-fitting pairs of receiver gloves and uses them regularly when it's cold and/or wet)
Tights - Any former runners turned ulty players know the advantages of wearing tights in cool weather (they keep your muscles warm, and provide for excellent range of motion compared to warm-up pants), but did you know tights also help when playing on the "field turf" (term used loosely) at FCS, BFP, and the Thunderdome? Although superfluous for league play, tights become a necessity if you plan to lay out at all during winter indoor games.
Sunglasses – Perhaps a little anecdote from mixed tryouts will explain why sunglasses are considered superfluous.
Ahmad – First thing is first, take off the shades!
Me – Huh? Are you serious?
Ahmad – BigFish rule – no sunglasses!
Me – Oook…this better not be a joke.
Ahmad – Eye contact man, eye contact!
To summarize, sunglasses in league play are fine (actually, they're not, eye contact is important), but don't even think of wearing them on a comp team.
Field Flask – Another little anecdote for your reading enjoyment.
Me (after seeing a blue flask) – What the hell Pete? Is that some sort of mineral water you're bringing to games?
Pete – It's scotch. Want some?
Me – Like you'd bring scotch to a tournament. Scotch isn't blue.
Pete (slides off blue cover of clear flask, takes a slug) – Don't say I didn't offer it to you.
If you're an ulty player and / or heavy drinker, the field flask might be for you! Apparently they're readily available at camping outfitting stores and online.
Gaia Robe – The hottest fictional accessory on the OUHA message boards became non-fictional due to the printing / sewing / creative genius of one of my Fish team-mates. The best part about this is that I have photographic evidence of its existence (see my Facebook page)! Could a purple Gaia robe be far behind? Only time will tell… only time will tell.
A couple other points are worth mentioning:
1. When wondering about the color of your ultimate accessories, remember that your chances of winning are always best when wearing black (it's psychologically devastating for your opponents to see you wearing hot black garb). However, PURPLE trumps every other color (including black...but it's close). Therefore, the equation to remember is:
purple > black > red > blue > white (which is a color that only suckers will wear)
2. Coordinating your outfit so that one or two key colors match with all your accessories also increases your chances of winning. Although I have yet to see the perfectly matched and accessorized outfit, I'm holding out hope that someone will rock my socks off someday!
If you take the above advice under consideration, you could very well up as the best dressed player on your ultimate team. Even if you're not the most stylin' person on your team, you'd definitely earn my respect for taking a chance in the ulty wardorbe department. Until next time, happy hucking!
Monday, September 1, 2008
A Week Without Ulty...
"You gotta have rain, to have rain...bows
You gotta have dick, to have a dick in your mouth
You gotta skin a rich kid, to wear a rich kid suit
And you gotta know by now, I think you're cute."
The Moldy Peaches - Rainbows
(Dedication - To a cute and seemingly oblivious ulty girl)
(Warning - Don't download this song if you're easily offended or dislike catchy tunes)
How desperate was I for an ulty fix during my first week off? I briefly considered going to the Firebird fall series tryouts. Yah....that desperate. Since I can't be only one going out of mind during the two weeks between summer and fall league, the below list seemed appropriate.
Top 10 Ways I Killed Time Between Ultimate Seasons
10. Found replacements for the cleats I blew out last summer (but not on Gaia online since they don't have sizes 9.5 through 10.5 *sigh*).
9. Hit up a wedding with an open bar and considered how great it would be if my team-mates were there.
8. Prepared my fall pump up CD to listen to on the way to my games.
7. Hit up Value Village and bought 4 brown t-shirts for my fall team.
6. Took Glen's advice and started working on short quick burts by running intervals.
5. Browsed the OCUA forum posts looking for anything interesting and/or slag worthy.
4. Added / got added by a couple of team-mates on Facebook to keep in contact with them.
3. Went to the first of three ultimate team parties (prediction - Fish party will blow the other two out of the water).
2. Tossed a couple of times with an awesome fishy.
1. Planned out my fall tournament schedule.
Ok, a couple interesting tidbits that might not be obvious from the list above.
* I found out the roster for my fall team, and holy crap I'm excited! Not only am I the lowest rated the guy on the team, it's probably safe to say I'm the only one who hasn't been to Nationals. All four of the Fish captains are on the team!
* Who's got Spirit? Apparently me! :) I get to play Ottawa's premier fall tournament with BigFish! Totally unexpected, but what a thrill it will be to join the team for its last tournament of the year.
* I'm psyched for the Fish ulty party next week. Not being a big party guy, I'm still really looking forward to getting together one last time with the team.
C'est tout pour ce soir. Je dois preparer pour demain matin. J'espere que vous avez bien vous amuse ce fin de samin passe. A la prochaine fois, joyeux hucking!
You gotta have dick, to have a dick in your mouth
You gotta skin a rich kid, to wear a rich kid suit
And you gotta know by now, I think you're cute."
The Moldy Peaches - Rainbows
(Dedication - To a cute and seemingly oblivious ulty girl)
(Warning - Don't download this song if you're easily offended or dislike catchy tunes)
How desperate was I for an ulty fix during my first week off? I briefly considered going to the Firebird fall series tryouts. Yah....that desperate. Since I can't be only one going out of mind during the two weeks between summer and fall league, the below list seemed appropriate.
Top 10 Ways I Killed Time Between Ultimate Seasons
10. Found replacements for the cleats I blew out last summer (but not on Gaia online since they don't have sizes 9.5 through 10.5 *sigh*).
9. Hit up a wedding with an open bar and considered how great it would be if my team-mates were there.
8. Prepared my fall pump up CD to listen to on the way to my games.
7. Hit up Value Village and bought 4 brown t-shirts for my fall team.
6. Took Glen's advice and started working on short quick burts by running intervals.
5. Browsed the OCUA forum posts looking for anything interesting and/or slag worthy.
4. Added / got added by a couple of team-mates on Facebook to keep in contact with them.
3. Went to the first of three ultimate team parties (prediction - Fish party will blow the other two out of the water).
2. Tossed a couple of times with an awesome fishy.
1. Planned out my fall tournament schedule.
Ok, a couple interesting tidbits that might not be obvious from the list above.
* I found out the roster for my fall team, and holy crap I'm excited! Not only am I the lowest rated the guy on the team, it's probably safe to say I'm the only one who hasn't been to Nationals. All four of the Fish captains are on the team!
* Who's got Spirit? Apparently me! :) I get to play Ottawa's premier fall tournament with BigFish! Totally unexpected, but what a thrill it will be to join the team for its last tournament of the year.
* I'm psyched for the Fish ulty party next week. Not being a big party guy, I'm still really looking forward to getting together one last time with the team.
C'est tout pour ce soir. Je dois preparer pour demain matin. J'espere que vous avez bien vous amuse ce fin de samin passe. A la prochaine fois, joyeux hucking!
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