"You played the typical James game. Some good plays, some bad plays." - Mehmet Karman
Of course I laughed the comment off, and told him I try to keep the other team guessing. After reflecting on it, I completely agree with his assessment. I was getting in cuts at will all scrimmage long, and threw a couple points...but...I also bladed a few incomplete passes, and had a hard time getting off my dump passes.
All in all, I'm happy with that tryout. As predicted, I didn't play anywhere near as poorly as I did in BigFish Tryout #1. If I happen to get offerred a spot, I'll just skip BigFish tryout #2 & #3. If I don't get offerred a spot, looks like it's going to be a Disco Fever (Tuesday) and Urban Sprawl (Friday) summer. Either way, I'm a happy camper....I gotz my game back!
Until next time, happy hucking!
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
BigFish Tryouts - The Good, The Bad, & The Sore
The Good (this will be short and sweet)
- No cuts will be made based on last night and I at least have Saturday to redeem myself.
- The windy/rainy weather didn't affect my game as much as I feared.
- I got a couple D's on the huck drill, and a few decent cuts in the cut in a box drill.
- It's extremely unlikely I'll play worse Wednesday or Saturday.
The Bad (where to begin?)
- Three of the four drills were ones I had never seen before. The corner drill in particular had me confused.
- Our team didn't score in two scrimmages.
- Got my first case of the dropsies in about a year (including a memorable bungle in the endzone).
- Threw two incomplete passes in the scrimmages, including an under thrown long pass, and quickly bouncing a disc off the knees of my handler two feet away.
- Got skyed on the huck drill, but it was by my ex-coach Gord (who tore it up all night).
- After coming off the field on the 3-on-2 drill, I returned a disc to the field by bouncing a backhand off both football goal posts (an impressive feat had I been attempting it).
- Was asked by my favorite evaluator (Julie) why I gave up on defense on a disk that was out of bounds (it hit the bleachers!) during the huck drill.
- Despite handling soundly in two pick-up games last week and getting in some outside throwing last weekend, I lost all confidence in my throws last night. It got to the point where I was surprised when a forehand didn't blade or a backhand stayed straight.
- Since I've lost confidence in my game, I'm dreading the Intermediate team tryout on Wednesday which I was looking forward to a week ago.
The Sore (ouch)
- My right heel is tight and sensitive despite thorough stretching.
- Managed to tweak my right groin so it's now sore again (8 months of physio later).
- I have this huge, ugly, mystery bruise on my left forearm that appeared this morning.
- At the base of my left palm, there's this protrusion that is quite sensitive…also a complete mystery.
- Since I lost all confidence in my throws (see The Bad), I decided to only defend or cut during the huck drill, and was in oxygen debt the rest of the night.
As stated in The Good, it's unlikely I can play worse in the next two tryouts. I have to lose the nervousness, start playing at a more comfortable pace, and maybe try handling or something to calm down. Ugh, what a crappy start. Until next time, happy hucking!
- No cuts will be made based on last night and I at least have Saturday to redeem myself.
- The windy/rainy weather didn't affect my game as much as I feared.
- I got a couple D's on the huck drill, and a few decent cuts in the cut in a box drill.
- It's extremely unlikely I'll play worse Wednesday or Saturday.
The Bad (where to begin?)
- Three of the four drills were ones I had never seen before. The corner drill in particular had me confused.
- Our team didn't score in two scrimmages.
- Got my first case of the dropsies in about a year (including a memorable bungle in the endzone).
- Threw two incomplete passes in the scrimmages, including an under thrown long pass, and quickly bouncing a disc off the knees of my handler two feet away.
- Got skyed on the huck drill, but it was by my ex-coach Gord (who tore it up all night).
- After coming off the field on the 3-on-2 drill, I returned a disc to the field by bouncing a backhand off both football goal posts (an impressive feat had I been attempting it).
- Was asked by my favorite evaluator (Julie) why I gave up on defense on a disk that was out of bounds (it hit the bleachers!) during the huck drill.
- Despite handling soundly in two pick-up games last week and getting in some outside throwing last weekend, I lost all confidence in my throws last night. It got to the point where I was surprised when a forehand didn't blade or a backhand stayed straight.
- Since I've lost confidence in my game, I'm dreading the Intermediate team tryout on Wednesday which I was looking forward to a week ago.
The Sore (ouch)
- My right heel is tight and sensitive despite thorough stretching.
- Managed to tweak my right groin so it's now sore again (8 months of physio later).
- I have this huge, ugly, mystery bruise on my left forearm that appeared this morning.
- At the base of my left palm, there's this protrusion that is quite sensitive…also a complete mystery.
- Since I lost all confidence in my throws (see The Bad), I decided to only defend or cut during the huck drill, and was in oxygen debt the rest of the night.
As stated in The Good, it's unlikely I can play worse in the next two tryouts. I have to lose the nervousness, start playing at a more comfortable pace, and maybe try handling or something to calm down. Ugh, what a crappy start. Until next time, happy hucking!
Monday, April 28, 2008
Pre Tryout Jitters
A warning that this will be one of those self-centered, "me, me, me" type entries. Furthermore, with competitive mixed tryouts a few hours away, the quality of my writing (below average on a good day) will inevitably suffer due to nerves.
After going through the open pre-tryout tryouts, talking to some experienced ultimate players, and swapping emails with one of tonight's evaluators, I have a good idea of what to expect. I think that fitness and drills will be the focus of tonight. Assuming this is true, it actually works to my advantage since I'm in decent shape and know most of the drills. In terms of talking with experienced players, one of the things that has me worried is my Coached League coach from last winter apparently got cut in 2007. Gord is an awesome player, and given some of the BigFish players I've played with and against this past winter, I thought he'd have been a shoe in to make the team.
Yesterday was super windy, which made me worry since wind wreaks havoc on forehand throws (one of my strengths). Today is slightly less windy, but it's rainy. Rain makes the disc slippery to catch, and hard to huck. Then again, anything that discourages me from hucking is a blessing. Having said that, I'd love it if the rain took a break between 9pm and 11pm. If the rain persists, I might have to break out the Nike football receiver gloves for the first time since late last fall.
Didn't sleep too well last night, but it wasn't ultimate related, just one of those nights. I've already taken two extra-strength Aspirins today, since I felt a headache coming on. Ah well, there's lots of time for a short nap after work. On the bright side, neither my sports hernia nor heal injury are bothering me at all today.
In terms of preparation, I'm basically just going through my normal daily routine with a few small additions. Since the tryouts run a little late for my liking, if I don't take a nap, I'll probably eat some dark chocolate to help keep me alert. The plan is to have chicken and rice for supper, which is a good pre-game meal. I've also re-read the Zip Tips today on the bus and at lunch. Re-reading the tips helped me get in the right frame of mind for my IID tryout last fall.
The IID tryouts are the only ultimate experience I can draw on in terms of tryouts. For me, the open pre-tryouts were only about learning the drills and making sure I was in shape. In retrospect, I kind of overshot the IID tryouts last fall, and ended up dominating in the two scrimmages. I'm not expecting to dominate anything tonight, and am just hoping I can "play within myself" and showcase my strengths enough to make it to the weekend tryouts. Even if I get cut tonight, I still have the tryout for the intermediate development team on Wednesday. If I got cut from that, the captain of my Tuesday team really wants me back and I'd be playing with an IID coach (Chris Rootham) on a talented team with a bevy of tall, athletic, attractive beauties. So there shouldn't be pressure on me, but still…
One of the last Zip Tips I re-read over lunch was that champions never give in, they attack. Hopefully I can channel my inner Zip tonight and attack with ferocity. I'll make sure to let you know how it goes either way. Until next time, happy hucking!
After going through the open pre-tryout tryouts, talking to some experienced ultimate players, and swapping emails with one of tonight's evaluators, I have a good idea of what to expect. I think that fitness and drills will be the focus of tonight. Assuming this is true, it actually works to my advantage since I'm in decent shape and know most of the drills. In terms of talking with experienced players, one of the things that has me worried is my Coached League coach from last winter apparently got cut in 2007. Gord is an awesome player, and given some of the BigFish players I've played with and against this past winter, I thought he'd have been a shoe in to make the team.
Yesterday was super windy, which made me worry since wind wreaks havoc on forehand throws (one of my strengths). Today is slightly less windy, but it's rainy. Rain makes the disc slippery to catch, and hard to huck. Then again, anything that discourages me from hucking is a blessing. Having said that, I'd love it if the rain took a break between 9pm and 11pm. If the rain persists, I might have to break out the Nike football receiver gloves for the first time since late last fall.
Didn't sleep too well last night, but it wasn't ultimate related, just one of those nights. I've already taken two extra-strength Aspirins today, since I felt a headache coming on. Ah well, there's lots of time for a short nap after work. On the bright side, neither my sports hernia nor heal injury are bothering me at all today.
In terms of preparation, I'm basically just going through my normal daily routine with a few small additions. Since the tryouts run a little late for my liking, if I don't take a nap, I'll probably eat some dark chocolate to help keep me alert. The plan is to have chicken and rice for supper, which is a good pre-game meal. I've also re-read the Zip Tips today on the bus and at lunch. Re-reading the tips helped me get in the right frame of mind for my IID tryout last fall.
The IID tryouts are the only ultimate experience I can draw on in terms of tryouts. For me, the open pre-tryouts were only about learning the drills and making sure I was in shape. In retrospect, I kind of overshot the IID tryouts last fall, and ended up dominating in the two scrimmages. I'm not expecting to dominate anything tonight, and am just hoping I can "play within myself" and showcase my strengths enough to make it to the weekend tryouts. Even if I get cut tonight, I still have the tryout for the intermediate development team on Wednesday. If I got cut from that, the captain of my Tuesday team really wants me back and I'd be playing with an IID coach (Chris Rootham) on a talented team with a bevy of tall, athletic, attractive beauties. So there shouldn't be pressure on me, but still…
One of the last Zip Tips I re-read over lunch was that champions never give in, they attack. Hopefully I can channel my inner Zip tonight and attack with ferocity. I'll make sure to let you know how it goes either way. Until next time, happy hucking!
Saturday, April 26, 2008
The Perfect Sky
As much as I enjoy handling, there's a seductive siren that draws me back to cutting and striking even on teams that depend on my throwing. That seductive siren, that mysterious minx, that tantalizing tease is the perfect sky. For newbies to ultimate, a sky catch is when you jump and catch a disc, hopefully at maximum extension, and hopefully over an airborne defender. It's the equivalent of dunking a basketball over someone you hate, while simultaneously achieving an intense orgasm after making love to Angelina Jolie (sorry Brad –you were great in Seven).
Although I've had a few memorable skies that I'll describe below, I have yet to put together all the necessary elements to form the perfect sky. For me, those elements would be catching the disc at my maximum extension (1), for a critical point (2), over someone who's also at their zenith (3), who I dislike (4). Although crowd reaction is important, it's a given if the other four essential elements are in place.
1. Nurple's first sky – About two months into my first summer with Urban Sprawl, after being yelled at by our ancient captain for not picking up a runner on defense, and with our team being down a few points, I was pissed. On offense, the captain forced a throw to the front corner of the endzone, where two rather large defenders were ready to gobble it up. Converting my anger at the captain into energy, I cut through the defenders, caught the disc after jumping to a decent height, brought it down for a much needed point(2), while my teammates looked on stunned.
2. See your later Burninator – Half way through my first winter of playing, I was starting to really pursue skies while I was on the Burninators, a hat team with some great handlers. In the latter stages in a blowout game, one of my favorite handlers, Geoff Korpinen, was at mid field and looking for me in the end zone. He led me with a beautiful pass that I caught at full extension (1) over a defender who was also at full extension (3). Since the defender was about 6 inches shorter than me, instead of hating him, I felt sorry for the guy. The crowd (all six of them) did go wild though…
3. Call the foul, I dare you – Mid last summer, during a tier 9 game when my team, the Berts and Ernies, was blowing out our opposition, I kept getting fouled by the same guy while making catches. He was the type of jackass who thinks that slapping your wrist is not a foul because you're taller/faster/better looking than he is. It didn't take long before one of the B&E handlers (possibly Andrew Wigston) threw me a high disc in the end zone. Since buddy was stupidly playing behind me, I took a little run and grabbed the disc high (1), took the foul from idiot boy (4) who jumped into me (3ish), and brought it down strong. He immediately said "foul" to which I replied "call a foul, I dare you". After semi-spiking the disc and walking away, I felt pumped.
4. Beavers beware – Although missing elements 2 – 4, my highest catch was against a team called the Raging Blind Beavers in IID last winter. We were getting smoked, and Captain Stu had given up and started to throw long (a rarity). The disc in question wasn't thrown to me, but was too high for the girl (Sophia…I'm not good with last names…the Yale girl) for which it was intended. I took a run up of about a quarter of the field, used a layup approach from basketball, and grabbed the disc at about 10 feet before it went out of the back of the end zone. This catch stands out in my mind because if the disc was even an inch higher, or if I hadn't eaten my Wheaties, the best I could have hoped for would have been a tip to Sophia.
5. Black Nurple vs. Black Pellets – For anyone who's read my OUHA ramblings, you'll know my penchant for rocking black t-shirts during indoor games (they're warmer than white shirts and psychologically devastating to the opposition). During an IID game against the Black Pellets, a disc was thrown to a particularly crowded area of the endzone, where there was one Nurple, and three Pellets. With my black shirt, shorts, wristbands and hat, I had no fear and chased after that bad boy. The sky high catch (1), over three defenders, including two that were jumping (3), blew open a close game (2). The only missing element is that I genuinely enjoyed playing the Black Pellets, since they had a bunch of players who I admire. An amusing sidenote is that immediately after making the catch, one of the female Pellets on the sidelines said something like "Look at how cocky that guy is". Since I've always struggled with my confidence, I couldn't help but laugh as I walked off the field.
6. Black Nurple vs. Black Pellets x 2 – In a playoff game against the same Black Pellets, in which Jacked Pass was once again rocking our black t-shirts, Captain Cory was catching on that if he threw it high, I'd do my best to bring it down. On successive possessions, Cory hucked and I skyed (1) the same defender who was also jumping for the disc (3). Sadly, the game was lopsided in our favor. Plus, although I don't know his name, I respect the hell out of the tall French guy, who lays out for anything within 20 feet of him (and has a cute girlfriend to boot).
Although I have yet to achieve the perfect sky, rest assured that I will continue to chase after the elusive Eros until my calf muscles crumble. I'm always up for hearing about the skying exploits of others, so please feel free to share. Until next time, happy hucking!
Although I've had a few memorable skies that I'll describe below, I have yet to put together all the necessary elements to form the perfect sky. For me, those elements would be catching the disc at my maximum extension (1), for a critical point (2), over someone who's also at their zenith (3), who I dislike (4). Although crowd reaction is important, it's a given if the other four essential elements are in place.
1. Nurple's first sky – About two months into my first summer with Urban Sprawl, after being yelled at by our ancient captain for not picking up a runner on defense, and with our team being down a few points, I was pissed. On offense, the captain forced a throw to the front corner of the endzone, where two rather large defenders were ready to gobble it up. Converting my anger at the captain into energy, I cut through the defenders, caught the disc after jumping to a decent height, brought it down for a much needed point(2), while my teammates looked on stunned.
2. See your later Burninator – Half way through my first winter of playing, I was starting to really pursue skies while I was on the Burninators, a hat team with some great handlers. In the latter stages in a blowout game, one of my favorite handlers, Geoff Korpinen, was at mid field and looking for me in the end zone. He led me with a beautiful pass that I caught at full extension (1) over a defender who was also at full extension (3). Since the defender was about 6 inches shorter than me, instead of hating him, I felt sorry for the guy. The crowd (all six of them) did go wild though…
3. Call the foul, I dare you – Mid last summer, during a tier 9 game when my team, the Berts and Ernies, was blowing out our opposition, I kept getting fouled by the same guy while making catches. He was the type of jackass who thinks that slapping your wrist is not a foul because you're taller/faster/better looking than he is. It didn't take long before one of the B&E handlers (possibly Andrew Wigston) threw me a high disc in the end zone. Since buddy was stupidly playing behind me, I took a little run and grabbed the disc high (1), took the foul from idiot boy (4) who jumped into me (3ish), and brought it down strong. He immediately said "foul" to which I replied "call a foul, I dare you". After semi-spiking the disc and walking away, I felt pumped.
4. Beavers beware – Although missing elements 2 – 4, my highest catch was against a team called the Raging Blind Beavers in IID last winter. We were getting smoked, and Captain Stu had given up and started to throw long (a rarity). The disc in question wasn't thrown to me, but was too high for the girl (Sophia…I'm not good with last names…the Yale girl) for which it was intended. I took a run up of about a quarter of the field, used a layup approach from basketball, and grabbed the disc at about 10 feet before it went out of the back of the end zone. This catch stands out in my mind because if the disc was even an inch higher, or if I hadn't eaten my Wheaties, the best I could have hoped for would have been a tip to Sophia.
5. Black Nurple vs. Black Pellets – For anyone who's read my OUHA ramblings, you'll know my penchant for rocking black t-shirts during indoor games (they're warmer than white shirts and psychologically devastating to the opposition). During an IID game against the Black Pellets, a disc was thrown to a particularly crowded area of the endzone, where there was one Nurple, and three Pellets. With my black shirt, shorts, wristbands and hat, I had no fear and chased after that bad boy. The sky high catch (1), over three defenders, including two that were jumping (3), blew open a close game (2). The only missing element is that I genuinely enjoyed playing the Black Pellets, since they had a bunch of players who I admire. An amusing sidenote is that immediately after making the catch, one of the female Pellets on the sidelines said something like "Look at how cocky that guy is". Since I've always struggled with my confidence, I couldn't help but laugh as I walked off the field.
6. Black Nurple vs. Black Pellets x 2 – In a playoff game against the same Black Pellets, in which Jacked Pass was once again rocking our black t-shirts, Captain Cory was catching on that if he threw it high, I'd do my best to bring it down. On successive possessions, Cory hucked and I skyed (1) the same defender who was also jumping for the disc (3). Sadly, the game was lopsided in our favor. Plus, although I don't know his name, I respect the hell out of the tall French guy, who lays out for anything within 20 feet of him (and has a cute girlfriend to boot).
Although I have yet to achieve the perfect sky, rest assured that I will continue to chase after the elusive Eros until my calf muscles crumble. I'm always up for hearing about the skying exploits of others, so please feel free to share. Until next time, happy hucking!
Friday, April 25, 2008
OUHA – Alternative Reality at its Finest
After teasing it a few times, it's finally time to summarize my plunge into the entertaining alternative reality that is OUHA. For those of you not in the know (i.e. normal people), OUHA is an ultimate message board set up in the winter as an alternative to the usually boring OCUA forums. The player who erects this wonderful diversion is a kickass player, past league president (or Director…I forget), and has multiple degrees in English. OUHA stands for Ottawa Ultimate Humor Association. Slagging (i.e. poking fun at others) is one of the main purposes of the site.
At first, I used OUHA as a way to keep up with how my team was playing while I was out with an injury. After a few weeks, I noticed the main prognosticator for the indoor intermediate development league (IID), the amusing Rigid, kept picking my team to lose. In jest, I replied to one of his prognostications by relaying Wesley Snipes's advice: "Always bet on black". The next week he picked us to tie, which I thought was an improvement and complemented him on the size of his grapefruits to pick a tie. After coming back from my injury, I noticed that Rigid was mysteriously absent for a few weeks (computer problems as it turned out). Having thoroughly enjoyed his posts, I decided to pick up the slack and write my own series of picks for the week, and then recap a rare victory. He later came back, and pitted his lucky quarter against my shirt color theory in forming our respective picks.
All went well and eventually our teams met. Largely thanks to his skill and good decisions with the disc, his team won a close one. We met after the game, during which time I gave him a special Remembrance Day quarter with a black sticker attached to the queen's head. Thus the birth of the Rigid-Nurple Prognostication System (RPNS)! As we parted, he informed me that since his team had won, I should expect "endless slagging". Of course, I replied "Bring it on!"
During the next couple weeks, Rigid's posts became less regular, while I made sure to take a couple playful shots at him in each post. This culminated before our two teams were to meet again in a playoff exhibition game. The Friday before a Wednesday game, I wrote him a short message asking him if he'd be receptive to some sort of a deal to give my team the "black shirt advantage" (he was the captain of his team). His response was that it was "not bloodly likely" and that I was lucky he had a good sense of humor after some of my comments on the board. In my next set of predictions, I was particularly tough on Rigid, and admittedly went too far. He replied in a post saying he was going to stop posting immediately, he was stressed at work, I was a horrible person (true), etc. Not having read his reply at work, and knowing he was looking for summer teams, I wrote him an email asking him if he'd be interested in playing on a Tuesday team of mine during the summer, since the guy is a talented player who can huck with the best of them. As soon as I read his reply post that night when I got home, I felt awful, deleted the initial post, posted an apology, and sent him another apology via email. He replied to both apologies saying he accepted, but I still regret the incident a great deal. He's such a nice guy, and when we played eachother in the playoffs, he barely looked at me. I felt a little guilty when my team won and I had a decent game.
Anyway, rather than the Rigid incident, OUHA was a nice diversion during my first winter of IID. I met a couple people off the board (sadly not Mr. SOTG…err Marko ), had fun getting out-picked my other players, and learned more about the Ottawa ultimate community. Having said that, I don't think I'll return to the board next winter, and plan to leave Rigid reign over his IID domain. It's actually less the Rigid incident, and more another quick edit I was asked to make late in the season that further proved my lack of good judgment. There are definitely people in ultimate that I'd never want to offend, and I fear the second incident might have cost me a potential friend.
So there you have it, all the gory details of the seemingly innocent, alternative reality site. Be careful on your computron while posting on the Intraweb kiddies. Until next time, happy hucking!
At first, I used OUHA as a way to keep up with how my team was playing while I was out with an injury. After a few weeks, I noticed the main prognosticator for the indoor intermediate development league (IID), the amusing Rigid, kept picking my team to lose. In jest, I replied to one of his prognostications by relaying Wesley Snipes's advice: "Always bet on black". The next week he picked us to tie, which I thought was an improvement and complemented him on the size of his grapefruits to pick a tie. After coming back from my injury, I noticed that Rigid was mysteriously absent for a few weeks (computer problems as it turned out). Having thoroughly enjoyed his posts, I decided to pick up the slack and write my own series of picks for the week, and then recap a rare victory. He later came back, and pitted his lucky quarter against my shirt color theory in forming our respective picks.
All went well and eventually our teams met. Largely thanks to his skill and good decisions with the disc, his team won a close one. We met after the game, during which time I gave him a special Remembrance Day quarter with a black sticker attached to the queen's head. Thus the birth of the Rigid-Nurple Prognostication System (RPNS)! As we parted, he informed me that since his team had won, I should expect "endless slagging". Of course, I replied "Bring it on!"
During the next couple weeks, Rigid's posts became less regular, while I made sure to take a couple playful shots at him in each post. This culminated before our two teams were to meet again in a playoff exhibition game. The Friday before a Wednesday game, I wrote him a short message asking him if he'd be receptive to some sort of a deal to give my team the "black shirt advantage" (he was the captain of his team). His response was that it was "not bloodly likely" and that I was lucky he had a good sense of humor after some of my comments on the board. In my next set of predictions, I was particularly tough on Rigid, and admittedly went too far. He replied in a post saying he was going to stop posting immediately, he was stressed at work, I was a horrible person (true), etc. Not having read his reply at work, and knowing he was looking for summer teams, I wrote him an email asking him if he'd be interested in playing on a Tuesday team of mine during the summer, since the guy is a talented player who can huck with the best of them. As soon as I read his reply post that night when I got home, I felt awful, deleted the initial post, posted an apology, and sent him another apology via email. He replied to both apologies saying he accepted, but I still regret the incident a great deal. He's such a nice guy, and when we played eachother in the playoffs, he barely looked at me. I felt a little guilty when my team won and I had a decent game.
Anyway, rather than the Rigid incident, OUHA was a nice diversion during my first winter of IID. I met a couple people off the board (sadly not Mr. SOTG…err Marko ), had fun getting out-picked my other players, and learned more about the Ottawa ultimate community. Having said that, I don't think I'll return to the board next winter, and plan to leave Rigid reign over his IID domain. It's actually less the Rigid incident, and more another quick edit I was asked to make late in the season that further proved my lack of good judgment. There are definitely people in ultimate that I'd never want to offend, and I fear the second incident might have cost me a potential friend.
So there you have it, all the gory details of the seemingly innocent, alternative reality site. Be careful on your computron while posting on the Intraweb kiddies. Until next time, happy hucking!
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