Basketball

First an illustration of what an alpha-dog is. Or you could look at the Bill Simmons article from before the trade. If you're an ESPN Insider. Whatever that crock of shit is. I want to pay by looking at shoddy advertising, not with REAL MONEY! If you don't fill those alpha-dog roles on the ultimate field, get over yourself and get humble.

Skipped the scheduled interval workout in favor of another painful trip to ball:

In any case, this game was horrible. The other team was taller and more skilled than us. As a result, our only chance was to get hot, which we never did. As most teams do, they sat back in a 2-3 zone and waited for us to make jumpers. I started every possession by splitting the two guards up top with a pass or a drive. Drive was followed by reading which big stepped to me and either passing to the open man who would promptly miss a jumper or taking a little teardrop (my specialty) and missing (not my specialty).

On the defensive end, I decided to pick up their PG as early as possible because he had no left hand. At all. I did what I could and forced a couple of turns, but we just didn't have the horses to capitalize in the running game.

The frustrating thing for me on the basketball court is that I no longer have the skills to force the other team to pay enough attention to me that I can get other players layups and open shots at their best spots on the floor. The impotence is very irritating. Then again, it is still fun to play.

This frustration led to me 1 vs 2-5 fast breaking down the floor for the last 10 minutes or so. I figured if my teammates were going to brick it all day, I could shoot just as well as them if I took it despite the number mismatch. We lost, but I still beat my whole team down the floor and often caught the opponent backpedaling or with their backs toward me. Some really easy buckets missed.

The interesting comparison to ultimate is that you cannot do this in ultimate unless you're the patron saint of callahans. You NEED your teammates. You can't throw a goal to yourself (except of the tip, rules freaks). you are forced to play a team game, even if you isolate a 2-man or 3-man game, you need your teammates. I can't think of another game that actually mandates passing in in order to score.

I think ultimate has affected me positively as an athlete and a person because of this. Even during that basketball game, I knew I was being an ass (thanks to ultimate), but I was doing it in hopes of improving the team in the long run. Present my alpha-dog status for review in order to establish authority going forward. it's a gamble, but if this league isn't the right place to test a gambit, I don't know what is.
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Workout Total:
45 Minutes Cross-Training (Basketball)