Finally finished the final leg circuit!
Very pleased about the end of that torture. I didn't reach my goal of 7:20, but I did improve to 7:31 from 7:42 on Monday. That being said, one Dono came in at 6:25 which is a terrifying notion. He's concerned that he did them wrong. I'm far more concerned that he did them right.
I think I'll be sufficiently recovered by this weekend for LiveLogic in Austin, TX. That being said, I don't think that I realized we would only be taking 15 guys down for this one when I planned the leg circuit to finish this week. Ah well. Should be lots of PT for everyone one way or the other. The heat doesn't worry me as much as it seems to worry everyone else.
The thing that worries me is playing Bravo in our 5th consecutive game of the day. I feel that the 5th consecutive game in a day is going to be a killer no matter the heat. Why we're facing the top-seeded team in a showcase game after 4 other games is unbeknownst to me. If we're going to succeed over the course of 5 games, we will need to conserve energy by not wasting energy on offense or defense and avoid long drawn-out/tight games/points. Not historically our strong suit. Perhaps we'll turn the corner this weekend.
--
Workout Total:
7:31 Leg Circuit
10 min shoulder work
10 min wobble board
10 minute upper body explosive strength
30 min stretching
Wednesday, May 30
Back to the Leg Circuit
Monday, May 14
Whatever (I Had a Dream)
"I had a dream last night..."
Upon waking I wasn't sure if it had happened during the Pike Invite or not.
I was marking someone very well. Bouncing lightly on my toes, reading his weight-shifts and eyes. He faked a flick and tried to break me with a high release backhand. Not so fast. I knew it was coming. As he released the disc next to my ear, I shot my hand toward my shoulder (picture flexing your bicep) and clapped the disc between my hand and my shoulder. I stone cold caught it. I was holding the disc onto my shoulder with my hand. Fuck Yes!
Him: "Foul."
Me: "You are a fucking cheater!"
From that point, I went on a rage-fueled rant of Drunken Darling proportions. The things that I said were the worst that you could say to a person. He kept standing there quietly repeating the word 'foul' as I berated him, his ancestry, his girlfriends and anything else about him that came to mind. The word "CHEATER" was not only a centerpiece in my thought process, but it was literally on fire. I could see it in my mind. The word kept growing bigger and burning brighter. Hotter. The Pressure increases. My Volume increases. I keep yelling and the other player keeps repeating 'foul' only softer now.
It is almost as though he's about to cave and let me win. But he doesn't. He starts crying instead. Now he's repeating the word softly and sobbing. My Rage only grows. At long last someone tells me to stop. More like I finally heard the one voice emerge out of the huge crowd of people watching this game who were all telling me to stop. I look around, Righteous Rage fully intact, and realize that the person telling me to stop is none other than evelKeven.
Shocked, I stop. I'm still chock-full-o-rage and want nothing more than to rain fire and brimstone down onto this sinner until he repents, but something clicks. Fer fucksake, if evelKeven is telling me I've gone to far, perhaps I have.
I stop and stare at the player I was marking. I recognize him. I wake up. I have the previously referenced Butthole Surfers song in my head (From Baz Luhrman's Romeo + Juliet, of course). I can still remember his face even now as I type this. I've played against him before and I'll probably play against him again.
When next I see him, I'll not be afraid. I'll know that he'll make a horrible call, but I won't blow my gasket because I've learned that lesson. He won't back down no matter how much hot air I spew. Instead, I will walk a different path. I'll look him dead in the eyes and calmly say "contest," confident that I have already conquered my demon.
One day he too will be challenged, but I will not fill the role of demon in his morality play.
--
Workout Total:
15 Min Max Strength
10 Min Wobble Board
10 Min Core
5 Min Shoulder Rehab
Thursday, May 10
Another Game, Another Win
We took on a group of guys in their late 30s (and up) last night...
With two notable exceptions. One guy was about 6'4" 250 and the other was about 5'11" and very clearly someone who had spent years playing ball. They scored the first couple of baskets and then we were engaged and pulled away as the game progressed.
I had my share of steals and a couple of layups. I also had my shot completely swatted by their big guy on a breakaway. He did a good job of staying far away enough that I couldn't create body contact while remaining close enough to close on me as I went up. We won by ~20 and got called "a bunch of bitches." I'm not at all sure why.
The refs were absolutely favoring the other team in their calls, and admitted as much after the game. "You were KILLING them, we had to try to keep them in it. You kept pressing throughout the game, what did you want us to do?" Well, we kept pressing because it is more fun than letting the game slow down and packing the lane while they clang jumpers.
After I got home, I did the second part of the leg circuit (same as the first) and a quick core workout. Had a salmon fillet for a nice late dinner while watching the Pistons come back and demoralize the Bulls. I hate and love the Pistons all at once. I love Billups, Rip, Prince and Sheed (Maybe Sheed most of all) but CANNOT STAND C-Webb. Such a conflict of interests watching them play.
--
Workout total:
44 min of basketball
20 min leg circuit
15 min core
15 min stretching
10 min shoulder rehab
Tuesday, May 8
Goddamned formats
After reading all of the talk on rsd (again), tarrblog, and more...
The rematches still don't bother me.
What does bother me (as I briefly posted a while back) is the sheer number of games played in a given day. Toss aside the "two games and go home" argument. As Colin writes, you can always schedule more consolation games. The larger issue, exacerbated in a 14 team format, is playing more than 3 games per day.
By making Regionals an endurance test, are we actually selecting the best teams to compete at Nationals? (Necessary disclaimer: The Formats Committee put in tons of hard work and I love y'all for it)
I've looked through the format manual (which is surprisingly interesting, I might add... wait... I mean... I'm not an ultimate nerd, I swear!) and even just looking at the 16 team 1-4 advance formats, some ugly situations can occur. 8 games in 2 days (Most Pool play formats, and on occasion in brackets)? That's so much ultimate! In the 16.2 Pool format, one team in the game-to-go can be on their 2nd game of the day and 6th game of the weekend, while their opponent can be on their 4th game of the day and 8th of the weekend? Just because the original seeding was messed up? Note that this would also be that team's fifth consecutive elimination game as opposed to the other team's first.
Similarly, other formats can be similarly back-breaking in terms of endurance, but are often more considerate in terms of the number of games played (specifically on the same day) by two teams in the game to go.
After looking through the formats and comparing them with the Nationals format (for Club) I feel that there are a couple things that come to mind:
Complicating thoughts:
Anyway, I think that's it for now.
--
Workout Total:
10 min core
15 mintues wobble board
10 minutes shoulder rehab
15 minutes stretching
Monday, May 7
Sundays are the Hardest Days
Well, at least when I'm not at tournament.
I wake up sore, likely planning to do a quick workout in the morning. I don't really want to do anything active past a quick workout because I'm usually exhausted. And that's good, but the desire to cram junk food into my face increases by the hour. I usually manage to eat a solid breakfast and a reasonable lunch, but by about 3pm or so, I have a hard time staying away from making impulse purchases from the uber-convenient, though generally shady, delis of Jersey City.
Ben and Jerry' s taunts me from behind the frost-covered glass. Fuck you, you damn dirty sugar-pedaling hippies!
Pizza, Indian, Thai and Chinese food all beckon me from their easy-to-dial phone numbers. Hell, I can even order that shit online! Meanwhile, Dunkin Donuts (Johnny L's Bagels is closed on Sundays) tries to grab my attention with mass-produced doughy badness and sorry (but still respectable and caffeinated!) coffee.
All of these callings are enhanced by the feeling that I accomplished something at practice the day before. That I can afford to have some bad-for-me food because I worked hard as hell yesterday anddamnitI'mreallyhungry. Of course, I eat well most of the time so why not indulge?
On some Sundays I win, some Sundays I lose. I'm more likely to win if there is football to distract me all day. I'm less likely to win if there is sub-par basketball to distract me. Oddly, if it is a "Lazy Sunday" in true SNL fake-song style, it is easier to resist temptation.
This past Sunday, I lost. That fucking Ben (or was it Jerry?) roped me in with a pint of ice-cream on a sunny day. And then the Thai food came calling. I talked myself down to a seared pepper-tuna salad and an order of fried dumplings, but sticking to the original plan of having my leftover chicken w/ steamed broccoli from the previous night's dinner would have been much better.
I'll teach you yet, Sunday. Maybe not this Sunday, maybe not the next, but soon and for the rest of my life.
--
Workout Total:
20 min Leg Circuit (5 circuits, 30 sec between exercises, 90 seconds between circuits)
10 min core workout
shoulder work
20 min stretching
Sunday, May 6
More Alumni Chest Pounding!
NYU at Nationals!
Hell Yes!
Which was the last team/school to meet all of the following qualifications AND make Nationals?
Well, I couldn't come up with one aside from NYU's women's team, the Violet Femmes. If I'm wrong, to quote Principal Skinner: "Prove me wrong, children. Prove me wrong."
I'm truly in awe of how hard this team worked to achieve their goals. As an alum, I can only dream of going back in time an finding a way to spur my team onto such heights as, well, making Regionals would have been a nice place to start.
I'm unendingly proud of the Femmes and their accomplishments. If I'm lucky, I'll make it out to Columbus for Day Two. If I'm not, I'll just have to keep calling for updates.
The only advice at this point is:
Don't settle for being 'just happy to be there.'
Fight for more, or that's all you'll be happy for.
--
Workout Total:
30 min Stretching
10 minutes slow lower/upper body ROM work
Shoulder rehab
Thursday, May 3
Four on Five
The basketball game started normally, but then...
Approximately 6 minutes into the game, one of the players on the other team went up, swatted a shot, and came down awkwardly. The first thing I said was that you shouldn't jump so high unless you know how to land (or something to that effect). Turns out I'm just an asshole because he actually sprained his ankle.
Apparently, the rules of the league state that a team can/must play with four against five. I tried to explain to our team that we should just play 4v4, but that didn't go over well with either my team or the refs who insisted that we play with five. Really? We're going to play 4v5? This is like those damn summer league games where one team doesn't have enough women and as a result you play 4/2 v 4/3. I'd rather not waste my time, or at very least just play 6v6.
That being said, last year in Wudi, I'm pretty sure my team won a 6v7 game and a couple of years ago in PADA, we lost a 6v7 game on double game point. The bigger issue is that someone should just tell us beforehand so that I don't waste my time getting there and the like. Injuries are understandable, but shouldn't the team that had the consideration to show up with enough players either at the beginning of the game or to cover for an injury have the option of winning by forfeit? What happens more often than not is that the team that is down players starts to try to make reckless plays to compensate for the open space while the team with an extra player tries to play conservatively and not get injured.
This is exactly what happened at the basketball game. We played conservatively for the first half and settled for three pointers and jump shots. We led by about 8 or so at half. Half-time consisted of "They're playing a box-and-none. Get into the lane and make plays." Done.
We pressed and played our aggressive offensive/defensive style for the rest of the game and opened up a large lead, eventually cruising to a 76-57 victory. We clinched a spot in the playoffs with this victory. Sweet.
When I got home, I did some slow pushups at different angles to work ROM in the shoulder, worked with resistance bands and kept on stretching.
--
Workout Total:
44 minutes Basketball
10 minutes strength/rehab
20 minutes stretching
Sunday, April 29
Playoff Ballin
If you're not enthralled by GSW vs Dallas...
...then I'm not sure that we can be friends.
This basketball series has everything you could want in the playoffs:
Actually, after looking at this list, if you're not an actual Mavs fan and you're not standing up and cheering for the Warriors during these games, you're a just plain in the wrong. They play exciting and defiant basketball with all of the right on-court subtleties and a great "us vs the world" mentality.
If they pull this off, I will dream of the Warriors meeting the Suns in the West Finals. I can't think of a better series to watch, since the Suns should be meeting the Spurs soon enough.
--
Workout Total:
Stretching
Wobble Board
Shoulder Rehab
Friday, April 27
So, The D Team?
Details are not yet certain, but there is some truth to the rumors.
I could end up on the D team this year. The first question that arises in my mind is: Well, should I purposefully play bad defense so that I can go back to the O team? Hmmm... we'll keep that as a last ditch effort.
The second thing that comes to mind is the question of how I will need to change my game to play with the D team. Well, first and foremost, I'll likely have to learn how to play real defense. This could be tough because over 4 years of college the most advice that I got in terms of D was "Run harder than the guy you're covering." That doesn't seem particularly useful. I should clarify: That worked pretty well in the Metro East. I got a bunch of Ds in college! Then again, we never made it to Regionals and as soon as I started trying out with Pike, it was clear that I was completely outclassed. Fortunately, Pike was patient with me and I slowly learned to play O-team defense over four years. That is, don't turn the disc over. If you do, blame it on someone else and wait for the other team's D-team to give you the disc back.
There was a point during the regionals last year that it occurred to at least one vet on our team that my particular brand of angry spikage somehow hinted at a D-player's rage hidden underneath the O-player's shiny exterior. During the offseason, I thought about this and realized that there was, at very least, some truth to this notion and that no matter which side of the disc I played on, I should learn how to play real defense. So I've started the season with the D team.
The experience, thus far, has been both positive and negative. I'm enjoying the challenge of learning the other side of the game, but I'm still getting used to playing offense with a group that is rather tired. The spaces that open up with the D-team's O are completely different than the spaces that were open with the O-team's O. The delineation between handlers and cutters is more starkly drawn, which is awkward for me and the rhythm of the offense is completely different.
On the other hand, my "god-given" (so to speak) skill of outlasting my opponents helps me even more on the D-team than it did on the O team, and the D team seems to understand my angry outbursts better than the O team did.
At this point, as I discussed with B-Lo, I'm more concerned that I'll end up like a retelling of Flowers for Algernon and slowly regress into a grunting, knuckle-dragging, hack of a D-player. This genuinely worries me-- I don't want to be infected by the D-team. I mean, at this point I still get all of the jokes that the O team makes and can read Parinella's blog (or Al's for that matter) without feeling guilty, which are all good signs. If any of that starts to change, or I get tricked into doing something really dumb at practice, I may have to request a move back to the other side of the disc.
--
Workout Total:
Leg Circuit, second part for the week
Explosive upper body work
Shoulder rehab
Stretching
Wednesday, April 25
Leg Circuit
Did part one of a Leg Circuit ripped straight from Vern Gambetta.
I used this progression last year later in the season (July) before I got into a plyo progression. I found that it really worked well in terms of preparing me for what I was trying to accomplish next. I found that my legs were tired instead of sore during the plyo routines, which is what you're after. You don't want to be dealing with searing pain due to your muscles not being in shape, you want to be dealing with "dead legs" due to working hard.
As planned, the gains from the combination were measurable and effective.
At the same time, I felt that my timing could have been better so that I could include track workouts in the same progression. This year, I'll be doing just that.
In any case, the leg circuit for this week (done twice) is below, and I followed it with one of my favorite diabolical core workouts (also shown)
20 Squats
45 sec rest
20 lunges (10 each leg)
45 sec rest
20 step-ups (10 each leg)
45 sec rest
10 Jump Squats
3 minutes rest
Repeat Thrice Through.
Core Workout:
10 Crunches with 5 sec pause at top
5 Pushups
20 Lying Hip Swings (10 Each Side)
6 Pushups
20 Toe touches (10 Each Side)
7 Pushups
50 Bicycles
8 Pushups
10 Crunches with 5 sec pause at top
9 Pushups
20 Opposite Extend Planks with 2 sec pause (10 Each Side)
10 Pushups
I feel the only exercise that might need explanation is the penultimate core exercise: Start in a pushup position. Simultaneously lift your right arm so that it points straight to 2 o'clock and your left leg so that it points to 8 o'clock. Hold for 2 seconds. Repeat with left arm (10 o'clock) and right leg (4 o'clock).
Very good, if you ask me.
--
Workout Total:
Leg Circuit
Core
Friday, April 20
Henlopen
I'm very excited (as you may have noticed) for the Beth Coltman Memorial this weekend.
Pike seems to win this tournament every other year. And, after last year's loss to DoG in the finals (which would be a recurring theme throughout the spring), we appear to be on schedule to win again this weekend. Games against Truck Stop and Med Men will be good. Hopefully we'll get to see BAT and PoNY as well, but you never know how that will shake out.
A good number of Kaimana teammates will be playing at this one, both in coed (Amp and Puppet) and open (PoNY and Truck Stop) as well as a solid number of NYU alums roaming about. Not much to say that hasn't be said, so let the games begin!
--
Workout total:
Constant Shoulder Stretching and Rehab
Scheduled Rest
Thursday, April 19
From the Past
It is always interesting to have dinner with an old friend.
After we parted ways, I took some time to examine the themes of the conversation. Little stuff, his job interview, apartments in NYC, Virginia Tech, humorous stories about mutual friends and long lost pals. The usual. When it came to ultimate, he of course asked how everything was, how competitive the team was and the like. Like good friends are known to do. Or at least polite ones. I suppose a bad friend could be polite much like a good friend could be rude.
In any case, this guy was my roommate during my first truly obsessive year of ultimate. He was quite confounded as I bounded off to practice on Saturday morning as he came home from a night of whatever. This was much like when I would get up in the morning during the week as he was putting himself to bed. Not a party animal per se, but he was/is certainly a night owl. As it became apparent that my hobby was growing into an obsession, we, of course, talked about it all at some point. He was even game to come out and throw or play pickup back home (not only were we roommates sophomore year, but we went to the same junior and senior high schools) even though it was clear that I was the one caught up by the game. He just liked getting out and playing [insert game here] with friends.
Back at the present dinner: I found myself saying that "It's really a good thing that I happened upon ultimate. It's good for me to have an outlet for, well, me."
Back to the contemplation after dinner: I started thinking about why it was a good thing, exactly, that I chose to spend so much time playing ultimate, or why I was drawn to it. There were a whole bunch of thoughts concerning my somewhat obsessive nature and the need to be active and competitive in a meaningful way and that sort of thing. And then it hit me. The phrase "ultimate is like a girlfriend" suddenly meant something. (Perhaps it was fresh in my mind because of Zagoria's horrific article on sex in ultimate to which I refuse to link)
It wasn't just that you spend all of your time playing ultimate, you pour your dedication into it. Your energy. How often have you heard a team described as having great heart? Or that a someone is the heart and soul of a team? The thing is that unlike a relationship with a person, a relationship with a sport is static. People change. They become interested in different things, end up with different goals. A sport does not. The rules are defined, and the game isn't going to leave you. The rules might adjust slightly, but the end goal remains the same. In the case of ultimate, you'll always need to complete more passes in the endzone than the other team, no matter how the rest of it works out. Score more points.
The rules in relationships are not so simple. Nor are the rule changes revised by a committee of people who have studied them. Instead they change without warning or concern. People grow together, people grow apart. One of the slew of reasons that so many friends have tired of the dating scene is because they put their energy into one person, only to repeat that same exertion with someone else. To go through the same introductions all over again. To iron out the same problems again and again. With a sport or a hobby or whatever, you’re always moving forward. You don’t need to go back and do things a second time—you can build upon what has come before. Your affection and dedication are never questioned because you are the sole arbiter of the terms of your relationship. You can break it off and come back a year later. You can make it your absolute obsession. You can see other sports on the side.
Anyway, I think the analogy has run its course.
--
Workout Total:
Extensive Shoulder Stretching/Rehab
Missed other workout stuff