Perhaps it closes the circle
perhaps it cauterizes the wound.
I played my first club tourney with a team not called "pike" this past weekend. However, in the interest of keeping things simple, i played with the other team in a one state radius of the dirty jerz witha four-letter name starting with p: PoNY.
I've decided against crossing out the "ike" on my gear in favor of some "ony".
I forgot what it was like to not know the system, the players, the captains, the routines, the in-jokes, the reindeer games (shoeball, for the record, IS all it is cracked up to be), the cheers, the anything.
I felt like a rookie. In the best way. And some of the less-than-ideal ways. But none of the bad ways.
day 1:
tight loss to ironside. late game anti-heroics by us derail what woulld have been a great way to start the day. we followed that up with wins over goaty and mephisto. happy to beat mephisto after 2009pike's experiences with them. canadian teams always confuse me in june. i can't tell how good they are or how serious they are taking a given game. i feel like they do the same things they always do, but better.
the non-brooklyn team lost to the brooklyn (aka o-)team in shoeball. i do not live in brooklyn.
day 2:
lost to phoenix and goaty. i had a terrible ob pull. gack-o-riffic in the goaty game. crazy weather all day courtesy of upstate ny.
finally played on the same team as faust after all these years. he's improved since g-dub. duh.
instead of rambling, i'll gimmick it up with "things learned at cut2010":
-scooby doom has had the honor of producing not just a t-rex, but also a centaur.
-"it's lightening up!" is the best way to describe a storm passing iff you have a southern accent.
-some teams run offenses. other teams are pike.
-bvh is bigger when he's on your team.
-ocho isn't ocho without cuatro to double. he still has impeccable timing, however.
-there is only one team with two "i-double consonant-y" players.
-water likely lacks intentionality. which is vaguely pejorative, according to belltron.
-there exists a team on which mio is not the player most often compared to a rodent.
-if you are afraid to shit, you may not be playing ultimate.
-get the disc to steve finn.
I enjoyed my rookie tourney as a Pone. I'm really really itching to get to practice with this squad to develop some on-field rapport/trust/understanding with the tasty dish of talent/skill/athleticism that PoNY serves up family-style. i like to fuck with half-started metaphors.
The ceiling is too high to see clearly for PoNY in '10. I know I will help this team get there. I hope i will earn the opportunity to do so on the field.
Monday, June 7
the pride
Thursday, May 27
Further Thoughts on the Past to Remember to Forget
History Alert:
Teams in semis from 01-09: Chain, Revolver, Ironside/Boston/DoG, Sockeye, Jam, Bravo, GOAT, Furious, Pike, Condors, Ring.
In fact, you can use that same list back to 1999.
In 98 the WSL All-Stars last crashed semis for NYC, and Sub-Zero from Minneapolis-St. Paul.
In 96, Chicago Z.
95 adds Cojones&Double Happiness.
Pre-95=different regions and the limit of my interest.
95-09=15 years.
60 semis spots.
15 [or 16/17, depending on your opinion of Boston] teams.
13+1 ultimate communities:
Atlanta, Bay Area (SF), Boston, Chicago, Denver, Minnesota, NJ+Philly, North Carolina, NYC, Santa Barbara, Seattle, Toronto, Vancouver.
NJ+Philly is two distinct ultimate communities that haven't grasped that they can't exist without each other. It is separate parts of the same community which refuse to resolve their differences for a brighter day. MCUDL A-League should be tapped into PADA. Mercer Draft should e separate from PADA draft. There is no "core/clique/corporate" option in Philly. Which is stupid from one angle and genius from another angle. Stupid from the high-levevl club development angle, genius from the fun and grassroots angles.
Anyway, another loosely edited post in the books.
Wednesday, May 26
Graceland
"She said losing love
is like a window in your heart..."
Just another injury, right?
Just another disfigured digit,
just another passing pain.
Just another way to remember the way.
"Adjust your expectations when time dilates and infinity creeps in all around", the muse intones. "Don't lose that moment."
Life is just a moment in time.
More Aristodemus than Leonidas.
More Obi-Wan than Skywalker.
More Odysseus than Achilles.
More Hagen than Corleone.
More Red than Andy.
More futbol than football.
More basketball than rugby.
More around than through.
More student than disciple.
More spades than poker.
More teacher than killer.
More fox than hound.
All knew there would be a division. None knew where it would be drawn. Just that it would be drawn. And then a bifurcation. Or at least that's what the plan says.
Plans always evolve.
We were sent for.
12 of 27 players from Pike 2009 remain in the mix for the new Philly Open team. Some of those 12 will return shortly from college/other countries/whatever by Cazenovia. Some of those 12 would make any team anywhere. Some will likely get cut. Some will be better this season than they were last season. Some of them I'm actually not sure what they're up to. That is to say, they weren't at the last tryout I was at.
09Pikes out the mix for reasons varying from retirement to moving, injury, playing coed, getting cut etc, include: Aman, Nicuatrongpauco, Kuger, Justin Illuzi, Rutgers aka "Glenn&Frenchy", Jeff George, CJ Kozarski, Kinsey, TC, Dono, Raph, Nick Malinowski and me.
There are some oldpikes competing for spots on this team as well, including Brandon Silverman (06-07), Eddie Peters (07) Trey Katzenbach (02-07), Brian Lo (01-07) and Matt Schmucker (06-07).
But fo sho sho, this team is no longer Pike. There is a naming committee, and that ain't on the list.
It was a good 8-year run from 02-09 (or did Pike start in 01?). 6 nationals appearances, 2 quarters, 1 semis. Not bad for a region with inconsistent collegiate programs.
I was happy to spend 7 years of club with Pike, the last two as a co-captain with Timmy. Not one of them was at all like any of the others. I was a young O-cutter for 3 years who rarely played, a no-turnover O-handler for 1 who played every O point, a higher risk starting D-handler for 1, a higher-risk starting O-handler for 1, and then in 2009 a starting Handler/Cutter on O whose risk&role depended upon who was else on the field, or where we were on the field.
Crises precipitate change
Not sure where this season will take me, but it won't be with the new Philly Open team. Not sure if this season will be a club season, or a fun-tourney tour, but it will involve far more ultimate than the post-Kaimana2011 season will.
Soon, I will RTS.
"...everybody sees you're blown apart
everybody feels the wind blow."
Tuesday, April 13
I don't
want to write about workouts.
I don't want to detail what differentiates the individual games I play in.
I don't want to write on this every day.
I did though. I used this blog as a tool to fuel me as a writer and a player. I forced myself to write every day on one topic, and had to come up with something to say on that topic. It was easier when workouts spurred the narrative.
The impressions I have of the game are so different now. The things I think are important have changed so much w/r/t ultimate. The things I think are fascinating are very out there. They need to be nurtered and thought through in order to be coherent. Thus, they are not exactly blog material. This waste of space has been relatively edit-free. That form no longer fits my function.
I don't have the mental desire to focus on writing about every workout/game/practice and also do well at every one of them. I'd rather write about so many other things. I'd rather shut off the ultimate part of my brain for parts of the days and try to succeed as a human.
As it turns out, this last bit about succeeding as a human is difficult. If you've always assumed that you would succeed, and everyone around you assumed the same, who was doing the work to ensure your success?
Tools don't mean thing
If they ain't ever tasked
They say a man's reach
Must exceed his hand's grasp.
Curiouser and curiouser.
That is to say, I've no idea what will be written here. Something will probably show up eventually, but I don't know what or when. When the ultimate moves me directly to words, they will be here. If there is a filter, the words may wander here anyway, but in a different guise.
So, yeah.
Monday, April 5
Fools Fest?
I think I just played at Fools Fest.
Yeah. Defininitively.
I can't remember how to make the right notes come out of a trumpet.
Bound to happen, but irritating nonetheless.
Chuck Norris is invulnerable to the money hammer when he chooses to roundhouse kick it in the face, but Pizza Boy and Mr Grimm trump a too unsleeveless-jersey team of Norrisisises.
The time before that, I remember being near a non-plastic beach.
The beach camping rocked w/ Mankind's stakes making the trip w/o him.
That Swiss guy and I each had a macadamia nut beer that was really quite tasty.
That Littauer was in a boot failing as drinking captain.
That didn't prevent him from earning the annual "I smoked my brakes on the way down Kauai" title.
But he didn't make a hitchiker get out of the car for fear of vomiting.
---
The new club season has started now.
Even without Evel Kevbofrisbee at Fools Fest.
First round of tryouts were last weekend at Edgely ballfields.
One day, ~60-70 players, circuits of drills, fitness tests and short scrimmages.
There are so many changes for this upcoming season that I don't rightly know where to start.
---
Delta Force had strong and weak forces. A lot of players I've notplayed with before from the Philly+general area. Good to show well enough (3-4, lost in quarters to Twisted Metal by one. 4 losses by a total of 6 points) not to embarrass the folks who have been to many Foolseses.
I was definitely hot and cold. My focus was not where it needed to be to consistently perform well. The body: Reluctantly capable. The mind: Foggy yet wired properly.
---
Waffle House, Perkins, Cracker Barrel. Despite my love for Waffle House and that eating at Cracker Barrel makes me feel like xenophobia might be contagious, I choose Cracker Barrel. Perkins is like an off-brand Denny's with real bits of panth... baked goods. So it finishes last. Waffle House is Waffle House: The measuring stick of chain breakfast places. Tasty, but you know it isn't right. I can eat at the House before Fools Fest. Not before real ultimate. It is also an annual stop on the way to the Eagles@Skins game (This year should be thick with valid plot and rife with solid play), and a favorite post-Regionals quick stop post-los loss/win non-truck stop
---
The mix of folks at the tryout was impressive. Definitely some ballers I've not met before (though some I met the week before). Some young guns hot to make names for themselves. And, of course, the same old faces from the area club scene's open&mixed teams. And there are more waiting in the wings. Some folks were caught off-guard by hemispheres of intensity some merely by degrees. All know that 2010 ain't no joke. That probably means it is only a matter of time before I get cut. I don't do well without jokes.
---
Back to the beach, we lost in quarters to the team that lost in finals. We lost in pool play to the other team in finals. We lost in the power pool play to the team that won last year. We also couldn't find our green jerseys or our teammates for the team photos. For at least one of those I can vouch that the looking wasn't very intense. We did, however, win a consolation game on the beach against Freaks.
---
This year is about internal focus and the calm of my soul. I've got to get back to my basics and focus on what I enjoy about this experience. My understanding of my self on the ultimate field is currently impoverished. The reasons for this vary widely enough as to be utterly irrelevant and uninteresting. To me. If not to you.
That is: I miss this.
---
Time to reprogram. Summon Finkbot. Instruct him that model number 200 (previous model numbers: 63, 79, 3.) needs to be set to "End of Season" mode ahead of schedule. Nuclear stress-testing must commence prior to new assignment.
---
Oh wait. That was me back in the day when I loved NWA. That music has a great thing, but that thing ain't me. I mean, the emotion is the thing that attracted me. That and the insane rhythms that bump the shit out of your world.
I was angry. So was the music.
Try this on for a better current impression of what I always wanted the music to be.
Tell me this doesn't fuel your fire.
Vinny Cult Hollander and I have been over this. You like the music you like. Just because I should like Rush doesn't mean I do like Rush. On the other hand, Rush kicks some ass.
I wish that my ex-girlfriend's biggest rock-star crush wrote about music more.
---
Work turns wishes and dreams to reality.
Easy truths are easily forgotten.
Lessons learned twice hurt.
---
---
I'll always be more Shane Falco than Steamin' Willie Beamen. (1, 2*)
Except in my head
phones.
---
Read More......Tuesday, January 5
012/006/009-001/004/010
I've not been not working. But I've frequently not typed about it. Backlog below:
012/006:
-4xLC+PC (MB Squat Presses, MB Stepup Shoulder Presses)
-Basic TC Warmup (100 lazy swings, 100 twists, 100 reverse twists, 15 TC squats)
012/007:
-1.3mi Hill Interval
-1xGC (Wobble Glute Bridge. Glute Circuit= 30 Glute Brigdes, 20 'L' Leg Raises, 20 Bird Dogs, 20 Single Leg G.Bridge, 20 Lying Hip Adductor, 12 Clap Pushups. All of these I held for 5 seconds per rep. Some I would do circles w/ my ankles (In and out) to count the seconds. Other things were added as time went on. Including wobble boards.)
-10x10sec Glute Bridge
012/009
-8x10 (10 sec rest) MB Slams
-8x10 (10 sec rest) MB btw Legs Forward Throw
-4lb MB wall dribbles overhead/chest 40 each.
-various wall throw/catches w/ 4lb MB and 12lb MB
012/011
-100 4lb MB burpees
012/013
-1.3mi Hill Interval
012/015
-LC+PC as 007
012/016
-2x GC (16 Clap Pushups)
012/017
-8x10 (10sec rest) MB Slams
-Assorted MB Wall Throws
-1x4/4 Pullups (4/4 Pullups= [x]/[y] types of pullups. x=on a board parallel to shoulders, on a board parallel to the pike not sticking out of your xyphoid process. I'm not explaining it any further save to say that the two boards are perpendicular to each other.)
012/023
-3x5/4 Pullups
-8x10 (10 sec rest) MB Slams
-8x8 (10 sec rest) MB Arc Raise Squats
-8x4x2x1 MB Hop Shoulder Press
012/025
-1/3mi Hill Interval Run
012/028
-3x(20 MB GKeep Hold Squats, 20 MB Shoulder Press Lunges, 20 MB GK Hold Step Ups, 10 Waist Height Box Jumps, 10 MB Pushups, 10 Straddle Wobble Board Plyo Pushups, 10 Elbow-In Pushups)
-3xMB Back Lift/Swing
-100 Lazy Twists
-50 Upper Body L/R Shifts
012/029
-.8mi Hill Int.
-100 High Chest Elbows Up-n-Out MB Twists
-20 Full Atlas Squats (Balance 12lb MB on nape of neck during 20 full squats)
-30 Hands Clasped behind back Twists
001/003/010
-2x(3x30 "Bottom of Squat ISO Twists"). That is: Hold onto your knees with your hands and twist without moving in various in/out combinations.
-2x70 Lean Back High Chest MB Twists
-2.5x15 MB Pushups
-70 "Monster Mash"
-50 "Head-to-Shoulders"
-50 "Head Nodders"
-8x10x10secrest MB Slams
-2x5/4 Pullups
-8 Waist Height Box Jumps
-16 Straddle Wobble Board Jumps
001/004/010
-002/014/007
Friday, December 4
12/03/09
1.3 mi hill interval run
4x
20 banded 12lb mdball squats
20 lunges
20 stepupkicks
10 jump squats
8 12lb medball pushups
8 clap pushups
8 elbow tight pushups
Wednesday, December 2
12/1/09
Tabata Banded In-Outs
8 x (12lb Medball):
10 Slams w/ "Full Crouch Catch"
4 breath rest
2x (4lb Ball):
20 RHand Overhead Wall Dribbles
20 LHand Overhead Wall Dribbles
20 RHand Shoulder Wall Dribbles
20 LHand Shoulder Wall Dribbles
20 Stationary Soccer Throwins
20 Stationary Chest Passes
20 RHand Sidearm Throws
20 LHand Sidearm Throws
20 RHand 3/4 Throws
20 LHand 3/4 Throws
20 RHand Overhand Throws
20 LHand Overhand Throws
20 RHand Underhand Throws
20 LHand Underhand Throws
1x
20 Glute Raises
20 L-Leg Raises
20 Bird Dogs
20 Single Leg Raises
20 Hip Adductor Things
12 Clap Pushups
Tuesday, December 1
11/30/09
1.3mi Hill Interval
4x
20 banded 12lb medball squats
20 lunges
20 high knee high stepups
10 jump squats
8 12lb medball pushups
8 clap pushups
8 tight elbow slow pushups
Sunday, November 29
11/28/09
Some hours of windy Brumfis Boot.
Raph, Walt, Dono, Frenchy, Jaeger, MJ, Jake the Jake, me.
(Crash didn't play. Neither did Mellen nor Jamie Rose. That didn't stop me from blading a disc at the latter. It was surprising that J didn't D that one. Fortunately, he's not the brains of the operation. Disaster was averted prior to her mother sitting on her. No no, on purpose.)
A descendent of Team Uber ruled the day.
Including a fitting throwbacktheclock end.
Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale: Tasty.
Thursday, November 26
11/25/09
1.3 mi hill interval run (stay springy and bounding on toes)
assorted 12lb medball twists
moving some heavy stuff around
Wednesday, November 25
11/24/09
4x
20 12lb Medball Squats
20 Lunges
20 Stepupkicks
10 Jump Squats
8 12lb medball pushups
8 clap pushups
8 pushups (elbows tight)
Tuesday, November 24
11/23/09
1.3 Mill Hill Interval Run
(There was a suspicious car down at the end of the bottom hill. So I cut that part off because I wanted to focus on me, not them. Which is hard for me. Not them.)
40min Interval Training w/ Variable rests no more than 90 sec and no closer than 10 seconds apart. Various throwing, weight transfer, rotational, full-body, explosive, etc movements. All over the place as I just tried to vary what I was doing as much as possible within the realms of workouts that I've done recently. So, things like "This next interval will be medball pushups" or "The next three intervals will be Throwing the Medball against the wall" or whatever combined with knowing which parts of my body are more/less tired after a given interval...
Anyway, the point is that it is hard because I can change it to make it harder/easier for myself as I go. Which is its own challenge.
The intervals were all set on a watch, but I set ~ 13/14 intervals of varying time, and I won't be able to remember 13 or 14 intervals while keeping track of the other stuff I'm doing. Well, not yet at least.
11/22/09
90 min 7 v UPENN
7 win despite le(masque)on and amanginger still pretending to have college eligibility. Maybe 15-9? 10?
It was also determined that we are just the sort of people to take advantage of cheap Sixers tix.
Fun running around w/ Barfighters and Barfoughts.
Saturday, November 21
11/20/09
20 min stretching
100 4lb Medball Burpees for time
(10:31)
Medball burpee is just a Burpee with a Medball held in both hands the whole time
1x
20 Glute Raises
20 L-Leg Raises
20 Bird Dogs
20 Lying Hip Adductor
20 Single Leg Glute Raises
12 clap pushups
10 Glute Raises
Thursday, November 19
11/18/09
1.5 mile hill interval run
4x
20 12lb Medball Squats
20 Lunges
20 Stepups
10 Jump Squats
8 12lb medball pushups
8 clap pushups
8 pushups
2x
20 Glute Raises
20 'L'-Leg Raises
20 Bird Dogs
20 Single Leg Glute Raises
20 Lying Hip Adductor
12 Clap Pushups
Wednesday, November 4
Hot
That is the first thing I remember
It is not, however, the first thing [I] remember after all the things [I]'ve forgotten.
This year was hot and humid beyond what I (or Pike, for that matter) was prepared for. That is, combine 5-10 outbreaks of swineflu, hantavirus, SARS, tetanus-induced lockjaw, death and many other psychosomatic and real illness with practicing in 40 degree weather with sideways rain for three post-regionals weeks with attendance in the preteen region as well as the whole "16 Nationals Virgins" and, well, you go 1-6 on the weekend. What a coincidence. 16 was our seed. Yay seeding folks. You accurately seeded the team which couldn't find a game all season.
Not that I'm saying we deserved to play against better teams ('deserves' is a highly loaded word full of connotation and all of that shit), but if you take a sample comparison between SoL and Pike it will be apparent that SoL was able to play the following nationals teams prior to regionals:
GOAT x3, Bodhi x2, Ironside, Truckstop, Machine, Revolver, Pike
Compare to the zero nationals teams that Pike was able to play despite both teams going to the same tournaments and finishing the same at Regionals in 2008.
---
The thing I am proudest of Pike for is never once playing scared at Nationals 2009.
Stupidly, braindead, selfishly, and many more colorful descriptors can be used, but not one of them is 'scared'. This is more than I can say for the 2007 team. The 2007 team, on the other hand, wasn't dumb. I'm not sure which team wins here. But I'm losing, I'm sure of it.
---
Day one was a trip. We were up on GOAT at 4-3 in the first game, we gave up half 5-8. We pulled to within 7-9 and 11-13 before giving up the ghost at 12-15.
The last time I saw Revolver, we were down 2-4 on our way to 5-15. I think the D outscored the O in this one.
Then, finally, a shot at Truckstop, where we went up 2-1 by breaking on the second D point, then fell behind 4-7. The O scored, and the D broke us back to 7-7 AND had a chance to score to take half, but didn't. I remember 8-10. But the rest is foggy.
We didn't exactly roll over against revolver, but it wasn't good. GOAT and Truck definitely had more cohesive teams than Pike, but hell... they've been to nationals recently and kept rosters intact relative to Pike's unusual "keep most of the roster in odd years and jettison 16-17 players in even years" schedule used since 06.
---
While there were no Waffle House early-AM ho-train shenanigans (despite the presence of Dan Yi), Glen Poole did bite the top off of a bottle.
---
The drive up/down from TPA to Sarasota is a good time at Sunset. Having made the drive nearly every year I've been at Nationals on Thursday night, I have no idea what people do on Thursday nights. Stupid/awesome girlfriends.
The way folks in FLA drive is decidedly different than in the MidAtlantic (and don't get me started on those fuckers in the midwest who make you get pulled over for going 70 in a 65 because EVERYONE drives 69. Losers with no cojones. Seriously, you don't think you can pick up the pace a little bit? Even just so that when I'm trying to drive fast you can clear the passing lane so that I avoid the Jersey Weave?
The key thing seems to be that on the highway, you can drive ~83 or so, without even thinking about cops. If you go over that, you're asking to get pulled over. On the city streets, all you need to do is accelerate out of the turns/redlights and get into the open space created by the lights/turns in the first place. Then you can drive just a bit faster than the rest w/o risking a ticket or running into that group of cars ahead of you.
---
Day two started with Bodhi who broke us early to the tune of 0-3. Considering that, the 5-8 halftime deficit wasn't too shabby. Nor was the 11-15 final score. I like playing them, for the most part. Especially now that they've gotten the massive chip off of their collective shoulder and instead Just Play Hard (and in their case, very well). Maturity will do that.
The next game was against Streetgang. We scrapped the O/D lines and reverted back to the way we originally planned the subbing for the season. This was good. Streetgang seemed really surprised that we could play at all. This was good for us, as GOAT+Truck had seen us often enough over the years to know that we didn't suck, and Revolver simply didn't give the disc back after a turn... so their assessment of us was irrelevant.
Notching a victory pre-shitbox was good. It did us no good at all in terms of final finish, but it was a good Team-Level-Psyche kinda thing.
---
In a related story, I'm terrible at subcalling and hope/plan/expect not to ever have to do that again until I retire to coaching.
---
Overall, I had a solid though unspectacular weekend. I was responsible for very few turnovers (though I did have 2 drops in one point against GOAT, which was bizarre... but then again, there were 7 total drops in that point-- 4 for Pike and 3 for GOAT. One of the other Pike drops was on a throw that I threw, but that came back on a foul.) though I could have done a better job involving myself directly and obviously in the offense. I threw some goals, caught some goals. Made some good reads on what the D was doing against us and acted appropriately. I had at least one D, and while I got worked for a couple of deep scores here and there when I tried to, as Ellis said, "Be too unpredictable on D" overall, my defense was good.
---
Day Three matched us against Machine in the first round. That was fun. I think we went up a break early and may have taken half, but they rallied and made a run in the late second half to take the game. Ricky looks young and plays young enough to be in the right division. There was also no brick in my field bag.
The rematch against Streetgang was not good for our squad. Their offense was just as efficient on D as it was on O this time around. Our will was finally starting to fade a little bit, and while we didn't pack it in, we just... didn't have it in the tanks any longer.
The mental battle of playing these games is fascinating.
---
I then meant to get hammered in the beer garden, but not only could I not see any games I wanted to see from the garden, it turned out that my DD was drunk. Time to go watch some ultimate.
Seriously, there are some Masters guys I like to watch, but don't put the beer tent on their games. Put the damn beer tent on the field for Open semis. That is ridiculous. I am channeling my inner Toad here, but if we actually want this to be a spectator sport for the spectator/players who have just fought their hearts out in all of their crappy games, at least make it like a real arena. You know... beer while watching. Not "Hey, I'll be back after I go chug 4 glasses of beer because I have to go into the garden and can't come out with the beer... so... you know. I'll try to be back after a point or two."
Yeah. Those are healthy drinking habits. Thanks, UPA!
---
The event this year was really well run as always.
I do, however, wish that when they said "The massage folks will arrive at 8am each day" that it wasn't a lie.
The time I spent in the massage tent was the best/worst time of the weekend. I went over because of the myriad problems of 2 replaced ACLs, one of which never really healed fully due to a staph infection while in the hospital (blah blah blah) plus a somewhat unique throwing motion.
The fella there really worked some magic on me as I could not only walk evenly, but run without undue pain. The problem was that as he was working on various muscles in my right leg/hip, random other muscles would decide to cramp up, causing some combination of consternation/amusement on his part.
Such an overused body for me to fix up in this offseason.
Speaking of offseason, time to hit up PADA Mosh (w/ Johnny Pivot-Foot and the Ten Stall Counts) and Ultimax (w/ Barfight!) and make plans for traveling fun tournaments (Kaimana! Lei-Out?) without disrupting my offseason recovery plans.
---
You know, the more I think about ultimate, the more I realize that it is just a way to break down the body before it is on many levels just a decrepit piece of flesh-n-bone. Replace warring and battling with neighboring tribes with warring and battling with neighboring tribes. The body pays a price. The aches. The pains, the grassburns and stains.
What what else to do with this thing? Sit on the couch? Let it decay rather than use it up? Fuck that. A sedentary life is not a life fully lived. I will continue to call on my body to make sacrifices for a flimsy piece of pavement-worn/pristine plastic. Use it or lose it. And now, more than ever, losing it terrifies me.
Great. Now I've jinxed myself.
---
There were some sublimely hideous jerseys at nationals.
Just because you can print whatever you want doesn't mean that you should.
---
The team purchased a sweet pullover with an embroidered Pike crest, my number and my name on it.
That I don't recoil from my own name is a sign that the gift means something more to me.
---
Collected my pint glass. Hoo-ray!
These trinkets mean more to me than they should.
But I'm not trying to change that.
I'm sure it will change on its own with time
---
This season... was unique in a wonderful way.
I'm sorry to see it end, but I know
That they can't take it away
No they can't take that away
From PIKE.
That is to say,
To put it another way:
TEAM FIRST, bitches!
Tuesday, June 16
meanwhile, back at charger city...
the smerfs were attempting to play ultimate
with their hands wrapped right round
(spin me right round)
their very own necks as something tender slipped away.
It was a great stop on the first leg of this trip, but one that needed to have a different ending. We won our pool on Saturday. We got up 5-2 with the disc to take half 6-2. We took half 6-3. At 7-4 I threw my only turn of the day on a deep look to Evel off of a stoppage from The Howitzer. They converted.
This weekend, it looked like our team would need D players. So, I took to playing defense on Saturday whenever we were slow to get 4 guys to the line. This seemed to work pretty well. I stayed on for a couple of O points here and there, but by and large, I just worked to play honest, tight defense and take shots I liked on turns, but not to force anything outside of my game. As has happened recently, my game was not a perfect fit for my short-term teammates. Stylistic incongruities. Threw some goals, caught some goals. One D called back on a contested strip. One D a split second too late and resulted in an uncontested foul as I visegripped my opponent's wrist instead of the disc. Not bad, on the whole. Certainly positive fantasy numbers (See: Timeouts, Reason #4080 that timeoutcalling people are shady). Certainly a positive +/-. Certainly stretches of good play. No drops, no turfs. No utterly uncatchable throws. The timing (wa/i)s alwaysall wrong though.
Too slow too know just howhere to go.
This is why I Like FunUltimate but Love ClubUltimate.
Which was a good reminder for me this weekend. And
Interestingly tells a lot about me as a p(lay)er(son).
I took my left cleat off to investigate my toe, which hurt.
AHA! The Culprit? MYSTERY BRUISE!
At 9-6, I put my cleat back on.
At 9-8, I retied my laces.
At 9-9, I tightened them for D to Win.
At 0-0, I watched two D's get caught.
At 0-1, I took them off and drank until Monday.
We watched Team USA get down to Chicken Pax, and win.
We watched Team USA get down to Tender-whomever-we-lost-to, and win.
We watched Team USA get down to TC, and win.
Their men are very good.
Their women are crazygood.
But, SMERFS are still, by the transitive property of ultimate, a far superior first-half team than Team USA.
I got pointblocked at another coed tournament.
That's a pointblock per coed tournament since like... 2007.
That's a far higher number than per open tourney in any 2-week sample of practices, tournaments, whatever.
Odd.
I never thought I'd go to Poultry Days again.
It took a suprise confluence of events (including a plan to drive to Iowa anyway).
But now I remember how fun the P-Days be.
Go at least once.
Also, the Game 4 Orlando Magic to Pre-Quarter SMERF comparisons are getting old.
Wednesday, June 10
What you know
is unknown
now/later.
There is far less luck than I knew there was.
Plays are far more useless, for one reason,
Offenses are far less, for another reason.
Players are players
Ringers are ringers
Ballers are ballers
Shooters gotta shoot.
Some shooters shoot
Better than others.
Leftys are still cheaters:
Just because they use the
Right side of their brains.
Heaven is still just like
A wise man once said it was
When unplaying the fool.
("It's all in the flip
Not at all in the cup!"
P-H-I, L-L-Y: Now what's up?
"This is what happens...
Do you see what happens,
When you [go cups v Pike?]")
Ultimate's a game for innovations:
New solutions to the same equations
Of discflight's patterned iterations.
Different ways of stressing
Of attacking and defensing
But all the same song sing:
"Give nothing +
Take everything =
Win anything."
The same song sung
Echo in every tongue
At eachnevery rung
Of competition
Of sport
Of game.
For money
For nothing
For allthesame.
Just another
Way tokeep
No score
And see
What there
Is to see.
----
Pike's ceiling is higher than it has been since 2005.
Pike's floor is just as low in 2009 as it was in 2006.
Pikes is ready to put the I back in Team First in 2009.
Monday, May 18
Bellcracked
Managed to find a team for Bellcrack.
I'm not sure I helped them, on the weekend, but we lost in Quarters to Hooray.
Great. Now my undefeated Bell Crack record is in the toilet.
Then again, I'm pretty sure I was not a negative addition to the team.
I could always be wrong. Perhaps w/o me, they would have made finals.
As usual, every team I play with tells me that if Amy was there they'd be happier.
What does this say about me? Unclear, but there were a lot more serious teams at BellCrack than in years past. That is not to say better or worse, just more actual club coed teams.
----
From Deceptisomething to Deceptinothing.
or
"I forgot to remember we took a timeout. That timeout gave him the rest he needed to get his foot there."
And other thoughts that have gone through my head since I got footblocked.
If I wanted a shorter title:
"Drew Jones gets Ten FIDY'd."
----
League Games start this week.
Er, pre-season games do.
Then again, with this many (50, I think) teams, who knows what's what when we can't all possibly make the playoffs. There is a non-zero chance that I should read the Captain's Handbook which PADA has been kind enough to provide me. If I could only remember whe...
Oh yeah, my team is a well-(c/d)rafted group of miscreants. Off (and, I think) on the field. IF we can only figure out how to get our guys out of the way.
----
Light optional Pike practice Saturday morning was not terrible. The team with fewer drops in the drills had far more drops in the games.
Official full-on Pike tryout weekend next weekend.
