To be honest, last weekend was kind of a downer.
It was fun and all, but certain factors made it the kind of weekend that leads me to question the time and effort I put into the sport. Nothing wrong with that, it happens fairly regularly to be honest. But every time it does I need some serious soul searching, or some serious fun.
Fortunately, my friends are awesome. And a lot of my awesome friends are also my teammates.
After a disappointing lift (been too long since I've been to the gym, apparently) I went to hang out with some friends. We watched a movie and then I went to throw with our other D line captain. We went out to the quad and lo and behold, three other Gunx, freshmen on the team, were out there with a disc. It is relevant to note that it was about eleven pm and cold and windy. That's dedication! Always great to see in the team, particularly the new recruits. We threw with them for a while and then went our separate ways.
An hour or so later we met up with the same three freshmen and decided to take a walk around the gunk. Somehow I had the bright idea to attempt a cross-gunk backhand huck, something I've wanted to try for a while. Well, the throw went up and it looked good, real high, great angle, until the wind picked up mid flight and caused it to float gently down into the water. A good distance across I should add. Maybe 2/3? Anyway, we went to look for it and eventually spied it midway across the lake. The wind was intense, and sure enough was blowing the disc to shore, so we waited in the cold for it to reach us. It took what felt like a long time then but was probably only about fifteen minutes.
So now I'm back writing about it, and you may be wondering, why? Well it may sound goofy as hell on paper (er, on the interwebs?) but it was fun. Yes, fun hanging around a lake in the freezing cold with some teammates, cheering as a small circular piece of plastic floated slowly to shore. And you know what? I've found my motivation again.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Danse Macabre
Well Danse came and went and it was certainly an interesting time. We all had fun hanging out on Friday, probably too much fun as we stayed up far too late for a tournament night. Poor directions led to us being forty minutes late to the fields on Saturday, missing the captain's meeting and more importantly, breakfast. On the bright side, sort of, a lot of the games were pushed back until around ten anyway so we were somehow still early for our first match. Conditions were rainy and windy, just the way I like it?
First match was against Ramapo. Their costume was Mexicans? Sombreros, maracas, sharpie mustaches. That sort of thing. First half was terrible. I think we scored three points. Second half we brought GAME and proceeded to score something like seven points in a row, at one point. Unfortunately, since games had already started late we ended up getting hard capped at 12 - 14. I'm fairly confident we could have pulled a win together if we had not gotten capped. They scored the last point but with the cap on they knew they had already won so that probably subconsciously affected our motivation. Also, our defense was bringing it hard so three points in a row would not have been too difficult. Anyway, lesson learned. From now on we will have clear directions for every tournament so we can bloody well get there on time.
Second game was against Hamilton, in Celtic garb a la kilts and woad paint. Mitch is far more Celtic than any of them, but they will never know as he was dressed in a business suit for the game. Anyway, they ran a pretty smooth offense and were consistently able to get open. Their defense was sort of lackluster (good cup but the rest of the zone was higgledy piggledy) but fortunately for them the lack of breakfast had completely sapped the morale of the Gunx and we folded easily. It was sort of depressing but we can learn from our mistakes. I don't meant to imply that we would have necessarily beaten them otherwise, they were a solid team, but we certainly could match them man to man and we would have liked to give them a fight at least.
Fortunately we had a bye after Hamilton so the team could eat. Most everyone went to get "real" food. I had bagels, and stayed at the fields to hang out and watch games, a dubious decision as it was cold and I was soaked. Oh well, it was fun anyway. Watched Ramapo beat RIT b and heckled both sides with constant calls to "huck it huck it lololol". The team got back and sat in our cars as we waited to hear if games would be cancelled due to the fields being torn apart. The other coed pool's games did get cancelled as their fields had been reduced to muddy pits. TD Creepy had to break the news of the cancellation to them, and the U of Rochester alums took it so hard that they tabletopped him into the mud.
Glorious.
In the end, our games were on and we got amped to face Oneonta. As for that game, what can I say? Both teams played hard but Oneonta's height and experience predictably won out. However, the game was much closer than the score (6 - 15 or something like that) would suggest. We fought hard for every point and our defense was on fire. When our offense did convert it looked amazing and when they did not our d still made Oneonta take three or four possessions per point to score. We were supposed to play RIT b as our final game but they went home because of the wet and cold, even though by that point in the day it was far less cold and the rain had mostly stopped. Personally, I like playing on rainy days as long as it is not too cold or windy.
Day two games were cancelled except for quarterfinals and up, so we did not get to play, going home with a 0 - 3 record and a disappointing lack of games.
Looking back, Danse was good for the team socially. Everyone seemed to bond a lot hanging out at Bridget's house, at the fields, in the car and at the Saturday night party and ihop trip. On the field we saw our strengths and weaknesses highlighted clearly. Decision making will come with experience, and the sloppy throwing was largely due to the wet disc. Our zone offense is good while we are swinging the disc between handlers but a lot of our new players do not yet understand how to get open downfield. Zone offense will be a focus this week so that we will be ready for RPI, and we will be practicing rain or shine.
On the positive side, our defense was pretty furious most of the time, and our conditioning definitely came in to play. Everyone ran hard day one and yet I did not hear anyone complaining about soreness or excessive fatigue. We were certainly tired but noone was wiped out, and we would have been ready to run our asses off, had Sunday games not been cancelled. The irony is that last year our zone offense was our greatest strength, while our defense lacked intensity. It is evident that we have changed our focus from offense to defense this year to a large extent.
Thus far, our man defense is strong. Our zone defense is good sometimes but not consistent. We need to work on communication, and certain lanky fellows who blog too much need to get more aggressive in the deep position. Our offense in general needs a spark to get it going. Sometimes we roll through any defense and sometimes we turn it on a swing ten yards out of our own endzone. I don't think our offense can be solved with a quick fix strategy wise, so we will have to practice our asses off as we have been doing all season. Soon the winter will drive us inside. Winter conditioning will shore up our man defense even more, but methinks a lot of offense technique and zone strategy will have to wait until spring. Oh well, at least we'll be in great shape.
On a personal note, as much as I am ashamed to say it, a lot of what went wrong for the team this past weekend comes down to poor leadership. There is no excuse for us not getting the team breakfast before the games, or for not having adequate directions to the fields. Although things worked out in the end, it reflects poorly on me and I absolutely resolve to do better in the future. Enough said. Sometime I am going to write a piece about my thoughts the difficulty of balancing practicing as a player with being a team leader, but that is something for another day.
So our fall season record is now 1 - 5 with two tournaments to go. All in all, things are going well. I am very excited about the team and the progress we have made. By the time the series rolls around, we are going to be one hell of a team. Our team identity and friendship is growing by the day, and the players who are working hard are seeing a real payoff. RPI this weekend. Amped.
First match was against Ramapo. Their costume was Mexicans? Sombreros, maracas, sharpie mustaches. That sort of thing. First half was terrible. I think we scored three points. Second half we brought GAME and proceeded to score something like seven points in a row, at one point. Unfortunately, since games had already started late we ended up getting hard capped at 12 - 14. I'm fairly confident we could have pulled a win together if we had not gotten capped. They scored the last point but with the cap on they knew they had already won so that probably subconsciously affected our motivation. Also, our defense was bringing it hard so three points in a row would not have been too difficult. Anyway, lesson learned. From now on we will have clear directions for every tournament so we can bloody well get there on time.
Second game was against Hamilton, in Celtic garb a la kilts and woad paint. Mitch is far more Celtic than any of them, but they will never know as he was dressed in a business suit for the game. Anyway, they ran a pretty smooth offense and were consistently able to get open. Their defense was sort of lackluster (good cup but the rest of the zone was higgledy piggledy) but fortunately for them the lack of breakfast had completely sapped the morale of the Gunx and we folded easily. It was sort of depressing but we can learn from our mistakes. I don't meant to imply that we would have necessarily beaten them otherwise, they were a solid team, but we certainly could match them man to man and we would have liked to give them a fight at least.
Fortunately we had a bye after Hamilton so the team could eat. Most everyone went to get "real" food. I had bagels, and stayed at the fields to hang out and watch games, a dubious decision as it was cold and I was soaked. Oh well, it was fun anyway. Watched Ramapo beat RIT b and heckled both sides with constant calls to "huck it huck it lololol". The team got back and sat in our cars as we waited to hear if games would be cancelled due to the fields being torn apart. The other coed pool's games did get cancelled as their fields had been reduced to muddy pits. TD Creepy had to break the news of the cancellation to them, and the U of Rochester alums took it so hard that they tabletopped him into the mud.
Glorious.
In the end, our games were on and we got amped to face Oneonta. As for that game, what can I say? Both teams played hard but Oneonta's height and experience predictably won out. However, the game was much closer than the score (6 - 15 or something like that) would suggest. We fought hard for every point and our defense was on fire. When our offense did convert it looked amazing and when they did not our d still made Oneonta take three or four possessions per point to score. We were supposed to play RIT b as our final game but they went home because of the wet and cold, even though by that point in the day it was far less cold and the rain had mostly stopped. Personally, I like playing on rainy days as long as it is not too cold or windy.
Day two games were cancelled except for quarterfinals and up, so we did not get to play, going home with a 0 - 3 record and a disappointing lack of games.
Looking back, Danse was good for the team socially. Everyone seemed to bond a lot hanging out at Bridget's house, at the fields, in the car and at the Saturday night party and ihop trip. On the field we saw our strengths and weaknesses highlighted clearly. Decision making will come with experience, and the sloppy throwing was largely due to the wet disc. Our zone offense is good while we are swinging the disc between handlers but a lot of our new players do not yet understand how to get open downfield. Zone offense will be a focus this week so that we will be ready for RPI, and we will be practicing rain or shine.
On the positive side, our defense was pretty furious most of the time, and our conditioning definitely came in to play. Everyone ran hard day one and yet I did not hear anyone complaining about soreness or excessive fatigue. We were certainly tired but noone was wiped out, and we would have been ready to run our asses off, had Sunday games not been cancelled. The irony is that last year our zone offense was our greatest strength, while our defense lacked intensity. It is evident that we have changed our focus from offense to defense this year to a large extent.
Thus far, our man defense is strong. Our zone defense is good sometimes but not consistent. We need to work on communication, and certain lanky fellows who blog too much need to get more aggressive in the deep position. Our offense in general needs a spark to get it going. Sometimes we roll through any defense and sometimes we turn it on a swing ten yards out of our own endzone. I don't think our offense can be solved with a quick fix strategy wise, so we will have to practice our asses off as we have been doing all season. Soon the winter will drive us inside. Winter conditioning will shore up our man defense even more, but methinks a lot of offense technique and zone strategy will have to wait until spring. Oh well, at least we'll be in great shape.
On a personal note, as much as I am ashamed to say it, a lot of what went wrong for the team this past weekend comes down to poor leadership. There is no excuse for us not getting the team breakfast before the games, or for not having adequate directions to the fields. Although things worked out in the end, it reflects poorly on me and I absolutely resolve to do better in the future. Enough said. Sometime I am going to write a piece about my thoughts the difficulty of balancing practicing as a player with being a team leader, but that is something for another day.
So our fall season record is now 1 - 5 with two tournaments to go. All in all, things are going well. I am very excited about the team and the progress we have made. By the time the series rolls around, we are going to be one hell of a team. Our team identity and friendship is growing by the day, and the players who are working hard are seeing a real payoff. RPI this weekend. Amped.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Danse preview
This weekend the Gunx will be playing at RIT for their annual Halloween tournament the Danse Macabre. Pool play is in costume. Danse should be a great first tournament for our freshmen - it is a big tournament with a competitive field, but it is also going to be goofy and fun. A lot of the team went to get our costumes today. Let's just say we are going to look snazzy.
I've wanted to go to Danse since my friends in college went as freshmen when I was a junior in high school, so it's fairly exciting for me to finally be going. It's going to be Bridget's tournament to celebrate her 21st birthday. I guarantee fun times will be afoot.
I've wanted to go to Danse since my friends in college went as freshmen when I was a junior in high school, so it's fairly exciting for me to finally be going. It's going to be Bridget's tournament to celebrate her 21st birthday. I guarantee fun times will be afoot.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Conference 1 thoughts and opinions
Having had a little time to digest the idea of conference 1, I am still falling short of completely understanding its implications. I've realized that my perspective is that of an outsider, as my team does not compete at a high enough level to be effected (yet....). We would not be playing any conference 1 teams at sectionals anyway, and if we make regionals I personally will be happy enough about that to not fuss about whether or not we get a shot at taking down "team X". Our goal is to take our section. Scoring a massive upset against a top 25 team would be pretty cool, but that's not our primary goal by any means.
Tiered competition has to be the future of the sport. As it is, it's pretty cool that everyone has a shot at the title, but realistically a lot of teams don't and its fairly easy to understand why elite teams do not favor having to play against easy opponents. On the other hand, it's understandable that the other however many hundreds of teams not invited to conference one have some legitimate reasons to be upset. For my part, I'm sort of looking forward to conference 1 because as a fan of the game it will be pretty exciting and easy to be able to keep track of the conference 1 series tournaments and keep abreast of the college competition. Making the game easier to follow is somewhat essential to developing a base of people who enjoy following the sport as well as playing it.
Most ultimate players I know have little sense of the competitive aspect of the game and are more interested in playing. I'm far more interested in playing as well, but look at it this way - following the game and watching high level games is a great way to learn, to improve.
Many RSD posters are talking about how cultimate is usurping the UPA college series by attempting to run their own show. To a certain extent that could be true, it depends on how they decide to cooperate - or not cooperate. I can't help but think that a competitive fall series might be a better idea. With more competitive fall tournaments the competition of the spring series would increase as well as teams would be playing and training harder. Sure there are many competitive fall tournaments but It would be pretty cool to have a separate fall championship. A fall conference would also build excitement for nationals as teams would be eager to avenge losses in the fall and come out fighting in the spring.
Also, a fall series would avoid the hypothetical dilution of the talent that would occur if only half of the 'top 25' move to cultimate and half stay with the UPA series. The conference 1 teams would still get their free uniforms and travel money for the fall, and with the increased legitimacy that should result from having such a conference they could probably persuade their respective universities to give them a larger budget for tournaments in the spring.
Anyway, whatever happens in the end, the next few weeks are going to be sweet as all of this gets figured out by the powers that be and thoroughly discussed by the players that be. These are exciting times for the sport and I'd like to think that we will all profit from them.
Tiered competition has to be the future of the sport. As it is, it's pretty cool that everyone has a shot at the title, but realistically a lot of teams don't and its fairly easy to understand why elite teams do not favor having to play against easy opponents. On the other hand, it's understandable that the other however many hundreds of teams not invited to conference one have some legitimate reasons to be upset. For my part, I'm sort of looking forward to conference 1 because as a fan of the game it will be pretty exciting and easy to be able to keep track of the conference 1 series tournaments and keep abreast of the college competition. Making the game easier to follow is somewhat essential to developing a base of people who enjoy following the sport as well as playing it.
Most ultimate players I know have little sense of the competitive aspect of the game and are more interested in playing. I'm far more interested in playing as well, but look at it this way - following the game and watching high level games is a great way to learn, to improve.
Many RSD posters are talking about how cultimate is usurping the UPA college series by attempting to run their own show. To a certain extent that could be true, it depends on how they decide to cooperate - or not cooperate. I can't help but think that a competitive fall series might be a better idea. With more competitive fall tournaments the competition of the spring series would increase as well as teams would be playing and training harder. Sure there are many competitive fall tournaments but It would be pretty cool to have a separate fall championship. A fall conference would also build excitement for nationals as teams would be eager to avenge losses in the fall and come out fighting in the spring.
Also, a fall series would avoid the hypothetical dilution of the talent that would occur if only half of the 'top 25' move to cultimate and half stay with the UPA series. The conference 1 teams would still get their free uniforms and travel money for the fall, and with the increased legitimacy that should result from having such a conference they could probably persuade their respective universities to give them a larger budget for tournaments in the spring.
Anyway, whatever happens in the end, the next few weeks are going to be sweet as all of this gets figured out by the powers that be and thoroughly discussed by the players that be. These are exciting times for the sport and I'd like to think that we will all profit from them.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Wowie Zowie
Just read the Huddle's issue on cultimate's plan for a men's college conference. I have to admit, the prospect of a longer competitive season is intriguing. Lots of thoughts are swirling around my brain but I am too fatigued to digest and regurgitate them into something coherent.
Most likely that will happen tomorrow.
In any case, it is exciting to witness the active evolution of the sport "before our very eyes" as it were. What form will ultimate take tomorrow?
As long as it is as fun as it is today, I'm down.
Most likely that will happen tomorrow.
In any case, it is exciting to witness the active evolution of the sport "before our very eyes" as it were. What form will ultimate take tomorrow?
As long as it is as fun as it is today, I'm down.
Monday, October 6, 2008
And now that I have posted this, back to work
Just voted in the UPA board of directors election.
That is all.
That is all.
Not egoism, I hope
My voice is hoarse today. Yesterday Bard came to scrimmage the Gunx and some Magic Rollers stopped by to hang out. The Gunx started slow with mistakes by both offense and defense lines, but pulled it together a little; at halftime the score stood eight to seven in Bard's favor after a four point streak by the Gunx to tie the game at sevens. Bard came out strong after half, bringing the game to 12 - 8. New Paltz struck back to make it a close game at 12 10. After a few traded points and a few unanswered scores by Bard, the score stood at 14 - something in Bard's favor at game point. Knowing we needed to score, the Gunx got amped up and brought it to 14s. Bard scored again, leading me to think the game was over. The sideline reminded that it was win-by-two and I was astounded, not realizing that we had tied the score.
The O line stuffed it in to tie the game at 15s. D line took the field, and got fired up. The pull went up and we sprinted all out to set up d on the end line by the time Bard had picked up the disc. Unfortunately, Meghan injured her knee running down the pull. Play stopped for a while as campus police and an ambulance were called. When play resumed we elected to restart the point, still fired up and inspired by Meghan's positive attitude despite her injury. D line ran down the pull and scored, and then repeated the feat to end the game 17 to 15, giving the Gunx our first win of the year.
After a short break, Magic Roll took the field against Bard for our first game together since Ow My Knee and summer pickup. It is relevant to note that we have not practiced since school started and were playing fielding a nine player roster missing a good deal of players. Also, four of us had played on the Gunx in the previous scrimmage. Bard being likewise fatigued from the grueling long points and respectable length of the scrimmage, we agreed on a short scrimmage to seven. We had a quick pre game amp session complete with a cheer, during which I may or may not have accidentally implied that Leah was a guy. Our starting lineup was strong, but unable to score the first point against tired Bard. The first point was a marathon, and after Magic answered right back.
We traded again to make it twos, and then landed the pull deep in Bard's end zone. We ran it down, and I caught my first ever Callahan off a two foot dump pass. At that point, Magic got even more amped (or at least I did) and Bard seemed to lose their moral, ceding the game with no further scores, 7- 2 in Magic's favor. Magic won the game in no small part thanks to our ability to adapt our offense.
Like John McCain, we played a maverick game and Bard could not anticipate who would throw the disc and who would catch it. Cutters became handlers, handlers became deeps, and every point the offense changed.
Surely our style is a reflection of our roots as a pickup group where wacky plays were the norm and no one really knew about how a competitive game works. Although we are all (well mostly) now playing in college and everyone is well versed in basic strategy, we have maintained a pick-up aesthetic that I think will serve us well as long as we ground it with fundamental strategy and skill. Some highlights: we ran battalion successfully for one point, forcing a turnover fairly early on despite some good cup crashes by Bard cutters. Steve had huge d's all over the field, and Charlie earned his spot on the team by playing hard on both sides of the disc. On a personal note, I had a few poach d's in addition to the Callahan, and not all of my hucks were terrible.
Also, I bellowed myself hoarse cheering from the sideline and on the field. Everyone had fun, and Bard proved to be a spirited opponent as well as a chill bunch of folks. The Gunx will be seeing more of them in the future for sure.
Shout outs to all the Rollers who could not be there. A certain Hooligan should be proud to know that we did the civic cheer with great success.
The O line stuffed it in to tie the game at 15s. D line took the field, and got fired up. The pull went up and we sprinted all out to set up d on the end line by the time Bard had picked up the disc. Unfortunately, Meghan injured her knee running down the pull. Play stopped for a while as campus police and an ambulance were called. When play resumed we elected to restart the point, still fired up and inspired by Meghan's positive attitude despite her injury. D line ran down the pull and scored, and then repeated the feat to end the game 17 to 15, giving the Gunx our first win of the year.
After a short break, Magic Roll took the field against Bard for our first game together since Ow My Knee and summer pickup. It is relevant to note that we have not practiced since school started and were playing fielding a nine player roster missing a good deal of players. Also, four of us had played on the Gunx in the previous scrimmage. Bard being likewise fatigued from the grueling long points and respectable length of the scrimmage, we agreed on a short scrimmage to seven. We had a quick pre game amp session complete with a cheer, during which I may or may not have accidentally implied that Leah was a guy. Our starting lineup was strong, but unable to score the first point against tired Bard. The first point was a marathon, and after Magic answered right back.
We traded again to make it twos, and then landed the pull deep in Bard's end zone. We ran it down, and I caught my first ever Callahan off a two foot dump pass. At that point, Magic got even more amped (or at least I did) and Bard seemed to lose their moral, ceding the game with no further scores, 7- 2 in Magic's favor. Magic won the game in no small part thanks to our ability to adapt our offense.
Like John McCain, we played a maverick game and Bard could not anticipate who would throw the disc and who would catch it. Cutters became handlers, handlers became deeps, and every point the offense changed.
Surely our style is a reflection of our roots as a pickup group where wacky plays were the norm and no one really knew about how a competitive game works. Although we are all (well mostly) now playing in college and everyone is well versed in basic strategy, we have maintained a pick-up aesthetic that I think will serve us well as long as we ground it with fundamental strategy and skill. Some highlights: we ran battalion successfully for one point, forcing a turnover fairly early on despite some good cup crashes by Bard cutters. Steve had huge d's all over the field, and Charlie earned his spot on the team by playing hard on both sides of the disc. On a personal note, I had a few poach d's in addition to the Callahan, and not all of my hucks were terrible.
Also, I bellowed myself hoarse cheering from the sideline and on the field. Everyone had fun, and Bard proved to be a spirited opponent as well as a chill bunch of folks. The Gunx will be seeing more of them in the future for sure.
Shout outs to all the Rollers who could not be there. A certain Hooligan should be proud to know that we did the civic cheer with great success.
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