Friday, November 21, 2008

Catchable

Throwing with some people yesterday I realized that lately I've become rather lazy on the field. I've been doing stupid things like giving up on a catch I could have just because it seems like I can't get to it. I've been jumping less and making less plays and all in all that is no good. So during the throwing session I had an epiphany. My lack of playmaking has been largely due to attitude. I frequently implore the Gunx to play with confidence and yet my own play has been lacking it. So my new mantra is "catchable". Saying "catchable" when a throw is coming is a good way to motivate oneself to actually make a play and catch the damn disc. In cut? Catchable reminds me to go to. Huge bladey huck? Catchable reminds me to run it down hard. Out of reach disc? Catchable reminds me to make a play.

Sounds cheesy but the idea is if you attack the disc with a positive confident attitude you will be far more likely to make a play than if you immediately say to yourself "no way I can get this". So try it out. Next time a throw comes your way, any throw, tell yourself confidently it's catchable, whether you believe it or not.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Tales from the Electric City

The time and place: Friday, Wendy's, Scranton PA. The Gunx had just arrived and were preparing to eat when Bridget broke the news that day one was cancelled due to the weather forecast. Ouch. No Saturday games. The team was understandably upset about this turn of events, but the mood lightened when we arrived at the appartment we'd be staying at. It was sick, and we partied with Scranton long into the night.

Saturday we were able to play two short scrimmages vs. Scranton and the Scranton alumni. We started strong with a three point run against Scranton but ended up losing 5 - 3. Scranton Alumni rolled for four points straight, before we picked up the slack and scored a few to make it 5 -2 or maybe 5 - 3 (?). Sideline hilarity ensued. People were table-topped, including yours truly. The weather was fairly epic. The mistake that probably cost us the game against Scranton was not setting zones on the turn. Our zone d was looking strong and if we had ran it throughout we probably could have done some more damage.

Sunday: The fields were sort of rolling hills, like a rippling wave. Or something. Anyway, it was kind of neat. In any case it made far less of a difference in the games than the wind did. Wind was something like 20 or 30 mph I'd guess (although honestly I have no clue. It was strong. Yeah.). Obviously, we saw a lot of zone. First game of the day was against Bloomsburg A, and they ran a Florida style four man cup. The Scranton alums also ran a four man, and it left me wondering whether this is directly due to UFUCT's influence or if its just a coincidence. I'm willing to bet its trickle down strategy, but whatever. In any case we got rolled in the first half. Only scored one point, on a crazy OI flick huck that Charlie threw. It dropped way short but was somehow caught just inches above the ground, leaving defense and offense alike flabbergasted.
Second half we rallied, and also began setting zones on the turn instead of man defense, which improved our game a lot. Our zone d was pretty fine, and it allowed us to score three more times in the second half before the hard cap. Final score 12 - 4 Bloomsburg.

Our second match was against Kudztown. They had a dude on their team that looked like BJC and it turned out they actually know each other. Small ultimate world. Gunx came out strong with a two point lead but failed to score again until the second half. By this point we were playing zone every defensive point, and in the strong wind we were able to consistently generate turns. The offense could not convert, but we played some strong offensive points. Doober had a couple of possession saving layout grabs that were pretty sweet. Kudztown had a couple of strong throwers that were able to score despite the wind and our persistent zone, and perhaps also the Gunx got complacent after taking an early lead.

In the second half we went 1 and 1, and the game definitely seemed in reach. Sure we were down five but our zone had rallied and the final point of the game was a series of big offensive plays followed by shut down d before we converted on the third attempt. We might have been able to convert quicker if I had been less intent on jerking it deep. Unfortunately we got capped, and the final score stood at a disappointing 8 - 3, the game an epic comeback that might have been.

The third game was not to be, as RC hammer dropped out and all the other teams had matches. Dave felt that such a lackluster display of testicular fortitude must be punished, and unleashed a mighty shark attack as a challenge to all enemies of the Gunx. Scranton and the other PA teams in attendance are not going to forget us in a hurry, that's for damn sure.

Various statistics:
Points were caught by Kelsey, John, Nathalie, Charlie and me.
Dave and I had three assists each, the seventh thrown by Charlie.
Dave's landsharking was assisted by John, Doober, Mitch, Charlie, Brendan and probably others as well.

Strategic thoughts and mumbo jumbo:
Zone d: Getting pretty sick. Our cups were forcing turns left and right. Our midfielders need to work on shoring up the holes in the cup, and by bacon I need to get more aggressive as a deep. On the other hand, our communication in the zone is getting stronger, and a lot of players began play their roles very confidently.

Zone o had its ups and downs. When it worked we had flow like the Rhymenocerous, but sometimes the wind was just too much and someone would do something silly like huck a hammer or throw a thirty yard OI flick into the wind. Our offensive problems were twofold: Throwing mechanics and decision making. Too many throws were released high, too many open cutters overlooked. Some players had bright ideas like the afformentioned OI flicks and hammers. I'll take responsibility for most of the hammers, although hammer pulls are good money when the wind is fairly consistent. One problem that can be easily addressed is that the cutters need to move more, and stretch out the zone.

Thoughts on the tournament:
Scranton is one heck of a classy team. They ran a great event and although we only got two real games I do not feel that the weekend was in any way wasted. They put us up and threw a great party, and let us scrimmage with them and their alumni. Definitely a team I'd like to play against and party with in the future. In the long run I feel the weekend will prove beneficial for the team, as it was great for team bonding and dynamic building. It was fun. Fun is cool.

Now we come to what is in all likelihood the last week of practices of the year, and the Gunx host Marist this coming Saturday for our final game of the season. If we don't win I'm not shaving my mustache until 2009. We're going to win.

Friday, November 7, 2008

After midnight

The NCUA website is pretty slick, but I just can't quite see how their grand plans are going to get off the ground. Their ideas are awesome, but they are counting on a lot of teams signing up for what is essentially a large scale experiment. Could be amazing. Could uh....not be amazing.

One thing that seems confusing is that they are basing their D1 and D11 of the NCAA football divisions. That makes sense for most schools, but there are some DI schools with lackluster ultimate programs and vice versa. It's a relevant comparison but not all the time. Obviously in general D1 schools will have more and better athletes available to play ultimate, but what happens with a school with no established program? Are they automatically qualified just based on their school's D1 status?

Attending three tournaments that all count towards the championship and a sanctioned season record would be pretty cool, but its definitely not feasible for the Gunx this year. $125 a head per tournament might seem reasonable to the NCUA, but that completely discounts the fact that we have to drive or fly to every tournament and the only one within a reasonable driving distance is in PA.
I do hope that the NCUA meets with some measure of success, because a three championship weekend in Boston would be amazing. I'd been planning on going to natties regardless but Boston is a bit closer than Colorado...
It'll be interesting to see how this all plays out.

Realized today that Fury double peaked. That's damn impressive.
I should pay more attention to the women's division.

Okay peace.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Witch's Teat

RPI's home tournament was a great time. It was our first full tournament of the year, and the first ever for our new players. We got to the fields bright and early, well in advance of the captain's meeting this time! Two teams dropped at the last minute and they could only find one replacement, so our pool only had four teams instead of five.

Our first game was against Wesleyan, although not the same Wesleyan squad I faced at club sectionals. I guess this was their A team and seven car faced their b squad, or vice versa. The field was a mud pit, and cutting was very difficult. On the other hand, it was pretty easy to floor defenders - anyone suddenly accelerating to catch a speeding cutter was liable to trip on the awful footing and fall flat. The Gunx came out strong, scoring four unanswered points or so, but could not hold the lead and slowed down to lose half six to eight. Second half, our motivation was critically low and Wesleyan ran away with the lead to win 15 - 9. All in all it was a fun game and Wesleyan was a spirited opponent. The loss was only somewhat bitter because everyone knew we could have won if we had worked to our full potential. For my part, I had two opportunities to make point saving layout d's and just could not get it together to fly. I need to be able to put my body on the line and make plays. It's by far the biggest problem with my defensive game right now.

A change of scene was just what we needed. Our next match, against Clarkson High Dive, took place on the adjacent field that was mercifully free of large muddy pits. The Gunx came out ready to rock, with an energetic sideline and strong plays on both sides of the disc. As an aside, I mentioned last post that zone offense would be a focus in the week leading up to RPI. Due to a variety of factors, we never had enough players at practice that week to work on zone at all. Clarkson threw zone and we were able to methodically take it to pieces. I guess the Gunx learned zone o by osmosis, spurred on by our veterans remembering last year, when taking apart zones was our specialty. Clarkson's zone could not keep our d line zone offense at bay, and the Gunx took half eight to two.

Clarkson rallied after half, scoring three unanswered points and then trading to make it a close 11 - 9. Fearing an upset, the Gunx got amped and scored four points running, capitalizing on a dropped pull and the occasional deep look. The Gunx made good use of both the methodical zone offense and the deep shot, although late in the game a few hucks were thrown that allowed Clarkson the easy deep d and the score. But in the end, the Gunx intensity was not to be denied, and we celebrated our first victory at a tournament, made even sweeter by taking out the second seeded team.

Our final game of the day was against the Skidmore wombats. The Gunx had given their all against Clarkson, and it showed. We played a fatigued game against Skidmore, and several marathon length points in the first half did not help. We were only able to score once in the first half, and twice in the second. Not much to say, really. The Gunx folded against the combined factors of Skidmore's considerable skills and our own fatigue. Our sideline intensity remained strong, with cheers and strike calls alike, and the sideline is becoming one of our strongest assets.

The Gunx left the field day one for a sumptuous dinner at Dave's house, and everyone seemed satisfied with our 1 - 2 record. All in all it was a great day, one of our best yet as a team. However, it highlighted our inconsistency. When we play hard, we roll. When we don't, we get rolled. Simple enough, but we need to be able to play that hard every game. We could have beaten Wesleyan. Skidmore, I think, could have outplayed us regardless but we could have at least given them a fight. If anyone is reading this and has any tips for increasing a team's consistency on the field, don't hesitate to comment.

Day two we were excited to find out that our victory over Clarkson had been enough to get us into the championship bracket, albeit seeded at the bottom of the top eight. Our quarterfinals opponent was RPI Y, the number one seed. We did well, considering. The final score was 15 to 7, and we fought hard for those seven points. Covering Steve was a high school flashback, and he skied me now with the same ease he did back then, and threw something like three hucks for scores while I was marking him. Ouch. On the other hand, I did handblock him once. Marking him was some of the best motivation I've had all year. RPI is a pretty classy team, I have to say. I'm fairly happy with how we did. If the Gunx can score that many points on a regionals caliber team now, we are on the right track. Sure it was a split squad, but it appeared to be mostly veterans and we were playing with only half of our players in any case. Good game, good game.

Our next match was against Oneonta, a rematch from Danse I suppose you could say. The field was diagonal, and marked with nearly invisible small cones. Unfortunately, a lot of the Gunx seemed to get psyched out, both by the annoying field configuration and by Oneonta. We played a negative game, and it showed. I and several others implored the team to get the field and the opponent out of our heads and play "our game" (I think I used every ultimate cliché in the book at RPI), and when we were able to play ultimate and have fun we balled. When we got psyched out and negative, we got rolled. Go figure! In any case, the game did see some strong plays. Biggest lesson? Mental game! You get psyched out, you lose. Hopefully that lesson was well learned.

Our final game of the day was against RPI X. They were tired and wanted to watch finals, so they asked for a game to seven. We agreed, which in retrospect was silly. We could have beaten them. The first point was somewhat long, and ended with them scoring by throwing the greatest. Bad omen for us! They took the lead early and we could not catch up, although I am confident we could have in a full game. Oh well, shoulda coulda woulda. My fault for agreeing to play the short game! Final score was seven to four or five, can't remember. I threw two hucks for scores, and a third that would have been a score if I had not been hasty and curved it ob. At one point, Kelsey and Ellen both went deep against their zone. Chetti was in the endzone as deep deep, guarding the middle but perhaps staying closer to Ellen because of her height. I got the disc on a swing near the sideline and hucked it to Kelsey. Chetti made a beautiful bid, sprinting full out and then flying through the air fully horizontal, just short of getting the d. Definitely one of the coolest plays of the weekend.

Wish we could have watched finals, I believe it was RPI Y vs. UAlbany alums, with a fair number of Bashing players on the Albany side. Must have been an exciting game. The tournament trophy was a forty spray painted white and capped with a metal salmon. Classy.

Recap: Great weekend. Gunx need to be more consistent, but should be proud of the intensity we brought. Eighth place finish, our best tournament finish as a program (not for long!). Breaking seed by five points was also pretty neat. Thanks to Lizz and Steve for picking up with us, Danielle for taking amazing photos and to RPI for running a great tournament. Our zone offense was strong all weekend. We can play the short game very well when we are on form and not too impulsive. MVP of the weekend was definitely Kelsey, who caught the most scores by far, some of them truly amazing plays. John played a great defensive game day two, earning at least six d's. Our next adventure will be Scranton in two weeks.

For my part, I found myself covering several players who were far and away more athletic and experienced than I am. I could run with them, but I could not shut them down. That needs to change. I need to be motivated to train harder than ever this winter. Gym here I come.