Scramblin'

Well it sure has been a while, ol blog ol buddy. Fell of the blag wagon for a while, such things happen. Worry not, dear readers - I will never leave you for too long.

I've now played outdoor ultimate twice this year. Indoor has taken its toll on my throws, and it will take a while to rediscover the mechanics and angles I need.  This early season for me will be all about shaking off rust and becoming mentally and physically tough again. While my mental game was my greatest area of improvement last season, (while treading water at best physically) the difference this season is that I really want to play ultimate again - in a way I have not felt for a long time. Its almost like, high school again.

In the brief sampling of outdoor points I've played, I've been living and dying by my forehand throws. This is not thrilling - at tryouts my forehand was inconsistant, and yesterday at pickup I figured out why - I'm basically strong arming every throw from the upper body, barely engaging the core and not moving low with the legs. I've got a lot of power but every throw is too high and kinda sucks. Hucks on both sides have been blading, but my short backhand is looking super dirty. Better throw more of those. Forehand will improve but its going to take a lot of reps. On the upside, I have a lot more power to put behind the mechanics, when they do imrove.

Meanwhile, the college season speeds along to its imminent end. I'm interested in the Callahan race this year - it has a certain kind of intense hype that has seemingly been missing from the last few races. I'd love to see it go to Jimmy Mickle - in a field of talented all around players, Mickle arguably does the most to bring up the playing level of his supporting cast, and he can seriously ball. Its also unfortunate to note that Brian Hart may lose simply because of not being on NexGen, kind of a bummer. His highlight reel is tight work, but the other four frontrunners have hours and hours of NexGen footage, and that's hard to compete with.

As for the finals, questions abound. Is it finally Oregon's year to live up to the hype? Will Pitt rise again? I've love to see a Pitt - Wisco rematch. It will also be interesting to see how this first phase of the USAU - ESPN deal plays out. Gotta hope for quality.