1st Session Redux

Been a while, blog old fellow old blog.
Not really sure what to write about. I tried out for a team and did not get cut. Nice streak to break.

Clinic with the youngsters is going well. At this point I am very comfortable teaching throwing mechanics, and the development the kids have had, particularly the 8th graders, has led to some really good games.
Today a seventh grader tagged along and showed them all up, though. Those kids have been throwing for a lot longer and it shows.

Workout time.

Just do it

I had a really good blog post in mind but I lost it. Something about motivation and success, not even directly frisbee related. Huh.

Sometimes if you don't blog em, you lose em.
What can a guy do.

Feeling fit and good. On, summer.
Lots of shit to get accomplished.
Go.

Self Improvement

Totally flossed tonight.
Boom dat.

Twenty Three (Trying to Find a Balance)

Working out feels so good. I am at least 30% happier since I got back on the grind, and while there's a while to go until I feel in the swing of things again, this is a positive sign. While the last month of bodily neglect paid off for my artwork, it has not done much good for myself esteem.

Also I may have a broken throwing finger. It is making it really hard to throw accurately, and it hurts a reasonable amount which is just as well because it is telling me to stop doing stuff with it until I get it checked out.

Frustrating but so it goes. This month is hectic and since I can't make ultimate my number one priority I have to compensate in small ways.

Small ways:
Hydrate more! More water more.
Throw and catch more! Everyday. Lefty, I guess. Euugh.

Getting my train on track, getting my ducks in a row.
Onward into the future.

Oh PS while it is hard to throw because of my finger, my form is not helping. It is not consistent because I have caught the lazy bug. Well joke's on you lazy bug, you will be crushed. Balance.

I don't like this blog post. Yeah, balance. Balance is the key. I need to balance my arrogance with my psychosis and figure out what to project to the world. Insecurity or confidence? Does it matter?
Confidence.

Nunchuck Gecko.

Just keep adding until it makes sense.

I know we'll be just fine

Was scrolling through past blog titles and noticed PWE. At first I could not recall what that meant. It only took a second to spark, and of course Emily remembered even quicker, although I'll cite her sobriety's edge and her wonderfully quick brain for whatever repressed aspect of my ego needs to win at everything.

Practice. Winning. Everyday. 

That was my mantra in my last college semester both for ultimate and life. Lately it has been more PDE which is a lot less productive, although we've been making the most out of our last weeks in New Paltz and it has been fun.

Home soon, and it will be a mad dash to organize my life for the summer and beyond. When the dust settles, I will have a life plan and projects to work on in spades, and I need to make sure I adjust my attitude for many reasons, not the least of which being that I need to work more on my ultimate game so I can be a baller contribute to the club team, and also so I start feeling good about myself as an athlete. 

At the very least, my baseline athleticism going into the season is the highest it has ever been, my ultimate  is the highest it has ever been, and the game is making all kinds of sense to me in ways it never did before. But in the midst of all the craziness of my threee weeks at home, if this is going to be a successful season for me, is putting in the hard early work to shake off the rust, finding the motivation to run when it hurts more than normal and that little insecure part of me starts slinging mean words to dampen the fire. 

Have a good Thursday, all.

PS THIS is hilarious, brings back the funny memories from surgery. Never had to deal with anything like a torn mcl or worse though, hope ya'll join me in wishing Brodie a speedy recovery. Ultimate needs him.  

Callahan Redux

While Nick Lance of course walked away with the Callahan, Alex Thorne showed his caliber in the finals. No two ways about it, he crushed Wisco with his throws. All props to Pitt's impressively athletic defense, they made it nearly impossible for Wisconsin to reset the disc. Pitt's downfield defenders relentlessly pressured all unders, knowing Tyler would bail them out on the deep looks (he was at least 50/50 in the air on O and D, and against a team like Wisco that's an amazing stat. Dude is a monster). Pitt's overall athleticism, defense, and ruthless cutting are top notch.

But at the end of the day, without Thorne that game is a dogfight, and I think Wisco would take it with their experience. But Thorne's throws were so on point that Wisco never had a chance to build their characteristic defensive momentum. Zone on a windy day? Looks like fifty yard bladey flick hucks to his wide open brother with no chance to the defense. On a day when Wisco's bread and butter hucks were not clicking, Thorne was nearly perfect. As shown when other Pitt players put it up big, he was the only one on either team with the composure to put it up big repeatedly with success.

Almost more impressive than Thorne's hucks was his demeanor as the game approached its final moments. On the end line up big, close to the win, Thorne did not try and force the disc into the endzone with a tough but flashy throw. He trusted the same system that got him there, swung the disc unselfishly to his teammates until a cut was wide open. And throwing the final point to his freshmen brother? Icing on the cake, cementing Pitt's multi season road to finals as a narrative the ultimate community will not forget. And the best part? Pitt is not even close to done. With all the press their young players have deservedly gotten, cumulative in a national title, with hard work and dedication to the program Pitt (and Oregon for that matter) can and should stay in the mix of title contenders for the foreseeable future.

And then we have Wisconsin. The Hungry Hungry Hodags, who have now been denied two years in a row from taking home the gold. The nature of being a casual fan of ultimate is that we follow a more abstract notion of our favorite teams than fans of more recognized sports. And given that coupled with ultimate culture, it is almost trite to follow one of the perennial contenders. But the Dags play with a heart that is both fire and ice, and they are a fun team to root for. This season and last, they defied expectations and made it to finals at the expense of early season favorites. The current Hodag squad now has a monkey on their back of sorts, only to be thrown off with a finals victory. I have no doubt they will approach next season with renewed dedication to bring home the gold to Madison again.

Congrats to Pitt for the win and Nick Lance for the Callahan. Well deserved and well fought.
I may have spent the better part of the finals game yelling profanity at my laptop screen, but despite dispatching my favorite team in finals Pitt won my heart with Alex's relentless awesomeness. Meanwhile, we have the upcoming club season, and another Callahan winner on an always hungry Chain Lightning. Should be a good one, a worlds year with experimental tournaments, the US Open, AUDL champs, you name it. It is an exciting time to be an ultimate player. Me, I'm just hoping the shakeup in the mixed division leaves our section with the same number of bids as last year. With the Hudson Valley/Connecticut merger and Doober's Albany liaisons, regionals looks ripe for the picking and this team, and season, is looking to be a lot of fun.

Lines

Been playing in a local summer league for a laugh. Playing on a team with some friends from New Paltz pickup. Good bunch of people on the team, varying skill levels.

Playing against worse teams can encourage a lot of bad habits but it has been a chance to play, to run around. Also a chance to focus every point and try to reinforce good habits in a low pressure situation. So far I've really thought about my field positioning on both offense and defense.

I'm starting to see the lines of the field a lot better. Where you have to put the disc to get it to the cutter. Two lines intersecting. Very pretty.
I was average at geometry but I'm getting better.

I want to be able to see the lines on defense better. I need a complete mentality shift so that I can better see the lines of the defender and the disc, how I can intersect with the disc before my mark does.

Anyway, working on it.
Also working on my coaching. Feeling more and more confident as a throwing teacher. I dream of a day when I could get a job as an assistant coach for a big frisbee program, just working with players on their throws.
Who knows.

AUDL would be pretty cool too...