I didn't write this.

At some point over the weekend, someone asked the hypothetical question "Why are there so many terrible Magic players who think they’re good?" The answer, I think, is a combination of true incompetence and ego. There have actually been studies that show that individuals who perform well below the average on various tests tend to vastly overestimate their own abilities – individuals who test in the 12th percentile estimating their abilities to be in the 62nd percentile, for instance. Seemingly paradoxically, as their actual performance on the tests improves, their perception of their own abilities decreases – their increased knowledge about the subject allows them to recognize their limitations. Additionally, they are less able to recognize competence when they see it, whether in themselves or others. It’s called the Dunning-Kruger effect, and I’m certain it’s in full force among Magic players who think the game is based largely on luck.

-Brian Kibler

Just replace "Magic" with "Ultimate". If you want it to hit closer to home, replace "Magic" with "Everyone on GUNX"

One Day.

Yesterday we were down 8-2 at half. We decided to start playing defense and won 15-12.

Today we were down 8-2 at half. We didn't change anything. We lost 15-4 after they kept on D'ing the little kid on our team. I did throw a nice giant backhand to Will but it was jumpy and he couldn't pull it down. No one on the team played well and we tried llike 5 different handlers but we just couldn't put it together. Plus some old dude on our team kept on being really really slow.

I don't have a forehand anymore. But I have a backhand. One day I will have both throws at the same time and become quite the big-throw-slow-moving handler that I dream to be. One day.

For about three days I thought about becoming a professional eater, but for dinner last night I had three hamburgers and was full and gave up.

Subway closed early. I'm pissed.

Dear

Dear Diary,

Today I played 33 points straight at summer league. We won 17-16 (hard cap). My everything hurts.

Motivation

I am much more motivated when the gym is only a 5 minute walk from my room.

I don't want to go back to school, but I think I need to.

Blagging

People need to blag more.

I've barely posted this month.

Coward

"Doobs you make me sad. Sometimes you play like a man and are right on your man's hip and other times you play like a coward. Don't be a coward."

Threw a full field flick for game point today. It was mediocre, but it got there. I have it, I should stop being a coward and use it more. I should also play in front of my man and let the last back cover his deeps so I don't look worse at defense than I already am.

Stuff

When I don't play ultimate I feel the need to talk like I know something about it. I also like to read articles written by other people and then try to expand on it like it's something I wrote. I also refuse to believe in transitions.

Anyway.

The biggest problem with the team last year was dedication. Dedication to the team and dedication to get better. Not a single person on the team went without a period of time when they were questioning their priorities and where they stood in regards to the team. This doesn't mean you can't take a week off if you're feeling burnt out, but a lot of improvement was lost when people just didn't show up for a month, or something to that effect.

This starts with the captains. They're captains for a reason -- they lead. When the captains don't show up because they just don't feel like it, other players on the team see that as acceptable behavior. Captains set the tone for the rest of the team. This goes for practice attendance, intensity, and injury management. A good portion of the team walks through practice, plays through injury, and that's even if they show up. It is no coincidence that some of the captains have those habits. As a captain you cannot expect people to listen to you if you don't even listen to you.

The tone of next season from the beginning must be dedication. If practices start at 5, that means the captains are there at 430. If it ends at 7, that means the captains leave at 730. You show the team that you are willing to put in the extra time. Similarly, if you establish that practice starts on time, people will show up on time. It's awkward to have to run around when everyone else is doing stretches.

A course in time-management would be a good idea for many of our players who feel they are among the best on the team. Last semester I registered far after all the freshmen and the worst conflict I had was class going to 420(LOL) twice a week. And I had two additional days off every week. And my earliest class was 1050. So don't act like you can't schedule around practice. Sure, some classes are only offered at a certain blahblahblah. That one class isn't five times a week and if it is then I don't know why you are complaining about going to tournaments if you can't go to practice. You get papers and projects assigned at least weeks in advance with almost all teachers handing out a syllabus with the due dates for EVERYTHING on it on the first day of classes. That means, with proper scheduling, you should never miss a practice due to homework. Ever. You know when everything is due ahead of time, there is no excuse. You know when your midterms are, you know when your finals are. Don't act like a teacher told you to do a 20 page research paper in 2 days, because they don't.

I said this before, but the only perfect mindset is one that is set on being perfect. You work 100% in practice because you want to get better. You show up early, stay late, throw during the day, go to the gym (OOPS WELLNESS CENTER) because you want to get better. You are not satisfied with how much you improved (Although you are happy with it) because you are not yet perfect.

I don't expect everyone to show up to practice 5/5 times a week (even though its very possible), but anything under 3/5 means you simply aren't trying to come. I understand it is too late to redo your schedule now (kinda), but next semester is a different story.

I don't want to waste another freshmen class by having a bunch of veterans show up and set a tone of goofing around and not trying to get better. That is what pickup is for (PS we desperately need to have pickup on Sundays). Even if the first few practices aren't gung-ho ultimate (lets not scare them away), people should still be at least running 100%. We don't want to establish a culture of jogging during practice. We are going to get 50 people next fall that want to play Ultimate, it is our job to keep them interested.

Practice is to make the team better. You should practice throwing on your own time -- when we can only get our full roster to a practice once a week I'd rather not spend 30 minutes of that on breaking the mark when people can do that by themselves or at a less than full practice. Strategy and team cohesiveness are something that can really only be practiced with everyone there. I don't want to cut 20 minutes out of every practice by throwing around -- we already do a warm up drill to start every practice, why do I need to warm up again. If you want to warm up your throws even more, show up early.

Also, my biggest pet peeve is the "take a few minutes and stretch whatever else you need" after we do team stretches. What else could you need to stretch? We stretch everything, that's why everyone stretches. At most two people will do an additional stretch and for the rest of the five minutes people mess around and cool down. It seems like the time is just used to plan the rest of the practice. If someone really needs to stretch something else out, there should be time from when people run their lap to when we start stretches or even during the normal transition time between things. If multiple people are finding a problem with having something not stretched enough, then they should bring it up with a captain and get it integrated into normal stretches.

I think an issue with a lot of the players is that they don't feel like they're a part of something bigger. They are only concerned with themselves. They don't realize that they are part of a team. Personally, I get better for two reasons. To make myself better, and to make the team better. I am driven by two separate motivations, and I think that helps me stay focused. A lot of the team doesn't have the second drive. If we can make them feel more a part of a team they will put more into it.

I think that's it. I always think of more ideas and then forget them because outlines are for squares.

And I took the airbounce out of my backhands. They are much nicer now.

And I didn't re-read this for glaring grammatical errors like I normally do. So eat it.

PS http://www.the-huddle.org/features/college-ultimate-a-review/what-defines-a-nationals-level-team/

PPS It just occured to me that for every point you are down (EX: 11-7), your defense has to score that many points(4 in this case). I guess that means if we are down a good amount we would need to put another O player or two on the field for D-points in order to make sure we get our breaks.

PS

My crab arm is growing.