Being sober

Is so fucking boring.

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.

Hippo

Crit.

I am going to the gym tomorrow early, running until I die, and then doing conditioning with the team. I've been milking this ankle injury too long and I have to get something done because once again I am gone this weekend and can't go to practice.

I hope people go to indoor on Tuesday, I'm going through Ultimate withdrawl. 

I have been too fat lately. I need to run. A lot.

Sorry

I can't go to running conditioning, I get shin splints (But I can play Ultimate on the rougher surface of the gym floor)

I can't throw backhands, I hurt my finger.

I can't take you to sectionals.

I'm really tired of hearing that kind of excuse. Either get it checked out, stop messing around with it, or play through it. Doing half of everything gets nothing done. I ran on that track all last year every conditioing session and didn't get a hint of shin splints, so I don't know how you can get them from Day 1.

Indoor was OK. My throws are pretty much where I want them, but its inside so it might be an illusion. I'm really slow, though. I mean, everyone looks slow when they cover Marty, but God damn. I think I'm only gonna lift 2-3 times a week and just run myself into the ground. It doesn't matter much how monsterous my flick gets if I can't get open to unleash it. It's not even that much of a problem getting open as it is playing defense or even playing a long point. I'm really slow and really out of shape.

I got cleated on my ankle when I skied some kid, and then he later cleated my toe. I'm taking Vitamin I and putting a cold beer on it and we'll see where I am tomorrow. I played through it without much problem today and it didn't seem to swell much so I think we're alright.

We've got a long way to go before sectionals, and only 2 1/2 months. Gogogo.

Mixed Signals

What'd we have for the track workout Thursday? 13?

We had 6 for Snertz. Well, 8 showed up, but 2 weren't willing to do Snertz.

And we didn't do Snertz.

That's not saying I'm not the type of guy who doesn't enjoy Mini. Fuck, I love it. But switching plans like that last minute due to public outcry is not the type of consistancy we need. I would love for us to plan to play mini twice a week, but I'm really not a fan of last-minute switches like that. 

Regardless, it definitely got me amped to play. I fully plan on being the most hungover person alive on Sunday, but I also plan on being the most amped person alive for Mini during Sunday afternoon. There is a reason why the game starts at 6 -- So I can play mini and have plenty of time to rehydrate and unstink in time for the drunken festivites round 2. 

Mini went pretty well. David's team cleaned house until Ben showed up, then our team cleaned house until the end of the night when David's team decided to at least make an effort to throw before being stalled out and finished the night on top.

 Playing to -2 is crazy, You get two possessions to score if you're getting pulled to, although just scoring one then puts the pressure on the other team to score or lose. 

Hammers are too good and need to be outlawed. No wind = full-mini-field-hammers-from-Doober, and that just shouldn't be allowed.  It's hard enough to stop an upline cut as is, let alone having to worry about Thor dropping a hammer into the corner. 

Stall 5 seems a little short, but I'm not really sure if it's supposed to feel short. It makes it a lot tougher to win if you're getting pulled to, but I guess it balances out with the fact that you can literally huck the field whenever. Tiny enzones balance that out too.

I just read Star City's old Rizzo articles for an hour and a half instead of finishing this. /win

I might go to the gym today, but my calves are saying no.  I think I am going to  err on the side of caution, especially with me mad dropping the mad cash for indoor on Tuesday. Can't dissappoint my fans with a sub-par performance. It's also the TD's Maiden Voyage. 

Fuck conclusions.

Bored.

We really need some serious gym space come second semester. As much as I love running in rather large circles (k ovals), I really love bidding. Basketball court surface is annoying, but that's something I can deal with; all the scars and cuts on my body make me look both tough and tuff, which is a clear +2 to my CHA score. 

Yeah, I used a semicolon. What of it. Probably a run on sentence. What of it.

I am very angry with myself. I ran out of asthma meds at school and didn't consider it a priority. Since then I have went home -- aka the dust.  So,  since I got back from school breathing has been a bit difficult. I just got my meds yesterday, but they take at least a week to really start kicking, so I can't run for a week. That puts me pretty far behind on not being out of shape. Calves/crunches/push ups only do so much.  I'm probably gonna try to run on Monday, something small to see if I can live through it. 

Not that I'm making excuses. Oops.

Not throwing is going to be the worst part of this break. I don't have Tom to text me at 4am to show up in the quad to throw. Hopefully the turf will be melted when we get back so I can give my hands frostbite and throw for a few hours. 

We need to get the team pumped up as soon as possible. We've got a ton of things to work on if we want to think about getting a win at sectionals, and I don't want to waste springtime weather with conditioning. 

I may or may not have recruited someone for next year. Well, she has to get into New Paltz, decide to go here, and then not do Spring track. Easy enough. Although she has no Ultimate experience, apparently she is fast. I'm going to start planning her recruitment weekend tomorrow to insure the latter two.  

As much as I don't want to go to school ever again, I just want to play disc again.

My blagging also gets a lot worse and a lot more repetitive when I'm at home. 

Eating

Needs to stop.

Holidays are a trap. A delicious trap.

Ow

A note for next year -- Don't lift with the same intensity day 1 that you lifted with the last day last year.  Moving my left arm above 90 degrees is an issue, let alone doing Arnolds.

So I took today off.  I took a sweet nap.

Hazzy had a variety of green apples today, so I made it a point to take as many as humanly possible each trip to make sure I'd be set until the next time they put them out. I essentially have an orchard now. My diet is now a combination of apples and grilled chicken.  Also, pears are no apples. Don't be fooled.

I'll be lifting again tomorrow if all goes according to plan, namely me being able to get out of bed without too much of a physical struggle. Day 1 again -- Arnolds, Leg press, Flys, Decline press. And good old abs of course. 

I hear rumors of people on the team going to the gym. I'm not sure how accurate they are.  Plus, a large amount of people on the team are saying "When we get back for second semester I'll start." That's a trap. I'd put money on it that the team "offical" conditioning doesn't start until a few weeks after we get back, and the people who are saying they'll start second semester make sure to wait for it to start. An entire month of sitting at home doing nothing more active than keg stands is sure to get us back to square one conditioning-wise. It'll show on the first day of conditioning who put time in, or at least didn't do nothing. Personally, I'm excited to pwn some n00bs.

I do need to get out sometime and throw so I'm not rendered to College Rookie Doober come Spring. Hopefully we get mad gym time to play indoor in.

And I am plenty bored enough to blag everyday.

Tom and I lifted yesterday.

It hurts now.

First post

1) I'm overtired.

2) It's almost 6am.

3) I haven't played ultimate for about ten minutes and it's getting to me.

d) Ben's too optimistic in his blag and needs someone to show him up.

5) So Tired.

6) Or at least make him strive to be the best blagger on the team!

7) Fuck lists.

I cannot believe I am doing this. I have to be drunk.

I'm also putting it in writing that the ultimate training program starts Monday. For reals.  A minor delay of one week will not stop me from looking like Arnold himself come springtime. 

Plus the more jacked I get the better those corn rows will look

Boy do I enjoy line breaks. 

Also, Smash Mouth is overpowered. Most likely going to be nerfed next patch.

I miss my real keyboard. The shift key and the delete key are much too normal sized on this.

I've gotta cut it out with these line breaks.

Most of my ultimate related insight, which is pretty valuable considering my tournament record of 2-25-2 ( That's a win percentage of about 7% for those of you who are playing along at home) will be coming with the spring semester, because we're done for the semester unless we decide we want to lose another game to Marist before going home for Christmas.  I'll probably post something about people not showing up to conditioning either before we leave for the semester or after, depending on when the captains decide its a good idea to stop sucking.  All I know is that the people who put the time in will look and play like true division 3 athletes.  At this rate, if we make it to sectionals on time it'll be an upset. 

I also heard that smoking weed decreases your sperm count, which conflicts with my dream of living off of the money I get from sperm bank donations. Time to find another way to destroy my body!

I'm pretty pumped for jerseys if we ever get there. Apparently getting a design for one nailed down takes over 3 months. That's a lot of man-hours considering we have 4 captains that meet roughly every ten seconds. I think we've finally settled on orange being a color on the jerseys someplace, although that still might be up in the air. I'm still pushing for Darold to be the logo but I don't think I can force that kind of legislation through. Maybe next year if we run a better campaign. 

For the amount this team practices, its immensely frustrating to see how little we get out of it.  Stacks, a zone D that doesn't rely on the other team dropping it, a zone O that gets something close to resembling wing play, and even a consistent warm-up regimen are things I don't think even Santa can give to this team. 

I'm trying to push through legislation to make us not suck next semester,but you won't see me make a bet on it going down. If you ever watch us play a legit game, you'll see that all of us, including captains and veterans, contract a case of the drops every time we play. We all have to make the incredibly difficult decision of throwing a 30 yard OI flick into the wind or just turfing it to save time.  Going to the disc is just too much running, yet half of us like to make deep cuts at the same time with the disc on the end-line into the wind. We never sub during a game, which is fine because we're not tired ever. But practice rolls around and you're begging for a sub after two points. 

I just searched for fifteen minutes to see if I could find the Beau play in Sportscenter form. No luck. I'm convinced it's a myth.

Bottom line, we're talking about practice. Not a game, but practice. 

If we run this team like this is a team, I would put money on us making it to Regionals.  Sure, we can talk about being committed to making this team good, but when leadership players on the team don't go to practice because they just don't feel like it, that person on the fence about actually trying in practice for once won't. When leadership players don't finish out a drill or take warm-ups seriously, new players won't either. When leadership players play injured, new players will too. 

I've had enough of people on this team spending time trying to learn how to throw a behind-the-back-future-thumb-scoober. Learning how to stack would be a nice alternative. 

Boy am I annoying.