Best day

I got to throw forehands again.

I also threw a cross-field upwind backhand for a point. As much as it sucked to not have a forehand for 3 weeks, my backhand is thankful.

I threw 2 forehands today and it didn't really hurt.

Looking good for Monday.

If you do Snertz before playing in league...

you're gonna have a bad time.

Please

Please let me throw righty tomorrow. I would be very happy.

Love,
Doober

P.S. Adam Stern hooked SCAM up with the sweetest workout plan. Hit me up if you want the super secret details.

Paul puked during agilities.

Welcome to summer.

I am going to make their decision to cut me the worst decision of their lives.

Day 3

Can once again play League of Legends pain-free.

Should be fine, but doctor tomorrow at 950am!

The finest compliment anyone can recieve

"Doobs, you have the best up-call in all of ultimate"

We holding onto what's golden

HAVE TO

Throw everyday.

All of the days.

Zero days off.

JUST KIDDIN

http://scores.usaultimate.org/scores/#college-open/tournament/10701

Is anything worse than the "near-miss"?

BOOM

Hello, Ryan.

My apologies for the delay.  Your first USAU sanctioned event was in the fall of 2008.  Under the facts as you have stated, you are eligible to play for this season.  Good luck.

David Belsheim

USAU College Eligibility Committee

EDIT: Most excited. Going to lots of practice and tournaments now.

Wake up in the morning feeling like P.Diddy

Did literally every rep of Ab Ripper X today.

Pull ups are still impossible.

Plyo yesterday was fun, though!

He said, you can go sleep at home tonight, if you can get up and walk away

Quick one before p90x --

Nocturnal was a ride. Playing indoors is always a blast because you feel like a wizard with the disc. Absolutely perfect throwing conditions.

My team was full of mostly-chilly throwers who would rather swing the disc than throw upfield most of the time. This worked well until the later rounds, where most of the team did not sub appropriately, and the few upfield cuts we got stopped working, stifling our offense. We went from a dominating 5-0 (+33) to 5-2, with losses to a good team by 2 and the eventual 2nd placer's by something like 5 in the quarters.

The team was fun to play on while we were winning, and incredibly frustrating while losing. I felt that I subbed appropriately during the close games. I would go in, make 2-3 very hard cuts, and sub out after throwing a swing pass. After the 1st game, I rarely stayed on for more than two possessions. It sucked losing by seeing people on your team get absolutely torched, stay on because they "have enough gas for offense", and either not get a chance to sub for D and/or ruin the offense by making lazy cuts because they don't have enough to get open.

Still, probably the best team I have played on in my years at nocturnal, and certainly the most fun. I think I played well once I got warmed up. Felt very fast, but no endurance, which seems to be the theme of the season. Better than slow and no endurance. Throws always feel good indoors, but I concentrated on getting as low and as far out as I could on many throws. I experimented throwing to downfield cutters while trapped on the line and actually attempted some backhands, to mostly good effect.

Need to remember that you are always going to feel fast on turf. That you are always going to throw well indoors. That defense is often easier because there is less ground to cover. As good as one is indoors, gotta remember that outdoor is that much harder.

Almost not sore -- two days later.

Enough procrastinating. Chest/Shoulders/Tris/Abs/ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh


P.S. -- Sore in the hips. The more I think about cutting/defending, the more I realize that the only thing that matters is how fast you can turn your hips.

P.P.S. Quick link to Ben Wiggin's 5 part series on SkyD that was/is amazing. http://skydmagazine.com/2012/02/vision/

Everywhere I look, I see your eyes

178.

Gettin' back.

Never did this before, that's what the virgin says

Thank you Stiggles for teaching me how to play defense.  Still had no endurance, but totally shut my man down all game, and he was one of the better players on the team. Got a nasty layout-up D on him, and maybe another, as it was an iffy foul call that I no-contested, but would like to see the instant replay on. Just sat on his hip, so he couldn't go deep, and ran inside with him. After I got the first D, he was totally demoralized.

Played tight on offense, with no turnovers. Didn't force any deep shots, even though I wanted to throw a hammer to Dave Powow the entire time. Had a very nice forehand break that only worked because it was indoor. Gotta love it.

Winter league team is very good. Two nasty handler ladies, and decent depth. I think our low-end is worse than other teams, but, for the most part we don't turn the disc over, which goes pretty far. We were up something like 9-2, then 19-7 at half, and won like 31-15. Other team was missing Adam Stern, which is a lot, but not 15 points. The only players in the league that I think are going to give our team trouble is Brown and Siege. As good as Powow is, he just can't run with those guys.

Even though I have not been running, p90x is making me so, so much faster, at least in the 5-20 yd range. So much burst.

Wore the all-blue GUNX uniform today. Must've been why I played so well. Got llots of compliments. Didn't really think about it before today, but, tryouts started today.

Out of titles

Recovery weeks are awesome because all the results you felt over the past three weeks actually start showing up.

Slayed yoga today (not to mention it was awesome). Nailed Twisting Half-Moon and Warrior Three.  Actually fell asleep during Corpse Pose.

mmmm recovery drinks!

I don't know if NFL Network always did this around the Superbowl, but showing reruns of old Superbowls is amazing.

If I don't buy snacks, then I can't eat snacks.

Sometimes life is so simple.

Homecoming

Best indoor GUNX practice I have ever been to, IMO.

Pros:
Drills are sweet
Started on time
Even teams
High intensity

Cons:
Of team members, only Kquinn and David did extra sprints (Shows who is actually in this). Have you ever seen anyone faster than you are? Then you should be doing extra sprints.
No conditioning in practice
No one could keep score
Occasionally had confusion over which team was playing/transition time

One thing that I have always wanted to do, is institute a no walking during practice rule. Travis said it best "You have one 2.5 hour indoor practice a week and you are walking in between drills?" You never walk on an ultimate field, and you don't walk during practice. Saves time and sets a tone.

I would do drills for longer. I feel like people started to lose focus at about 3pm. Doing 1-2 more drills plus a conditioning drill seems like a more efficient use of time. Mixing up teams or scrimmage-style might accomplish a similar goal.

Had some good throws. Had some bad ones. People seem to love to cut on the break side. Played shitty defense, but got some help on it and played better towards the end. Felt fast, didn't run out of gas too quick. I had a sweet up-layout, but Little Rob skyed me anyway. He's always been OK, but I think he is really turning into quite the player. I'd invest a bit more time in him. Lefty's are quite the commodity. Anyway, throws felt pretty tight overall, as I hit some nice OI forehands for goals and I think I only threw one deep shot out the back. Only remember dropping two passes in game, and I had a lot of touches. Had a nice go-to grab while boxing out my defender.


Still 182, but, much more muscular, and my shirts fit again. I don't want to be a little husky. This is the core-stretch-yoga week for p90x. Boy do I need it. Always sore.

No motivation to go to SCAM practice. I don't think I am going to get to play for them this season -- makes it tough for me to get out there.

 As much as I complain about some of the New Paltz guys, God damn do I love those practices.

P.S. Doing your homework ahead of time is amazing. I highly recommend it.

The times, they are a-changin'

Skipping practice to do homework.

EDIT: Did two weeks worth. WTF.

With the same clip, and the same four-five

Same old.

I didn't weigh myself this week, but my stomach is noticeably tighter and the guns are growing.

I felt good about my agility and acceleration at practice yesterday, but my 20+ yard sprints are pretty bad and my endurance is comically bad. Right now, I'm built for a point or two at a time, and I have to cover handlers. I feel pretty good about that though -- I didn't have any trouble getting open during Mini yesterday, which felt nice. I also took a second and told myself to actually try on defense for a couple points (like, disregard how much gas I have left for offense and just stop my man), and did alright. I at least felt like I played tighter.

SCAM is running a pretty cool handler play for a Vert stack, which is something that I haven't really explored considering my total disdain for anything vert. It works best for when the disc is on the line, but, works anywhere really. Basically, Person with the disc calls (1) or (2). For (1), Main handler cuts upline, Second handle (who is the front of the stack) cuts back for the behind dump. (2) is the opposite call. Uses the space very well, and the look is pretty much to the second handle off the front of the stack.

Anyway, SCAM practice is always awesome. Lots of drills, but finally got to play Mini rather than Possession yesterday. We played Mini with pulls inbetween points, which takes longer, but leads to much, much higher quality play. Without breaks for pulls, a lot of games just turn into conditioning battles, which isn't quite the point. Also, without make-it-take-it, you don't have those silly games where someone gets lost in an endzone and its hammer-hammer-hammer game.

All of the drills we did were a mix of conditioning and throwing, depending on whichever you were worse at. For me, I just got winded 1/4 every drill, which helped me work on my tired throws and obviously gave me some cardio.  Three different drills, three combination of cuts and throws. Pretty nice. Did ~100 throws in total, in addition to the 40 throws we did in warm ups.

I'm noticing that SCAM has a few good players, and then the rest can just run and throw. They teach everyone a few plays to make sure everyone is on the same page, they run a very simple offense, and just ask their role players to catch, dump, and play defense. This seems like it works as long as you can get those studs to run the team, but I wonder how well the team will work once those players leave.

Brown was there yesterday, which is always the best. Earlier in the year he was telling me to not attempt certain throws, but now he is telling me to throw different ones, which I think means he's gaining a bit of confidence in me. It is also nice to have a player on your team that can just completely physically dominate anyone who marks him.

Our offense is also working a lot smoother, especially in light of the new handler play, and I fit into the offense a lot more now.

Gonna miss practice on Thursday to go to the AUDA board meeting.

E-mailed USAU about eligibilty. They emailed back asking for my USAU number, and said they are currently reviewing my case. I think I wrote a pretty good letter, so they better let me play.

p90x is nice because you put the DVD in, and you just keep going until its over. You can't take a break because you are lazy, you can't stop in the middle because you don't feel like it. It just keeps going. Keeps my workouts short and efficient.

Long post is long.

No titles

Played OK at practice. Rusty at first, throws definitely tightened up as Go-To went on. Catching did as well, but not nearly as much. Had some icky drops later on. Sprinting felt good, but had no endurance. When I was at close to full capacity, I was definitely faster than I have been in recent times. I kept up with the middle of the pack during the first round of suicides, but by the end I was near the back. Layed out on the indoor tennis court. Didn't really hurt, but SCAM enjoyed it. Also threw a sweet scoober in Possession. Need new shoes -- my sneakers are definitely the cause of my foot problem. p90x is making my guns large. Yoga tomorrow, finally. Air Alert again. Womp.

If this is your first time hearin' this

Not doing Air Alert on Wednesdays -- p90x is Pylos and basically Air Alert already. Plus, practice on Wednesdays. Gotta make sure I still have knees by the end of this. Actual going to first practice tomorrow. Exciting! First day of school tomorrow. What am I going to wear?!

Another drug to juggle

So many leap ups! Stretch X was pretty sweet. Feel pretty good. Practice starts on Wednesday. Finally time to bust out the armsleeve! EDIT: When you work out everyday, it is so hard to shower. I'm just going to get smelly again tomorrow, so what is the point!?

Suddenly I'm not crazy

Kempo X today. I think it was so easy because I could not do most of the moves properly. Still made me sweat a lot. That was my last workout of my first week of p90x. Program is awesome. Most days I don't want to do it, but the fact that they walk you through every exercise, from what to do to how long to do it, makes it so easy to work out. I never realized how much figuring out what to work out was such a deterrent. I also feel like a strong-man. This is only after a week!

Not gonna double up on the p90x today because I don't want to throw off the rest day that they give you. Figure I will do more damage by doubling up than by taking 8 days for the first week.

Week 5 of Air Alert tomorrow. Time goes by so fast.

Doing p90x on tournament weekends will be mad awk. Such is life. Having double sessions with practice or conditioning, or triple with Air Alert, is going to be awesome

Bad news: School on Thursday
Good news: That means we have practice soon

I have to message the USAU about eligibility. I am such a procrastinator.

Lastly -- Once again told diet pepsi to stay at hannaford. Water water water.


EDIT: New Layout!

I am finding out that my legs are the weakest part of my body.

That is the opposite of good.

And what I loved most, she had so much soul

That yoga was amazing.

I forgot how awesome yoga is. Seriously, get out to the gym once a week and go to one of the beginner courses. Yoga is amazing for balance and flexibility -- things that are hard to train without specifically doing so, things that are extremely important (especially for throwing), things that most people neglect to work on. A lot of the poses also help with strength, training those little muscles that are hard to get to, the ones that hold you upright or transfer power from muscle to muscle.


Getting low for a forehand way outside requires an incredible amount of flexibility. Once you're out there, you need great balance to stay upright and deliver a sound throw.  Additionally, being able to get that far out, fake, and bounce back for an around backhand needs a lot of balance to be able to control your body and not fall over. If you can't bounce back from that low outside forehand, the mark does not have to respect the possibility of a fake, and can over commit without the threat of you coming back for the around. If you can't execute that fake swiftly, the mark has plenty of time to shift with you.

That, plus all of the benefits balance and flexibility give you in other areas, such as marking, using your body on defense, toe-ing the line, laying out, etc. And, less likely to be injured.

Yoga showed me where all of my weak spots are. My balance on my left leg is much, much worse than my right, which is pretty bad for throwing. I found out that my right shoulder (and my shoulders in general) has less range of motion than my left one. It gives you a good idea of where the weak spots are in your body.



I feel like everyday I get on this here blag and tell you that you should really go and do something. Actually go out and do some yoga.


Anyway, starting to eat better. Walked right by the diet pepsi aisle today. Eating less. Eating 4 meals on most days. 5 is so, so tough. Stomach (actual stomach, not fat part) is definitely smaller, though, so that is helpful.

When you do p90x AND air alert, days with just p90x are a joke.

Finally

No Air Alert today.

I'm living everyday like a hustle

p90x is awesome. Only on my third day (missed yesterday, gonna "skip" the rest day this week to catch up), and I have definitely gained muscle mass. Shit is intense. Don't get a gym membership, do this. Gotta get that High Tide body!

Air Alert is surprisingly difficult. About to do today, but, it feels almost as tough as the last time around. I never feel like I won't be able to finish a set, but it is always a struggle. Each week is just as tough as the last. I suspect that I am performing each exercise with much better form, so I am actually working the intended muscle rather than compensating with my whole body.

Haven't been able to do cardio because my foot is still messed up. It was good, but, walking around town today was almost unbearable. Gonna give it another week, and then get it checked out. Might have to start making the drive to the gym just for the elliptical or bike, but, such is life.


Most days, I feel like garbage until I workout. And then I feel like a boss.


Conclusion: Do work, son.


Edit: Must stretch today

Holy balls

That was difficult.

P.S. tomorrow will be the really fun one. Air Alert (after missing Wednesday last week) + more p90x. Shit is wild.

P.P.S. My fingernails sure are long. Better throw today.

Foot hurts again today.

At least I have my very own pull-up bar!

A true muthafucka' goin' out for the loot

Foot hurt again about a mile in. Ran another mile.

Gotta drop this extra skin.

I never clip my fingernails unless I am about to play frisbee. Makes for a wild winter. #noclipdecember

Goals:
5 baby meals
Water
Stop with this candy all the time

Girl I want you back

Foot didn't hurt, so I did Air Alert. Foot only hurts a little.

Success.

Back to running tomorrow, plan is to start up p90x on Monday.

In other news, something is giving me heartburn.

Also, LoL.

Life advice

Get a pull-up bar

Ups and downs

Downs:
Foot hurts enough to not walk. I think I tied my shoelaces one loop too tight.
Did nothing the past two days (^^) -- missed an Air Alert.
Feel like a fatty

Ups:
Pull ups!
The guns (^^)
Computer works again!


I will not run 5 miles from nothing again. Hopefully, foot feels better tomorrow (at like 60% right now). Priority is making sure I can do Air Alert on Friday, though, so if I have to do nothing again tomorrow I will. Hopefully I'll be good enough that I can take some long walks (not on the beach) to get some kind of calorie burn.

Sent in my AUDA statement! 153 words. Voting isn't quite open yet, but, vote for me!

What's the time?

I was 170lbs at club sectionals. I weighed in at 183.6.


5 miles + air alert today, p90x starts tomorrow.




New Years Resolutions (all the cool kids do it):

Throw everyday. Mostly to not suck at catching.
Don't be fat anymore.
Actually try on defence.
Accomplish your goals.


Need to write my AUDA board statement. Vote for me!

LOVE
DOOBER

The weather sucks

Start small:

Something three days a week
Pushups everyday
Walk the dogs
Please just drink water
And stretch

Better to start small than not at all.

P.S. A highlight reel! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTbPFwyAPww

Did a lot of work on the highlight reel. I am by no means an Adobe Premier Pro, but, this is looking pretty cool.  ~3 mins of highlight.

Air Alert is still tough. Squat Hops still blow. Sky is still blue. Etc.

Water!

Better not let them breathe

Pretty pleased with how I played at indoor on Sunday. Definitely showed that I hadn't played in a month+, as I had about six drops, all on discs that, while not easy, were extremely catchable. I do not think I have drop six discs in a tournament, let alone a day. I guess I am happy that the only thing that was really off was my catching, and that was probably also a bit of  variance. Besides that, though, I think I retained most of my speed and kept up with the veterans, and I think I used my body well to dictate where my man was going.

Attacking the field horizontally is so, so important. Especially in indoor when the field shrinks very quickly if you are only playing on the force side. On a related note, don't get broken, pleaaaaaaaase.

Got a sweet bait-n-reel layout-d. A bit of advice: as a thrower, if you make eye-contact with your target's defender, don't throw it. I sat on the force side of my man (but close enough to make a play on a disc to the break side), stared down the thrower's eyes, and waited for them to think they had a window. If I am making eye-contact with the thrower, it is like I am the receiver. The D I got was well within my range and I had plenty of room to go. However, I got quite the booboo.

Played like shit when I got tired. Got lazy and just ran upline and into traffic because I didn't feel like planting and turning in for a dump. Threw a ton of hucks because there was a small window. Threw with lazy form. It wasn't like I felt tired -- I felt like I could run full speed, but I definitely was tired. Need to take extra care when it is later in the game/day/tournament to play my normal game.

I was surprisingly sore after practice. I've been working out a couple of days a week, but I guess there is no real substitute for actual play.

Air Alert is still tough, even in week 1. It wasn't like I couldn't do more, but it definitely is still a workout. Excited to see how much it does now that I have the right form and am coming in with some base-strength rather than nothing.

Back home soon, time to grind grind grind!

Rich pulled me aside and said something along the lines of, “You can tell when a player is in the zone, because he uses his cards as weapons, as tools.” At the time, I was still in a bit of trance, so it didn’t sink in very well. It seemed all around me, people were taking notice of things that I was just doing. It wasn’t that I was not doing them intentionally, as I clearly was, but I was declining to take part in the spectacle of my own play, and looking back, I think that was an important distinction to make that week. Getting caught up in any one play or moment turns good play into something of a shrine, rather than a benchmark. If you pat yourself on the back every time you make some insane play, you come to view those plays as extraordinary, and be that as it may, you can subconsciously convince yourself to make those plays less often because they are not expected out of you often. If, only the other hand, you decide that that is the level of play you expect out of yourself time and time again, and register the moment as good play, but nothing out of the ordinary, you are going to return to that place much more often, as it is expected out of yourself.

-- Conley Woods, http://www.channelfireball.com/articles/breaking-through-day-2-saboteur/

Makes no difference whether a Benz or Bentley or Beamer's the car you in

A few things:

My most common turnover is one this: I see the cut, and it is likely the only downfield option that will come (one of the better cutters, stall is at 3-4). However, it is a tough throw but one that I can make about 50-75% of the time. I throw it because I am not likely to have other options and I can often make the throw.  I should instead dump the disc. Had two of those turnovers today vs. Sienna.

Another one is off of set plays. Today we called a set play for me to either throw it to Buzzi under if he was open, or bomb it to Brown. However, my mark was pretty straight-up so I couldn't step through the throw very well to get the extra bit of power, so the throw was off. I recognized this right away, and should have looked elsewhere, but threw a uncatchable pass to Brown instead. Just because it is your set play doesn't mean you have to pull the trigger.

In Ultimate, the most important thing in the game is possession. Eventually, if you don't turn the disc over, you will score. Now, obviously, scoring is all about percentages. Even though a 90% throw is more risky than one 95% throw, one throw that is 90% to score is is safer than making 50 90% throws to score.

The point is that there are a lot of times that before I make the throw I KNOW that it is going to be a dicey one, and I throw it anyway. You don't have to -- you can live to fight another day. Dump or swing the disc, reset your offense, and go again.



Also, from Win the Fields over on Skyd magazine (bolded part for emphasis):

"It’s also hard to say enough about the Revolver defense.  Having gotten a really great look at it across 2+ games, I’ve come to realize that as technically sound as the downfield work is, it is the marking that is truly exceptional.  In the finals versus Ironside, the Revolver marks were able to keep the boys from Boston pinned on the forehand side, allowing their defenders to hone in and sell out on stopping comeback cuts into the hole.  Even when Ironside was able to hit arounds or comebacks, the mark was established immediately, disrupting any flow (particularly east-west.)"


Don't get broken.

LOVE
DOOBER

And I ain't never been afraid of a drought

Working in a warehouse all day gives you an awful lot of time to think.

Too much time.


Moving boxes full of Justin Beiber and KISS blankets for 8 hours is a pretty good workout. Not good enough, though. Gym yesterday after work, scrimmage + abs today.



Can't just want it, gotta need it.

Alright

It's getting cold out.

Could you brush it off for me?

Running in the cold brings back last winter's grind so hard.

And it is so nice.



I find that for every excuse that I have not to do work, when I eventually man up, it makes the work that much sweeter. Knowing that you had so many "reasons" to skip out and then stepping up in the face of that creates such a rewarding feeling.

Something about knowing that many other players are just sitting around because its too cold or too late or too whatever makes you feel pretty badass.


We're at a point where you can't just show up to practice and get fast enough. The people that are still playing in the series are still playing because they put in the work.  This is a pivotal time in our careers where if we want to make the jump to the next level, we need to actually make the jump.

Dear Diary,

Do not do agilities on the gym floor unless you really hate your knees.

In other news, killed it at the gym yesterday.

EDIT:
P.S. Wasn't gonna run, high schooler posted a status about running, now I have to run.

ugh

I totally gained weight. Photographic evidence.

Oh well. What is done is done. I kind of figured it was coming, but, I was in denial because I didn't want to turn it around.

Healthy week has been very doable so far. Should be pretty easy to keep up. Either way, needs to keep up.

Gotta get back to the mentality of "I don't feel like it" not being a valid excuse.

Going to the gym sucks. Being at the gym rocks. Pretty easy decision. Did one legged squats today. They are fun.

Dude

Running in the morning.

So wild.

P.S. 1030 is barely morning.

P.P.S. IMO

Scam Scam Scam-I-Am

Weekend went pretty well. We had 9 players from SUNYA (3 rookies with no High School experience, 2 ladies playing Open), and had 3 pickups for the first two games -- Siege (quite nice), Dasky (a loose-cannon cop on the edge who doesn't play by the rules) and some rando from Buffalo, but Siege left after the first and the rando + dasky left after the second.

We played 4 games without byes. The fields were pretty bad -- not as bad as the field that we did $50,000 worth of damage to at Sectionals, but worse than the upper field. God dammit I just dropped a goldfish. Every time the disc hit the ground it got coated in mud, and by the end of the first game my clothes were so dirty that they couldn't wipe the disc clean anymore. More than anything, it made running very hard.

I played the first two games straight through, and took the first couple of points off in the third game. In retrospect, I probably should have taken my subs while we had them, because after the third game Alexis ran off to play with some other team, leaving us with 8 players.

Since it was Danse, it was a costume tournament. Since we are SUNY Albany, we did something offensive. Our theme was Gay Superheroes. Boy was it funny. I was Gay Batman, sporting a children's small Batman t-shirt (it did not cover any of my belly) with glitter, Jorts with the bat-signal on the butt (also glittered), a cape with the batman signal (again with glitter), and a cartoon batman mask (which made playing very difficult). Our other superheroes were (all gay), Green Lantern, Spiderman, Superman, Robin, Captain America, Ambiguously Gay Duo, and Flash. We easily had the best costumes out of anyone I saw.


Games pretty much all played out the same, with the rookie-heavy lines struggling on both sides of the ball and our veteran-heavy lines dominating. Our zone-offense was super duper, and opposing teams did not use it much. I got the other handlers to learn a bit about clearing out and spacing, and feel much better about it after this weekend. My forehand hucks looked much better than they have been this weekend, but still not good. The through-forehand break definitely tighened up a lot though, and I made a few kids cry with it, throwing an especially tasty one to Bron Bron for a point. Man defense was pretty much impossible all day because I was either in mud, or making sure some freshman didn't get roasted deep. It was fun when we played zone when our ringers were around, cause I got to play either short-deep or center of the cup and just make the opposing team's weak handlers force ridiculous throws right into the teeth of Siege.

Day 2 for the chumpionship ended up cancelled because half of the fields were deemed unusable. No one told us, and even the kid on the team we were staying with had no idea. Quite annoying.

When Alexis left us during the first day, she didn't really tell us and just left all of her stuff on the sidelines. When we moved fields, Sarah picked up one of her bags, but no one recognized the other one. The other one happened to have her keys in them. On day 2 we tried to ask the TD if they found anything, but they said no one did, and it cost the other car ~5 hours so Alexis could get new keys made. Glad I was not in that car.

The team ended up staying at a deaf kid's dorm on RIT campus. I thought this was weird, but apparently RIT is known for their deaf kids. Regardless, we showed up at his apartment and he told us to go to a different dorm and have someone let us in to use their showers. We were told to call 'Skittles' and have him let us in. We tried to no avail, and just broke in ourselves. We wandered around, and eventually me, Alexis, and Prancer took an elevator to the top floor and asked some kids if there were showers here. He responded yes, we told everyone else, and we spread out over the dorm using most of their showers.

Saturday night me, Bron Bron, and Whipdick chilled out instead of going to the tourny party with the rest of the team. We watched some TV, got food, and durdled around. Everyone got back, and I was passing out as they ordered Wings over Rochester (or whatever its called, its a wings place).

The weekend definitely made me feel closer to the team, and I certainly took more of a leadership role a today's practice. A lot more teaching, encouragement during conditioning, and some talking during the huddle.

Just because I am not a captain doesn't mean I can't act like one.

P.S. I made vegetables with dinner tonight!

I am all about

Stretching

Two handed claw catching

I need to focus on the girls we gettin' currently

Sienna game went pretty well. We won by like 12-7, ish. Was up 7-1 at one point.

I played alright. My hamstring is kind of tweaked, so it was tough for me to get warmed up, and I played like it, especially in the fist half. My defense was OK -- they have a lot of inexperienced players, so I had to poach deep a lot to help out, most often right after a turnover. Once I settled in on D, I took away my offenders first option, but rarely got their second option. I had a few points where I played on a cutter and they did not do much, but, for the most part, I did not play strong defense.

My under throws were pretty tight once I warmed up. I had 3 turnovers I believe:

 One on bad throw early in the game. Too high, was not warmed up, and the cutter could not get it.

The next was a poor decision, both in throwing it at all and where I threw it. Basically, a girl was open underneath, so I put a nice pass to her instead of whipping it in, and someone came off the stack and layout-d it. I think it was a bad decision in terms of where I put it -- I should have thrown it much further from the stack, letting the girl run onto it and eliminating the chance of the stack getting a D. It was very early in the stall count, like at 2, so I am pretty sure it was a risk not worth taking. I think I just got frustrated by how people don't throw to girls in mixed, so I saw her open, and just threw it, instead of looking her off.

The third one was a miscommunication/bad decision/bad throw. The trifecta! Basically, it was right off a turn, and Brown was in front of the disc upfield and I picked up the disc with most of the team behind me. Since it was off a turn, their whole defense was running back to prevent the quick deep shot. I yelled Brown's name, thought he made eye contact with me, and I threw a kinda breakmark IO flick. It was a bad pass, too much IO and not enough to the break side. I thought Brown was aware, but he wasn't even looking, and was surrounded by 4 Sienna players. I had a small window to hit him, and he wasn't really ready for it. I had no stall count. While I can usually make that throw, there is no real reason to. Additionally, I should have ran through or slowrolled it to let the offense get upfield.

There was one point that for some reason Brown decided to dump it to me, and I literally got every other touch until the person I threw it to got the assist. I would throw upfield to Dr. Gray, he'd dump it, I'd throw to Brown, he'd dump it. I would swing the disc to Buzzi, who would give it back, and did it over and over. I think I had 8 touches on the point. It was pretty awesome.

I think in order to fit into their offense I have to do two main things:

One is to get their players to trust me. On the surface, I am not a very good player. I am short, pretty slow, have pretty low stamina, and do not have very good hucks. People won't dump it to me because they don't see me doing anything strong with the disc. However, my strengths come in shallow break throws, never turning the disc over, and getting open for dumps, which keeps the offense chugging.

 The second thing is to get their handlers working together. Right now it seems like they just get the disc to Brown, who is 75% to either turn it or score on any given possession, which results in their handlers having no idea where to go. They like to chill out behind the disc, dance around, etc. If I can teach them proper spacing and how/when/where to cut, it'll help the offense hold onto the disc more.

I also think they are not used to having another handler that can just straight run the ball. Brown obviously can if he wants, but he just hucks it. I think with me on the team they can afford to let Brown cut, which is awesome. I am not quite in the position yet to suggest major changes to their offense, but I think that once they see my high Frisbee IQ, they'll listen to me a bit more.

I am pretty excited to get to teach a bunch of new players what I know, and it is obviously awesome to get to learn from Brown, but playing on a new team is weird. It was so easy for me to get motivated to run that extra mile for GUNX, but it is so hard to even want to go to practice for SCAM. I have decided that if I want to actually enjoy playing with SCAM, I need to play with them a lot, so I am making myself go to every practice no matter what, but it sure is rough. Hopefully, between this tournament and practice, I start to feel like I belong to the family.

My forehand bombs are gone. This is almost definitely because I hurt my shoulder and stopped lifting. I started up Abs and pushups this week. I couldn't even finish the pushup one -- on Tuesday I failed at the 2nd set of the 3rd exercise, and today I failed at the 2nd set of the 2nd exercise. But, I feel stronger, and sore, and I'm confident I'll get it back quickly. I have had no problems with abs, perfect runs both times. I'll go back to level 2 in a week or two.

I was pretty lazy with my aerobic conditioning. Like I said, it is so much harder to work for a team that I have so little emotional investment in. But, I have lot of emotional investment in myself, so I picked it up this week. Gotta keep it going.

Long post is long. No conclusion.

Never forget

To stretch.

Baby Steps

First game with SCAM tomorrow! Vs. Sienna.


I made vegetables with dinner tonight.

If I can't eat well, I need to eat mediocre.

Might as well go for the gusto now

The Binghamton tournament, in my eyes, is a story of a lack of leadership. The captains jammed the same offense or defense over and over, payed little to no attention to the playing time of many players, and spent too much time concerned about off non-ultimate issues. The lack of control exercised over the team let a negative feeling creep over the everyone, making some players scared to go on the field, making others take of their cleats because they were tired of getting chewed out.

Not only did the team perform worse on the field because of the lack of control, but many players did not improve as much as they could have, and many players had a worse tournament experience.

When you captain a team, your play is no longer your priority. Your job is to make the team run. You make sure that each line is balanced between handlers, cutters, veterans, and freshmen. You make sure that everyone is getting an appropriate amount of playing time (which doesn't just mean making sure the freshmen get in. That means pulling your starters at the right time so they don't pull their hamstring in the important game). You make sure that everyone's emotions are in check, if they're feeling too down or they're too vocal or you need to keep them off tilt. You call time-outs when you need to calm everyone down, or get your starters a break, or to change momentum.

A captain is a vocal sideline presence. They are the ones to keep the sidelines awake. They are the one yelling last back. They are the one leading sideline cheers.

A captain does not come off the field and sit on the other side of the field and chit chat. A captain does not come off the field and keep to themselves. A captain does not make a mistake on the field and let it impact them. A captain does not let their play affect the team. A captain does not think about where they are going to eat after the game.

A captain certainly does not get drunk on the sideline.

Your priority is everyone else first, yourself last.



"Can you get something out of someone that they could not get out of themselves."
-Marshall Faulk, on leadership

I need to

Drink more water.

And my nigga said I shouldn't let it worry me

I have gotten a better workout at both SCAM practices this week than I have at any non-conditioning practice in all 4 years with GUNX.  A little light on the scrimmaging for my tastes, but, my throws are looking pretty tight!

It is quite nice to not be the most knowledgeable person on the team. Drilling directly against Brown in 3-man-mark is pretty awesome.

That being said, I sure do miss playing on a team where everybody knows your name -- err, knows exactly what I want to throw and where I am going to throw it. However, they are learning. Slowly but surely.

They have some good freshmen too. Exciting times!


Need to:

Make friends with their giant goon cutter
Teach their fast handlers how to actually handle so they can play d-line for us next year
Get Brown to teach me how to throw

All in all, SCAM practice is pretty sweet.

SCAM Practice

Boy it is weird.

Sure is nice to just put my head down and run, though.

At the beginning of go-to I ran so fast that I missed the disc. I hope that keeps up.

I wasn’t tall enough to be tall or fast enough to be fast or precise enough to be a thrower. If I wanted to be great, I was going to have to play as close to perfect as I could, all the time.

http://skydmagazine.com/2011/09/good-great/

Standin' at the tabernacle

Fall really is the best weather for running.

Sorry Collin's Circle

Boy do I not want to work out today.

Oh well.

Squat racks were all used up, so I tried out some one-legged squats. They are pretty sweet. Put your off leg on something behind you and then do the hard part of a lunge. Work pretty well. Didn't need any extra weight. I used an exercise bar (~10lbs) and held it overhead to practice my overhead squats.

You can totally even do this at home!

I've been all hopped-up on some super-Aleeve that the doctor's gave me. My shoulder doesn't hurt anymore!

Strawberry-Kiwi recover is gross.

Sometimes

Sometimes I think life is kinda rough.

Then I remember we have practice on Sunday.

P.S. Back up to three miles already. Kinda cool.

Running

after squats

worst

Mixed wit crystal sipping

Ran this morning. It was still raining. Made eggs, damn they were good.

"Every year say to yourself 'Could the player I am now destroy the player I was?' That's a good feeling when the answer is yes."

-Sonny!


Everyone wants to talk to you when you are a summer league champ!

Fuck my last CD this shits in my trash

Winning is always nice, but to tell you the truth, this one doesn't feel that good. We coasted for a couple weeks going in, coasted through some teams that were missing key players, and half-assed our way to a 15-10 finals win. Not to say that we didn't work for the first 15 games, because we all got a lot better, but we really left a lot on the table for the final 5 games.

Honestly, the only good part about the win is sticking it to every person in the league who didn't talk to me because I was some fat kid from SUNY New Paltz.

Nolan and Bron Bron tied for best defenders in AUDA. Glad I called that guy.

Only 5 weeks 'till club sectionals! Enough of this eating like garbage, time to get back on that grind. Time to get big.

It doesn't matter how much you've done thus far this season. It doesn't matter how much you haven't done. It doesn't matter what you have inbetween now and September 17th. All that matters is that we have 32 days to get ready.

And if you're old like me, this is the only tournament you've got left.

Fuck rich let's get wealthy

Wildwood is fun, but boy do I like real ultimate better.

Did agilities to 10 before league, was going through at like 50% by the end. Took a while to get warmed up in game, but we played pretty strong as a whole so I didn't have to do much heavy lifting. My defense sucked pretty hard, totally conceding the unders and not getting on the mark fast enough in the cup. Offensively I played alright, though I do not recall any turnovers, I did have to get bailed out on at least one throw.

I messed my shoulder up sometime last week. While it hurts to throw big backhands, I think it has helped my form out. Since I am shying away from using that shoulder, I'm snapping my wrist more and involving more of my lower body. Today, I threw two 40+ yard backhands for points with a big mark on, and I do not think I could have done that using my normal form. Hopefully when I heal up I'll still incorporate the new motion.

We won today by 4, giving us a 2-game lead for first. It'll be hard for us not to be the 1-seed going into the tournament, and I cannot wait to drink champagne out of a trophy.

Haters sayin' you changed, now you doin' your thing

I love hearing the other team yell to my defender "Watch out, he's gonna run" and have it do absolutely nothing.

I might not get many more times like this, but it sure is nice to punish someone for taking the easy "fat kid" matchup.

I think that Snatch game gave me another gear. Both phyiscally and mentally. I have never pushed myself so hard offensively to make them work. Everytime I got open I just wanted to show them over and over that they cannot stop me. I have never wanted the ball so bad.

At social today I again pushed harder than I have before. I am not sure if this is a product of me actually getting in somewhat better shape, which lets me push that much more, or if I just unlocked some willpower and I can push a little more. Again, I just wanted the ball.

All in all, I think the tournament went well, save a few exceptions. We all played much better on day 2, but I am not sure if that is a product of us using our first day experience, or us playing worse, hungover, sub-light teams. I think that many people are overlooking a good portion of our bad decisions on Day 2 because unlike Day 1, our opponents failed to punish us for them. Instead of watching 7express march down the field after one of turnovers, we got to laugh off a ridiculous hammer and watch one of the opposing players drop a disc.

Regardless of our play, we certainly made noise. Lots of players saw us, more heard us. Even if we don't make it to regionals this year, we might actually get to hold tryouts next year because of how much exposure we got. We will have an easier time getting into tournments.

And we surely will not get seeded 27th out of 32.

Doing this once a week. There is more to ultimate than shuttles.

http://winthefields.blogspot.com/2011/07/kung-fu-throwing.html

EDIT: Boy was this sweet.

The music business hate me cause the industry ain't make me

Brown Chicken Brown Cow: 9-3 -- 1st place

Back on top!

This has been great for the past week.

http://winthefields.blogspot.com/

Satisfaction

There is really nothing like being the last ones at the dojo

Gosh darn it

Out of belt holes.

So you had a bad day!

Played like poop today! Turfed two throws, let some bad players get the better of me on both sides of the ball, and was just slow.

BUT! I used my body like a pro on defense. Never really got it before today, but I had a lot of people run into me while trying to go deep. Even when I didn't get a full body on them I often got a shoulder in the way to slow them down and let me catch up. If I didn't use my body well today I would have gotten roasted for point upon points.

That being said, walked out with a 15-13 win and a great set on the squat rack after. Even got eight minutes worth of abs in.

Looks like a true double-header of practices this weekend. Life does not get much better.

I sure hope Zac is working out before league today. I really do not want to go to the gym after.

My calves

are so sore.

Quick thoughts (Qughts?)

Club ultimate is quite fun.

Lifting sure has some immediate results.

Did not weigh myself this morning -- tomorrow it is.

Worked out with Fat Zac before league today. It was awesome.

I'm working out with him before league on Thursday for multiple hours. Going to be awesome.

Got to throw for over an hour on Sunday. Definitely tightened back up.

There a few things I love more than running down a pull and stopping that first throw. Who

doesn't like 80yd sprints? The look on the handlers face is priceless.

Gym tomorrow! Back/Squats/Abs!

Having/had a sweet birthday today/this weekend. Thanks!

EDIT: holy ballz do my calves hurt. No wonder Zac has bricks for calf muscles.

mmmm

weight-lifting-calluses

mmmm

weight-lifting-blisters

169.0

Trying out a gym membership today! Did some squats on Saturday, and boy were they good. I remember a fast ultimate player saying that he did not making any gains until he got off the track and onto the squat rack. We'll see how it goes.

As called

173.6

Going to need to not eat for the next three months. Gogogogogo.

I need to:

Tighten up.

P.S. Dropped a pull today.

The motivation for me

Boy does the grind feel good.

Launched some pretty sweet backhands today with Paul. Thank you Brodie Smith.

171.6

Not real, but certainly progress.

Doctor says ankle is fine. It hurts sometimes, but what doesn't.

P.S. Stretch.

174.6

Summertime and the living's easy

Goals:

Current weight: 173

Goal: 155 by September

Mondays are weigh-days!

Pushup/situps Mon/Wed/Fri.

2x daily dog walks.

Long distance running (2+ miles) 5x weekly once healthy.

Sprint workouts 3x weekly once healthy.

1-hour throwing sessions 3x weekly.

All water all the time.

Only booze when you have to.

5 baby meals a day.

Fast food is for the weak.

Look off more hucks.

Snap yo' wrist.

Get low.

Always be moving on offense.

Dictate where your man goes on defense.

Don't get handblocked.

Plan your week out so you have to do it.

Time to actually get good.

This week:

Throwing -- Tuesday Wednesday Friday

Set up ankle appointment (Monday)

Call doctor to get asthma medicine upgrade (Monday)

New Goal: Do not eat within 2 hours of going to sleep.

P.S. MORE WATER

And my last like my first

On one hand, I'm upset that we did not get to go to regionals by only three points. On the other hand, we wouldn't have really earned it. It is probably better in the long run that we missed out. Assuming we get Brian, of course.

Time for club! I start running tomorrow. I do not care if my knees hurt. I have gained weight and lost muscle. I do not have time to mess around. I need to slay this beast. This season has shown me that while I have come a long way, I have even further to go. The easy part is over. Nothing motivates me more than proving people wrong, and this season, for better or worse, has left us with a lot of haters.

Lucky for me, graduating will leave me with plenty of time to hit the track.

3 miles tomorrow. Get at me.

P. S. Not being a captain is weird, by the way.

From my Blueprint beginnings

75 leap ups is a lot of leap ups.

Freshmen threw forehands for points today through the wind. wtf.

I can't wait to have a backhand.

Pull ups got harder today. Need to work my upper body again.

No legs today at practice. Need to not let wind affect me.

Practice tomorrow!

She said, keep makin', keep makin' that platinum and gold for me.

New game: don't let Stiggles run more than you.

Also, we beat bard today!

Knockin' Doors Down

Drinking for the second time this week.

Doesn't matter, my muscles are going to break all of my clothes.

Stiggles ran over ten miles this week. If you visit Hell, bring your winter jacket.

Better hop on the bandwagon now.

P.S. WEEK ELEVEN OVER

But now I'm rappin' 'bout money, hoes, and rims again.

The only time I can't wait for practice tomorrow is when I am going up stairs.

Did infinite pull-ups today. Shit's crazy.

Played lazy defense today. Tired is a state of mind.

Freshmen can almost play real ultimate. So close.

I am going to learn to play a position in zone besides cup. Hopefully this weekend!

Throws in the wind are looking pretty nice. I even threw some backhands today.

Thought for a second about taking tomorrow off, but if Stone is going to practice 4 days in a row, how the fuck am I not going to practice for 4 days in a row?

Blagging is back in style! Trust me!

I might wear black four years straight

"If you want to be fast, get in the weight room and add some muscle to your legs. I didn't gain speed until Junior year in college when I eased off the bench press and made friends with the squat rack. "

-- Mac Taylor, http://skydmagazine.com/2011/02/player-profile-mac-taylor/

Noted.

Also, decided to lose weight again.

Double also, benched 185x2 today. 200 by sectionals.

P.S. That hasbrouk banana was among the worst I have encountered.

I'm 'bout stackin bank, everyday

Things I learned at Adelphi:

1) Just because you have the throw doesn't mean you should make it.

2) I still can't catch outs.

3) We still have a long way to go.

Taking practice off tomorrow; I have a bruise resembling a gunshot wound in my right lovehandle. Hitting the bike pretty hard, though. I'd run, but I'm a bit weak in the knees. Rather get all healed up while I still can. Laying out indoors, even correctly, gets you pretty dinged up.

Also, Air Alert is legitimate.

And break it on down just a little once again

Finally finished a set of incline pushups on the level 2 chest. Got to literally the last double-crunch before failing, but boy did the entire workout hurt.

Practice on Monday. Be there.

We got nothin' to lose muthafucka we rollin'

Long time no blag.

No running. I suck.

But I can jump really high! I can touch the ceiling fan in my kitchen. Air Alert is legitimate. I have definitely added at least two inches to my vertical.

Literally just realized that I did Air Alert today and I wasn't supposed to. I think the safest option is to do it 4x this week. Either that or do Mon-Tues-Wed. Unsure. Leaning towards the latter.

Absolutely slayed level 2 abs. Perfection until halfway through Double Crunches. Such is life.

Level 2 chest killed me. It feels like I have never seen a bench press before. On the plus side, it will probably make me super strong.

I have found that if I eat when my body tells me to eat, and eat what it tell me to, that I do pretty well. Note that this is different than eating what I want to eat, as that would consist solely of Mountain Dew and Cheez-Itz, but what my body wants to eat. Might not be the greatest way to shed pounds, but boy do I feel jacked.

Pretty sure I actually flipped my sleep schedule back. Haven't slept yet, so we'll see.

Got glasses today, another Chichester visit tomorrow, and back to school on Saturday. An action packed week!

Everybody want it but it ain't that serious

Day 1 of Week 2 hurts more than Day 1 of Week 1.

Squat Hops might end me tomorrow.

Already did my push ups/abs, now to run.

See ya!

Extra bright I want ya'll to see this

Another three miles. MUCH easier than yesterday.

I am just going to run every day because, well, why not?

It gon' take a lot more than coupons to get us saved

3 miles. Worth every penny.

Packers made the playoffs. What a day.