All righty. Here is the deal. I think I have had a mega injury for the better part of 5 years now.I'll give you the background story, before i continue....
So the year was 2005. It was my junior year and i was going to my first tournament. It was late September and i was going with the newly formed BlueREY. We had begun practicing mid to late august and were planning on going to this tournament with a full 20 person roster. It featured some stars such as Charlie, myself, and a girl who plays for Cornell now. We ended up like 5th out of like 10 or something. We did decent but we were completely newly formed and were totally reamed by Noah's high school team Peyote.
Well a few Friday practices before hand we were practicing flick breaks and just throwing with a mark. So new to the whole getting low and throwing away from the mark i did the silly squat throw, some of you may not know what this is and that's great, but since i was basically self teaching myself everything i tried a lot of random shit. So i did it for a few throws and then one of my coaches looked at me and said, i'm paraphrasing, that doesn't do shit, you're wasting your time. I listened half heartedly and threw one last squat flick, as i got really deep into it i felt something in my quad sort of snap. I didn't know what it was, and i didn't know if it was hurt or what, because i felt fine. It hurt momentarily and i just kept on playing. Never to do that damn flick again. The next day i looked at my leg, the right leg to be exact, and still to this day, it looks 'sagging.' The part of my quad closest to my knee is, for the lack of a better term, fucked up.
So today as i ran my first of many miles i began to hurt. It wasn't a regular burn or shin splint; it was a painful leg immobilizing pain. I finished my mileage and contemplated doing some arm stuff, after talking to Hogan about core and other shenanigans, and realized i shouldn't really do much until i get that checked out. The weird thing though is i have never had a real bad problem with my knee. I'm wondering if i have ever really been at 100% since that day. This means one of two things a) its a bad injury and i should have rehabbed it so long ago or b)i'm just over analyzing shit and just need to man up and keep going. The ladder of the two is actually the one that concerns me more.
If a) is true then i can get my knee patched up over the summer or whenever it's appropriate, and then i can train and see what my true full potential is. If b) is true i guess i have forgotten how bad conditioning sucks, and i need to get my mental will power back up and keep going through the pain.
I haven't mentioned this before, but i have never - prior to this year - been injured. It may be the fact that high school sports are in themselves not very painful, or it means i have never been in a position to get hurt like i have. But having one injury, and one that may be injured, i still don't know the signs of a bad injury, and therefore i feel as though i am more susceptible to get a terrible injury stemming from a very silly little one. That's why i am not taking chances and am going to go get some x-rays or whatever you have for this pain and see if its fixable. Oh and i've never had surgery, so let's not start this year.... or ever for that matter.
Amp Energy: Overload
Alrighty, i have not much to say and i am just sort of killing moonlight.
Finals suck because they break my routine, which is basically how i have motivation to do anything, ever. Therein i have worked out less and ate more, which will change and i refuse for one week to truly deter me from my goals. On a more positive note i finally bitched out my shit T.A. and he began to whine about how he had too many students and he has a personal life and blah blah blah. To which i retorted, "is being a T.A a hobby, or do you get paid for it?"
Finally, the Bird has gained mad respect points for me in every category possible. A quick factoid about respect points: everyone has an infinite supply, and you can give them out accordingly for let's say witty comments, a dare, something hilarious, something bad ass; the counter opposite is also true, you can take them away for stupid shit. Bird has not only gained it as being a badass ultimate player, but also for being legitimately funny 24/7. If Bird doesn't have a gem to share he is literally sleeping. Overall + 20 respect points - i usually give them out in quantities of 1 or 2.
Positive note for Ultimate. I am consistently fixing my backhand and have - to my knowledge - sort of figure out my backhand. Thanks to Eddie and Christo. +2, +1 respect points to them respectively, and a definite +3 to Geoff for helping me practice constantly.
Oh, also. Fundraising, I've actually been super hardcore about this. I already realize that the team is going to cost a shit load of money and i have a plan of saying money from each pay check. But i also know that i hate spending money, so I've been pushing and giving lots of suggestions and all that good stuff, and have kind of been all over this. So if you read this check out one of three places facebook [which is a combination of the following two] or instead go to the donation page or the credit card page. Help out, and spread the word.
Finals suck because they break my routine, which is basically how i have motivation to do anything, ever. Therein i have worked out less and ate more, which will change and i refuse for one week to truly deter me from my goals. On a more positive note i finally bitched out my shit T.A. and he began to whine about how he had too many students and he has a personal life and blah blah blah. To which i retorted, "is being a T.A a hobby, or do you get paid for it?"
Finally, the Bird has gained mad respect points for me in every category possible. A quick factoid about respect points: everyone has an infinite supply, and you can give them out accordingly for let's say witty comments, a dare, something hilarious, something bad ass; the counter opposite is also true, you can take them away for stupid shit. Bird has not only gained it as being a badass ultimate player, but also for being legitimately funny 24/7. If Bird doesn't have a gem to share he is literally sleeping. Overall + 20 respect points - i usually give them out in quantities of 1 or 2.
Positive note for Ultimate. I am consistently fixing my backhand and have - to my knowledge - sort of figure out my backhand. Thanks to Eddie and Christo. +2, +1 respect points to them respectively, and a definite +3 to Geoff for helping me practice constantly.
Oh, also. Fundraising, I've actually been super hardcore about this. I already realize that the team is going to cost a shit load of money and i have a plan of saying money from each pay check. But i also know that i hate spending money, so I've been pushing and giving lots of suggestions and all that good stuff, and have kind of been all over this. So if you read this check out one of three places facebook [which is a combination of the following two] or instead go to the donation page or the credit card page. Help out, and spread the word.
Word to the Wise
Don't run 4 miles of sprints and runs, and follow it up with a 2 mile run expecting to do well. Which brings me to the quote.
"I ran. I ran until my muscles burned and my veins pumped battery acid. Then I ran some more."That was my day in a nutshell. I feel as thought that will be a quote to live by for a while. It's a good test for my body, but it shows me that i need to do more conditioning.
-Fight Club
Recap of the Month
Alright, it's the end of the month and i wanted to recap as i wait to figure out when the fuck i get my paycheck. Alot has happened, I've made the A team, we played at Collegiates, I've started strenuous workout regiment, Josh's dad kicked our asses, and we're doing team workouts.
So i made the A team. A big whoopy! That wasn't a joke, i don't know how to express joy over the internet. I digress. Charlie was talking about how he was on the "bubble" when before the final cuts and we both chatted about our chances and how hard we had worked. But here is the deal, i felt like i was on the bubble more then Char. He is a solid handler, reminds me of Chowder minus the muscles, and i am a ______ . Exactly. My game has improved seriously from defense, to offense, to intensity, but improvement doesn't mean i have a specialty. So before and after cuts i've had a very strong sense of "i need to be able to do something?"
I've loved playing defense as much as i would hate my self a year ago for saying something like that, but it's true. I find offense quite boring, watching Rob and Christo and the other cutters literally make 2 or 3 cuts and then score. Which is amazing, literally amazing, but i find it boring and see that it is a much tighter rotation on the O line. Defense on the other hand, you don't know what you're doing, you just know that you have bust your ass down the field and shut down you're guy.
Which brings me to Fall Collegiates. We played very well as can be seen on the UPA score reporter, and there was nothing much to say, considering i had a groin injury. Hmm, when i did get to play i felt as though i was making a difference, ie not letting my guy get the disc, but as soon as i got that pesky injury along with sitting for a game or two, i couldn't do the same: couldn't sprint, keep up, or bid, i felt terrible. So i sat the rest of the time, the next day i felt better and still realized that i couldn't play [at all] so i just sort of sat and watched.
Workouts and Mr. Suskin. I feel as though Mr. Suskin has taught us a lot in his short 7 hour (cumulative) stay. I learned i don't have baby making muscles. I learned i need to strengthen those bad boys and i learned that i will never do martial arts. First off, a lot of what he showed us was great the leg lifts and the things for the core; all the things he showed us reminded me of swimming and how i use to be absolutely dominate at them and how i need to get back in that shape ASAP. Second, i think some of the stuff is great but useless, no offense to him, he showed us many different styles of kicking and bobbing and weaving stuff which was fun and hilarious [Chowder the Ewok]. The thing is, he is a martial arts sensai (?), he knows his martial arts backwards and forwards, he can teach me how to kick higher, punch faster, hit stronger and roundhouse kick some into next Thursday; but i feel like some of the things don't correlate extremely well to ultimate. People say, well it makes your muscles stronger which is always a benefit, but that would be like me training a rower by showing them how to box, there muscles would be stronger but they wouldn't know how to utilize them. I understand the metaphor was a big wild and ridiculous, but my point is this: making muscles stronger and utilizing muscles on the field are two different things. I could show everyone on the team a great water workout that would work your upper body and back and core, but i know that using something in the water and using it on land are two different things.
Bringing me to workout regiment/team workouts. Both are great. I've gotten into a rythm at the moment, MWF i do lifting on machines and things at night - this is the only free time i have and i personally hate free weights - and i am running and rehabbing my groin/lower back on T&T, this is feel is going to be the most beneficial for me: i am doing the stuff i am bad at (running) and i working the muscles i have lost. The team workouts (for me at least) lack exhaustion. Last tuesday i fell apart, not literally, doing stairs and that was great, i felt like shit and was ready to do it again, but we were done. I later realized i was wearing a heat shirt and that was making me overheat and die. When we got to the core i started to feel the burn at bits at a time, but nothing actually amazingly helpful. I feel my abs whenever i wake up, meaning they are getting worked, but if it would be more helpful if we did more repetitions, not just one. I return once again to swimming, drylands (core) for us was absolute hell/fun. We did everything with a partner. Medicine ball work and we did tandem core stuff, but then we did everything else to a time. So planks we did to two minutes, leg lifts to two minutes, abs for minutes at a time. And that's the mentality people don't have yet: Rob says, "go til you drop," well i could drop at 5 seconds or i could drop at 2 minutes; we need people to push themselves if they have it or not: planks for 2 minutes, no question, no bullshit, if you fall get back up.
At least that's my mentality. Bust your ass, grit your teeth.
So i made the A team. A big whoopy! That wasn't a joke, i don't know how to express joy over the internet. I digress. Charlie was talking about how he was on the "bubble" when before the final cuts and we both chatted about our chances and how hard we had worked. But here is the deal, i felt like i was on the bubble more then Char. He is a solid handler, reminds me of Chowder minus the muscles, and i am a ______ . Exactly. My game has improved seriously from defense, to offense, to intensity, but improvement doesn't mean i have a specialty. So before and after cuts i've had a very strong sense of "i need to be able to do something?"
I've loved playing defense as much as i would hate my self a year ago for saying something like that, but it's true. I find offense quite boring, watching Rob and Christo and the other cutters literally make 2 or 3 cuts and then score. Which is amazing, literally amazing, but i find it boring and see that it is a much tighter rotation on the O line. Defense on the other hand, you don't know what you're doing, you just know that you have bust your ass down the field and shut down you're guy.
Which brings me to Fall Collegiates. We played very well as can be seen on the UPA score reporter, and there was nothing much to say, considering i had a groin injury. Hmm, when i did get to play i felt as though i was making a difference, ie not letting my guy get the disc, but as soon as i got that pesky injury along with sitting for a game or two, i couldn't do the same: couldn't sprint, keep up, or bid, i felt terrible. So i sat the rest of the time, the next day i felt better and still realized that i couldn't play [at all] so i just sort of sat and watched.
Workouts and Mr. Suskin. I feel as though Mr. Suskin has taught us a lot in his short 7 hour (cumulative) stay. I learned i don't have baby making muscles. I learned i need to strengthen those bad boys and i learned that i will never do martial arts. First off, a lot of what he showed us was great the leg lifts and the things for the core; all the things he showed us reminded me of swimming and how i use to be absolutely dominate at them and how i need to get back in that shape ASAP. Second, i think some of the stuff is great but useless, no offense to him, he showed us many different styles of kicking and bobbing and weaving stuff which was fun and hilarious [Chowder the Ewok]. The thing is, he is a martial arts sensai (?), he knows his martial arts backwards and forwards, he can teach me how to kick higher, punch faster, hit stronger and roundhouse kick some into next Thursday; but i feel like some of the things don't correlate extremely well to ultimate. People say, well it makes your muscles stronger which is always a benefit, but that would be like me training a rower by showing them how to box, there muscles would be stronger but they wouldn't know how to utilize them. I understand the metaphor was a big wild and ridiculous, but my point is this: making muscles stronger and utilizing muscles on the field are two different things. I could show everyone on the team a great water workout that would work your upper body and back and core, but i know that using something in the water and using it on land are two different things.
Bringing me to workout regiment/team workouts. Both are great. I've gotten into a rythm at the moment, MWF i do lifting on machines and things at night - this is the only free time i have and i personally hate free weights - and i am running and rehabbing my groin/lower back on T&T, this is feel is going to be the most beneficial for me: i am doing the stuff i am bad at (running) and i working the muscles i have lost. The team workouts (for me at least) lack exhaustion. Last tuesday i fell apart, not literally, doing stairs and that was great, i felt like shit and was ready to do it again, but we were done. I later realized i was wearing a heat shirt and that was making me overheat and die. When we got to the core i started to feel the burn at bits at a time, but nothing actually amazingly helpful. I feel my abs whenever i wake up, meaning they are getting worked, but if it would be more helpful if we did more repetitions, not just one. I return once again to swimming, drylands (core) for us was absolute hell/fun. We did everything with a partner. Medicine ball work and we did tandem core stuff, but then we did everything else to a time. So planks we did to two minutes, leg lifts to two minutes, abs for minutes at a time. And that's the mentality people don't have yet: Rob says, "go til you drop," well i could drop at 5 seconds or i could drop at 2 minutes; we need people to push themselves if they have it or not: planks for 2 minutes, no question, no bullshit, if you fall get back up.
At least that's my mentality. Bust your ass, grit your teeth.
Conditioning
Conditioning has started; i love it. I've been working my ass off... running five times a week, doing core, and working hard with the team. All i need now is a training partner for lifting. In all honesty i feel as though everyone is lifting now and that i am one of the few mainly running. Which is fine, i need more base then most people - being a swimmer and no real land legs - but i still need to lift a little. I feel like i can neglect it a little bit considering i am... huge... but i still need to get less lopsided. Oh and i am rehabbing my groin.
Well that's it for now.
Well that's it for now.
Grit Your Teeth
So as expected the change from College Ultimate from Youth Club mixed has been a drastic one. From being the go to guy to becoming a pion, from being the best to being one of the worst, everything has changed. Yet my role on the team and my level of craptitute is not what leads me to blog. Attitude.
Attitude is the name of the game. For myself i have gone from being a very lazy, no-work ethic kind of kid to some one who busts his butt. It may have been the college change of atmosphere, ie courses and standards and all that business, but i blame it on En Sabah Nur. The fact of the matter is i have never been so behind in anything that i loved. I sit here a rookie on a chopping block surrounded by great players who have the knowledge, skills, and speed that i want to possess.
Practices have gone from being a social event to more of a burst your lung and break your hand event. Before, ie BlueREY, i would be one of few who attends practice mainly because i loved Ultimate and wanted more and more, and because i wanted to be the best. Here and now, i am one of many who has a passion for ultimate and one of many who are on a path to become great. Everyone i play with is better at me in one or multiple fields, usually the ladder. From simple drills to scrimmages the people who mark up on me and who i mark up on are impervious to me.
So I'm on Geoff. He gets the disc off the line and i put a stiff mark on him and get him to stall 9 before he dumps it. A quick background story; i have been sick for the last three weeks from a combination of strep cold? It feels like strep but doesn't make you sick enough to be one. Since i live in the freshmen dorms when one person gets sick everyone does. So the point was a long one. I was feeling like complete and utter shit. Jeffy was working my ass off from the handler position, after all he does have to keep his "Practice Player of the Week." I had alot of lame lunging hand bids but nothing actually worth anything. Finally i got a chance as a disc went over his head from a bad read and we both had big bids on the disc so i layed out and tried to knick it. No luck.
Here is the point of my entry. When you're playing against a national level player nothing matters; how sick i am, how many points i've played, how hard my workout is, nothing. You play as hard as you can. You grit your teeth and you lay it all on the line at practice. Practice is just that, practice for the game. What you do in practice is what you do in a game. I was tired all practice today, but i never did anything lazy i made my cuts as though i was fresh. I may not have been as fast or as threatening as before but i defiantly worked my ass off. Grit your teeth and work as though your life depends on it.
Attitude is the name of the game. For myself i have gone from being a very lazy, no-work ethic kind of kid to some one who busts his butt. It may have been the college change of atmosphere, ie courses and standards and all that business, but i blame it on En Sabah Nur. The fact of the matter is i have never been so behind in anything that i loved. I sit here a rookie on a chopping block surrounded by great players who have the knowledge, skills, and speed that i want to possess.
Practices have gone from being a social event to more of a burst your lung and break your hand event. Before, ie BlueREY, i would be one of few who attends practice mainly because i loved Ultimate and wanted more and more, and because i wanted to be the best. Here and now, i am one of many who has a passion for ultimate and one of many who are on a path to become great. Everyone i play with is better at me in one or multiple fields, usually the ladder. From simple drills to scrimmages the people who mark up on me and who i mark up on are impervious to me.
So I'm on Geoff. He gets the disc off the line and i put a stiff mark on him and get him to stall 9 before he dumps it. A quick background story; i have been sick for the last three weeks from a combination of strep cold? It feels like strep but doesn't make you sick enough to be one. Since i live in the freshmen dorms when one person gets sick everyone does. So the point was a long one. I was feeling like complete and utter shit. Jeffy was working my ass off from the handler position, after all he does have to keep his "Practice Player of the Week." I had alot of lame lunging hand bids but nothing actually worth anything. Finally i got a chance as a disc went over his head from a bad read and we both had big bids on the disc so i layed out and tried to knick it. No luck.
Here is the point of my entry. When you're playing against a national level player nothing matters; how sick i am, how many points i've played, how hard my workout is, nothing. You play as hard as you can. You grit your teeth and you lay it all on the line at practice. Practice is just that, practice for the game. What you do in practice is what you do in a game. I was tired all practice today, but i never did anything lazy i made my cuts as though i was fresh. I may not have been as fast or as threatening as before but i defiantly worked my ass off. Grit your teeth and work as though your life depends on it.
Time Killing
Since i have about half an hour to literally kill, before i begin a hardcore study session followed up by hardcore math test, i've decided to type out some stuff and recap the last tournament we (the rookies) had gone to. On a side note, that is what the picture is of; the rookie class of '11 that had gone to the Rutgers tournament.
How to begin, oh yeah. On a quick side note, the captain of the team sent out an email late the night before probably around 10ish or 9ish and told everyone to be at the buses a half our earlier then his original departure time; funny thing is most people had already left by that time to go out and party. We were leaving saturday morning, we had friday completely to ourselves, so what else are we going to do? Ah but back to when we left. We left around 8:30. Thank you hangovers.
So in all honesty van rides suck. We tried to get boobs, but boobs didnt want us. I don't know whether the order of the signs (Show titties, c'mon, please, be a legend, :( ) detoured the girls from showing us them or what, but we didn't get any.... The saddest part of the trip though was missing the Sheets that everyone was dieing for. Nick, no fault to him, thought it was the next exit in four miles, but it was actually off the exit and then four miles. We were all shocked and hungry, but none such as Mumbles. As we drove mumbling and grumbling in miles of construction and between two very high cement walls, Mumbles stared blankly at Nick and shouted, "Turn the van around, now!"
One stop at a wa-wa later and 300 miles between us and Pittsburgh we finally made it to the tournament. Our first game was against a NY team called Purple Haze, who i had oddly enough looked up recently because of my lingering thoughts about "what if i had gone..." As we played them i realized my choice.... let's put it this way: THANK GOD. I'd played these bums before at a previous tournament, in which literally a bunch of kids took them to universe point. But then again we were a bunch of kids who had played a lot of ultimate and played together for a long time. Sadly thats the two things we were missing, in this early morning game, chemistry and all around ability. We played well though, but no one knew anyone really, we didn't know what to expect from each other. But as the game got going people just began playing better, D-bands were handed like hotcakes (whatever that means). In the end it came down to universe point, after the NY team had rallied back two or three. We put a studly D-line out, but to no avail, they threw a swilly huck that floated out to a receiver, and no amount of laying out could stop him from scoring. On a postive note, they sucked the big one and went 1-2 in our pool, losing to the two teams we crushed...
Second game was against Franklin & Marshall. It was a blowout, i don't actually remember anything memorable, except for when i d-ed a guy, who called a foul... caused by his own player. His team mates were telling him it was his own guy, but he didn't want to hear it nor did he care. It didn't matter though, we scored that point. We won 15-6.
This was the highlight of the day. We were rolling. All i remember is hearing people yell, "GET THAT MAN A D BAND!" People were possessed everyone wanted a d and no one would let their man catch an easy throw. Everyone was running their asses off; whenever some one came off the field they were weezing and tired, yet still ready to play. This game was the contrapositive of our first game, we played stingy and shiesty defense and were rewarded. Nothing mattered and everyone was laying it on the line. Before the game started we were told that they, Salisbury, were going to play well and efficient and that we needed to really step up and prove ourselves. I guess people get fired up hearing that, and we went insane. 15-9 Win.
Weslyan was seeded second in our pool and had beaten both teams they faced that day. Apparently in their last game one of their stars was injured and their play really slowed down. We ended up beating them pretty swiftly, trading for a while before we broke them a few. The game really highlighted people's ability to catch anything and everything. One point i was on the sideline with some other guys and we watched as one of our guys send a huck on the opposite sideline, the first guy macked it out of his hands and then two defenders followed his lead, macking it to the ground. As it spiraled towards the ground a kid layed out grabbing it literally centimeters before it touched the ground. Brilliant! Overall it was a good game, we played well and everyone got to play. Win 15-9
The next day we played Princeton. Whether everyone was over stuffed from the feast at the Zettels house or what, we started playing real slow and painfully. We started real slow and got broken 3 points in a row before finally getting one off, but as the game went on the athleticism and true tenacity of the our team shined. Our d was playing great and our o was rolling. Final score 14-8.
Sometimes, only sometimes, can you say, "it doesn't matter if you win or lose, it's how you played." This may be one of those times. JMU comes from one of the top regions in the nation Atlantic Coast, they got fourth which is amazing considering their competition is Georgia, Florida and UNC. They started play off very well, they were big on D and even bigger on O; sadly that's not a good thing for us. The game started sorely as we went down early and we went down big. Four straight breaks for them had us begin playing a tighter rotation and made peoples heads slump. We picked it back up but they managed to take half 8-4. This is where people apparently said to themselves, fuck this shit? What the hell are we doing? We started playing harder and harder doing anything and everything to stop them from scoring. We came back to 11-9 and softcap went off; game to 13. They scored the next point making it 12-9. We knew we had to step up, we scored two gruelingly long points consisting of many turns, many ds, and lots of miscues on their part. We clawed our way back in 12-11 but it was too little too late. They managed to get the benefit of a rule we hadn't heard and had to end the game there. 11-12 lose.
We played really well, and i am super excited to play here and hopefully make the A team. I've been busting my ass learning from each thing a veteran has said to me, and been trying to improve my game with each passing day.
How to begin, oh yeah. On a quick side note, the captain of the team sent out an email late the night before probably around 10ish or 9ish and told everyone to be at the buses a half our earlier then his original departure time; funny thing is most people had already left by that time to go out and party. We were leaving saturday morning, we had friday completely to ourselves, so what else are we going to do? Ah but back to when we left. We left around 8:30. Thank you hangovers.
So in all honesty van rides suck. We tried to get boobs, but boobs didnt want us. I don't know whether the order of the signs (Show titties, c'mon, please, be a legend, :( ) detoured the girls from showing us them or what, but we didn't get any.... The saddest part of the trip though was missing the Sheets that everyone was dieing for. Nick, no fault to him, thought it was the next exit in four miles, but it was actually off the exit and then four miles. We were all shocked and hungry, but none such as Mumbles. As we drove mumbling and grumbling in miles of construction and between two very high cement walls, Mumbles stared blankly at Nick and shouted, "Turn the van around, now!"
One stop at a wa-wa later and 300 miles between us and Pittsburgh we finally made it to the tournament. Our first game was against a NY team called Purple Haze, who i had oddly enough looked up recently because of my lingering thoughts about "what if i had gone..." As we played them i realized my choice.... let's put it this way: THANK GOD. I'd played these bums before at a previous tournament, in which literally a bunch of kids took them to universe point. But then again we were a bunch of kids who had played a lot of ultimate and played together for a long time. Sadly thats the two things we were missing, in this early morning game, chemistry and all around ability. We played well though, but no one knew anyone really, we didn't know what to expect from each other. But as the game got going people just began playing better, D-bands were handed like hotcakes (whatever that means). In the end it came down to universe point, after the NY team had rallied back two or three. We put a studly D-line out, but to no avail, they threw a swilly huck that floated out to a receiver, and no amount of laying out could stop him from scoring. On a postive note, they sucked the big one and went 1-2 in our pool, losing to the two teams we crushed...
Second game was against Franklin & Marshall. It was a blowout, i don't actually remember anything memorable, except for when i d-ed a guy, who called a foul... caused by his own player. His team mates were telling him it was his own guy, but he didn't want to hear it nor did he care. It didn't matter though, we scored that point. We won 15-6.
This was the highlight of the day. We were rolling. All i remember is hearing people yell, "GET THAT MAN A D BAND!" People were possessed everyone wanted a d and no one would let their man catch an easy throw. Everyone was running their asses off; whenever some one came off the field they were weezing and tired, yet still ready to play. This game was the contrapositive of our first game, we played stingy and shiesty defense and were rewarded. Nothing mattered and everyone was laying it on the line. Before the game started we were told that they, Salisbury, were going to play well and efficient and that we needed to really step up and prove ourselves. I guess people get fired up hearing that, and we went insane. 15-9 Win.
Weslyan was seeded second in our pool and had beaten both teams they faced that day. Apparently in their last game one of their stars was injured and their play really slowed down. We ended up beating them pretty swiftly, trading for a while before we broke them a few. The game really highlighted people's ability to catch anything and everything. One point i was on the sideline with some other guys and we watched as one of our guys send a huck on the opposite sideline, the first guy macked it out of his hands and then two defenders followed his lead, macking it to the ground. As it spiraled towards the ground a kid layed out grabbing it literally centimeters before it touched the ground. Brilliant! Overall it was a good game, we played well and everyone got to play. Win 15-9
The next day we played Princeton. Whether everyone was over stuffed from the feast at the Zettels house or what, we started playing real slow and painfully. We started real slow and got broken 3 points in a row before finally getting one off, but as the game went on the athleticism and true tenacity of the our team shined. Our d was playing great and our o was rolling. Final score 14-8.
Sometimes, only sometimes, can you say, "it doesn't matter if you win or lose, it's how you played." This may be one of those times. JMU comes from one of the top regions in the nation Atlantic Coast, they got fourth which is amazing considering their competition is Georgia, Florida and UNC. They started play off very well, they were big on D and even bigger on O; sadly that's not a good thing for us. The game started sorely as we went down early and we went down big. Four straight breaks for them had us begin playing a tighter rotation and made peoples heads slump. We picked it back up but they managed to take half 8-4. This is where people apparently said to themselves, fuck this shit? What the hell are we doing? We started playing harder and harder doing anything and everything to stop them from scoring. We came back to 11-9 and softcap went off; game to 13. They scored the next point making it 12-9. We knew we had to step up, we scored two gruelingly long points consisting of many turns, many ds, and lots of miscues on their part. We clawed our way back in 12-11 but it was too little too late. They managed to get the benefit of a rule we hadn't heard and had to end the game there. 11-12 lose.
We played really well, and i am super excited to play here and hopefully make the A team. I've been busting my ass learning from each thing a veteran has said to me, and been trying to improve my game with each passing day.
Blog
Eh.... what do i say? Hi. Welcome to my blogo-life. It's honestly not going to be a crazy and hilarious journey. I might use this to update on my day to day Ultimate experiences, mishaps, workouts, thoughts and all the other nonsense. So many ideas bubble in my head right now but, i don't actually have the time nor care to type them down. I'll get to it though: one day... soon... i swear.
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