Alumni: Thanks
Nick Rivers put it best when he said, the Alumni are why and how we play. If it wasn't for Sean, Brent, Fraggle, Talle, Stu yada yada yada.... we wouldn't be the team we are now. Not as successful, not as funny, not Pittsburgh Ultimate. This post is just a strong appreciation for all those who came before me, and all those that will precede me: thank you.
Georgia Slowdown
There is nothing much to say about CCC on the whole. It was a good tournament to see what the Spring team will look like, see what we have to work on, and see the players and their capabilities. I felt like we achieved that, at least to an extent that a fall tournament can show you. There were quite a few slowdowns that i feel like all are because of one complex problem. The problem I really saw and lamented on was our idea of subbing and how it should work. Let me first just approach the bench and say that, i am in no way displeased or unappreciative of either PT or where i played.
The problem that i see is the one that i saw last year too. We will play our best players tired. Honestly, we harped on it this weekend that veteran players who are exhausted will not be playing over fresh rookies. It happened. It happened alot. I understand that a rookie is not a someone you want on your O line if you really need to score, or if you really need a break you can't take out your best defender, but something does need to change.
I think i read in Eddie's blog that the team is going to take a more active approach in subbing, in the sense that even the tight O line will have a few active subs, and this is in my opinion the correct way. Last year - i bring up last year because a) i can't see into the future and b) because last year was when it was the most prominent - we had roughly two lines worth of players that were the go to guys and if a game was close or remotely close those are the guys who would be playing alot. If Ultimate was not a tournament based sport this would be perfectly fine, you play your best because at most there might be 33 points and you have subs so whatever - but it's not. This is a tournament sport and we have 21 or whatever guys.
Having six to eight guys not see a lot of PT in a game has many drawbacks. First and foremost is the fatigue the others take. We are all not Tim Gehret, we can not play 17 of 20 points and be solid rocks. No one who has played 4 to 5 points in a row can say that he is 100%, and if he does he is lieing or, is not working hard enough. The second is the morale of the sideline and the a fore mentioned players. It's not surprising our sideline becomes lulled when players have little emotional attachment to a game. Being out of a game and not playing is hard, it's hard to just sit and watch and say, i wonder how i would have played. But now if the sidelines are lull how is the team suppose to be up and active in a game.
Rookies and players in general have a more crystalline memory - i'm envoking some sweet psychology information. There is a theory that older people have a much more crystalline memory and happiness mechanic, what this means is that if they see their grand children every two to three weeks they will be happy with those small few moments for a longer time, while a younger person has a more fluid happiness (happiness comes and goes). I feel this also applies easily to Ultimate. If you are out of a game for ten points, you will be not as good in the one or two points you may play: basically you are either upset and can't get up for the game, or you're injured and actually can't get up for the game. On the other hand, playing two points every three or four rotations keeps you happier and more involved.
All i am saying is that when we start going on runs of Defensive breaks, you need to start subbing more evenly. Whether that means taking the sockeye method and making Pods of rotations or something crazier. Basically people need to play to learn, to grow, to be active. I don't think it will be a big problem this year, i actually feel like was better then last year and it got the job done. I think the POD system is really cool and would be great to implicate on this team. The tough part of all of this is that you want to WIN games, it's not a matter of always being happy and having people like you. This is a sport and people want to WIN.
Sharing some thoughts.
The problem that i see is the one that i saw last year too. We will play our best players tired. Honestly, we harped on it this weekend that veteran players who are exhausted will not be playing over fresh rookies. It happened. It happened alot. I understand that a rookie is not a someone you want on your O line if you really need to score, or if you really need a break you can't take out your best defender, but something does need to change.
I think i read in Eddie's blog that the team is going to take a more active approach in subbing, in the sense that even the tight O line will have a few active subs, and this is in my opinion the correct way. Last year - i bring up last year because a) i can't see into the future and b) because last year was when it was the most prominent - we had roughly two lines worth of players that were the go to guys and if a game was close or remotely close those are the guys who would be playing alot. If Ultimate was not a tournament based sport this would be perfectly fine, you play your best because at most there might be 33 points and you have subs so whatever - but it's not. This is a tournament sport and we have 21 or whatever guys.
Having six to eight guys not see a lot of PT in a game has many drawbacks. First and foremost is the fatigue the others take. We are all not Tim Gehret, we can not play 17 of 20 points and be solid rocks. No one who has played 4 to 5 points in a row can say that he is 100%, and if he does he is lieing or, is not working hard enough. The second is the morale of the sideline and the a fore mentioned players. It's not surprising our sideline becomes lulled when players have little emotional attachment to a game. Being out of a game and not playing is hard, it's hard to just sit and watch and say, i wonder how i would have played. But now if the sidelines are lull how is the team suppose to be up and active in a game.
Rookies and players in general have a more crystalline memory - i'm envoking some sweet psychology information. There is a theory that older people have a much more crystalline memory and happiness mechanic, what this means is that if they see their grand children every two to three weeks they will be happy with those small few moments for a longer time, while a younger person has a more fluid happiness (happiness comes and goes). I feel this also applies easily to Ultimate. If you are out of a game for ten points, you will be not as good in the one or two points you may play: basically you are either upset and can't get up for the game, or you're injured and actually can't get up for the game. On the other hand, playing two points every three or four rotations keeps you happier and more involved.
All i am saying is that when we start going on runs of Defensive breaks, you need to start subbing more evenly. Whether that means taking the sockeye method and making Pods of rotations or something crazier. Basically people need to play to learn, to grow, to be active. I don't think it will be a big problem this year, i actually feel like was better then last year and it got the job done. I think the POD system is really cool and would be great to implicate on this team. The tough part of all of this is that you want to WIN games, it's not a matter of always being happy and having people like you. This is a sport and people want to WIN.
Sharing some thoughts.
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