Me, Myself, and I

So i'm going to turn the focus of this blog onto myself. Thinking of it as a self medicating writing experience. A way to vent frustrations, think deeply, and pursue betterment. The other blog will focus on the team, results, recaps, and thoughts.

Each year, i've titled the Blog something new. Last year was Getting Better - basically chronicalling, sporadically, my improvements as a player - and the first year was something about being a rookie - basically, the first time i was on a real ultimate team - odd that i can't remember. So now, this year i intend to step up. Be a big target and provider for the team. Stars have left and new ones will be made, will i be one? Fuck yes.

Finally

The anticipation of our first FULL tournament was killer. Prior to Sectionals we were a team without a purpose, in a somewhat literal and metaphorical way. We practiced, hung out, worked out, pushed each other, laughed together, yelled, fought, drank together but hadn't experienced the point of it all: playing ultimate. Now obviously we played ultimate, but when you play three times a week with the same people, it doesn't really count. So we did our best, as a team we strived for perfection from each other but were still missing the most vital component. Because of four cancelled tournaments, we hadn't become cohesive and hadn't played to any of our potential.  People were getting angsty to play other teams, practices came a bit drearier, and the soul of the team hadn't come out.  Let me say that, when Pitt plays well, with heart, friends, teammates, brothers - hand in hand - we are a force to be reckoned with; a team that plays some balla' ass ultimate.  We hadn't had the chance to do that yet, and

 we were begging for it.

To reiterate, we were REALLY excited to play. I don't remember much of what happened in the first games other then the fact that we were having fun, running our system and because of it running train. I don't remember much other then it being beautiful outside and just being really 

happy and excited to play. Playing was phenomenal. What struck me as i started to cut and move, go deep, go in, whatever was the fact that my teammates are really fucking good. I remember a point at which i literally made five or six incuts and got the disc each time, moved it quickly and got it right back. In practice people are all over my back, getting an incut is - for the most part - a bitch to do, a defender draped on you, a tight throw, basically you have to be perfect. Here i was just jogging around getting the disc at will - an exaggeration, but the point is valid. I do remember getting a breakside cut and pulling a sweet ass drop step for the goal: first drop step evaaaa, definitely invoked my inner Chow.

The Edinboro game was another story; aka not a cake walk. They're a good team. They are dangerous on every possession of the disc because of the ability of each person on the disc: this is mostly Taft or Tad, but it's still a huge threat. The main contributors to the offense can all huck pinpoint hucks and have recievers all who range from 6' to 6'5"; hence, the deep was a bit of a threat. The downside is their total lack of depth. I think they played an eight or nine man rotation the entire weekend, and this is for sectionals. Apparently it ended up working as they got the final bid to regionals beating Penn State - LOLlerskates - badly, something like 13-9. Our game against them seemed really close, but with a second glance at the score it apparently wasn't.  They're defense really isn't anything special and it really confused me why they kept running it when we figured it out and were moving the disc with ease.  

Sunday was a cake walk for the most part. Bucknell, in the finals, was a team that just couldn't hang with us. They had a solid handler and one cutter - everyone else was really just fodder. They may have bagged the game against us, but still aren't anywhere close to the level of play we were bringing. 

Which brings me to a thought about our play. The thing i noticed about this years team is that we are not flashy. We do not get lots of layout Ds or sky tons of people - unless your Tyler and Chris literally throws it 30 feet in the air for no reason whatsoever - we play hard and we play with tons of pressure. That is by no means saying we are not capable, but alot of the turns come from stall 8 or 9 tight throws that are behind the guy or into one of our defenders. The offense seems to be running smoother as the days went on O line looked solid and i think was broken 1 time all weekend (against Edinboro?). The D line offense at points was amazing. My dropstep point was a pinnacle (not to brag or anything). We moved the disc from the opposite goal line to our goal line in probably 15 seconds with at least 10 throws. Moving the disc that fast made us literally unstoppable. 

Now on to the real matter of the day. Who is the front runner for the FOTY?

Alex Thorne

#21

Pros: Doesn't turn the disc over. Alex will not turn the disc over and will still make the big throws when it counts. He throw a goal line to goal line huck for a score and threw a ridiculous high-release bullet-flick breakside for another. He is also great in the air and is a scary little cutter when he wants to be. When this dude bids, it's pretty. 

Cons: Doesn't get any love. With our star studded offense, it's no wonder this little pull catcher doesn't need to do much. When Alex wants to he can kill bitches, but most of the time he really doesn't need to. 

Colin Connor

# 5

Pros: Colin is the glue to our offense. When Colin isn't getting 

the first pass, he is getting the second. He knows the right spaces to find, and knows how to get to them. He can also sky the fuck out of mad bitches. His name is the Coroner for a specific reason. On defense he is tenacious on the mark and gets layout Ds (even on me, i still blame Rakers).  He is also a big thrower. If a flick side break huck is open he will throw it to space: ask Tyler.

Cons: Being a glue man doesn't constitute lots of praise. He works hard and consistently, but unless you're getting the disc every other throw and being a bit of a show off, its hard to get kudos.  Also likes to start fights? Kansas, Edinboro, any others?

Tyler Degirolamo:

#81

Pros: 

Freak athlete. Not only is he the fastest kid on the team, he can jump the highest, is the tallest, and has a fucking INVISIBILITY CLOAK. I swear to god, against Bucknell Tyler jogged through the endzone, wide open, yelled 'Hey I'm open,' of the three defenders in the area no one decided to pick him up. So he clap caught the goal as me and the rest of the sideline were baffled. Oh yeah and then he also gets lots of D's. Hopefully this weekend is more of whats to come from Tyler, but he did get a shit load of sky Ds.

Cons: Still a bit of a freshmen. Throws need to be worked on, but are always improving. Needs to keep his head up when things don't go his way. Tyler needs to keep his cool a little bit more. During the Edinboro game he got a sweet D on some dude (not pictured) and freaked out at him for calling foul. Yes it wasn't a foul, yes we know it was a bitch call - but he did take it back. So just take a breath when someone calls bullshit and call them out on their shenanigans.

Personal frontrunner. A-Theezy. Though he hasn't needed to show up yet, i feel like when he gets a puuuuurdy layout snag for a goal at regionals people will be all up on his jock... fo' sho. Tyler could steal it away if he plays out of his mind like he did at sectionals. And Colin is one back motha fucka, so i can't discount him. Plus he's got the Bird's endorsement.  

Series Time

Cool thing about this picture is that at no time was the grab not within my grasp. I knew from the moment i was chasing it down to the moment i bid, that i would get the disc: it was just a matter of when and where - and to be honest that was the last moment i could have grabbed it. I could have bid sooner and caught it at that three foot horizontal period...eh, you live and learn.

There's not really much else to say... I've been working hard. The team has been working hard. I played well. The team played well. With the series coming shortly... not this weekend, what the fuck... we'll be in prime shape and condition to dominate at regionals.

I'm a bit hurt right now, my wrists got effed up, but i am going to be working hard on my legs to make sure i am in great shape. I also need to buy some medicine to get better, cause i've been sick like a motha for the last few weeks. So all's well in the Andrej camp, hopefully getting better.

Work Hard.
Play Hard.

The Week in Review

All in all, this was a bad week (9 days) of ultimate for myself. But it was a great social week in ultimate for me.

In both tournaments i went to Terminus Club edition and Terminus College edition i played poorly. Why? I don't know. For the club one with Forge, it was a totally different experience. I played with some guys i knew and some i didn't, so i was very happy and excited to see old faces and also excited to meet some new people. But in all this is the strickening feeling that your being judged and that it's a tryout tournament. Not to say this is a bad thing, in fact i thought it was going to be awesome; i wanted to do things people don't usually see me do, perhaps get a chance to make a nice play or two. But continuing...

We played Chain and Ring back to back, both games were an event, yet uneventful (if you understand what that means), in themselves. I don't remember much about the Chain game other then covering my guy and playing good defense on them, i probably screwed up at some point or another, but i felt as though i was hanging - if not more - with Nationals caliber players. On the converse i remember the Ring game pretty well. They were good, not as good as i had imagined - but damn good at that. Three things stick out in my mind.

- Rob is like pretty good at ultimate.

- We threw a really shitty turn and a guy broke deep. No one picked him up, and instead 3 guys surrounded the thrower and hassled him. Neither the thrower nor anyone on the field cared, he simply took his time and found an opening and jacked it to the WIDE open player for a goal. After the point, some guy on the Ring bench yells, "Nice intentional fouling, douchebags." To which both the thrower (Ring player) and everyone else collectively says, I'm paraphrasing, it's not like we've never done it?

- This has been a really reoccurring theme for this week and been pissing me off. I'm getting beat by shitty ultimate. I cover my guy deep, he stops, i stop, begin to front him - since we're 40 yards deep and a huck seems retarded - the huck goes up and with me in a standstill waiting for a movement forward my defender takes off deeper only to receive the disc in the back of the back endzone for a goal. In total this happened to me 4 times on the weekend most notably twice against Penn St.

Against Ring this happened once, i began fronting the guy, i'm guessing they were playing some kind of handler weave nonsense and my guy stops i look at him, turn my head back for the disc, here 'UP,' look up for my guy and mutter words i hate, "Fuckin' balls." I caught up to him, bid over his back, he comes down with it. He said nice play, which made me a feel a bit better (?), but knew i fucked up. It was annoying on two levels. He was 5 inches shorter then me and that was the play i wanted to make and i didn't do it. I hoped the intensity i showed was good, but i was still really disappointed. Later in the finals i saw the same dude grab a disc between two, much bigger, bidding Chain defenders.

Now the week in between was awesome, Spring Break in a fuckin' mountain top mansion. I'm not going into it, but a lot of fun stuff happened. The team officially knows every good line of 12 oz. Mouse and the Chappelle Show, without ever needing to watch them. I've found a new appreciation for hot tubs. I hate baseball world series. I'm not good at poker and Eddie's crazy ways of getting me to pay are awesome. And i need to stop falling asleep at 3AM. But on the Ultimate side of it, it was not good... I think a few of us actually ran around when we found the time. I had a restless morning on Tuesday and went for a jog. It was nice, if not bland, but other then that and throwing a disc 130 yards off the porch of our house, that was the extend of my ultimate training.

This did not pay dividends when it came time for Terminus 2nd ed. I felt slow and i didn't have my 5th gear. The 5th gear used for getting that second acceleration and that second quick step for a D or for a finish to a disc, i just couldn't muster. I remember during the first game against Georgia Tech, Chris threw me a disc deep when i just began a cut in and in my usual motif, i would turn quickly and try to find the gear to go get it, but when i turned i just couldn't do it. It was not a good way to start the weekend.

From there it was a muddle of busying work in the midst of a few good things done well. I thought my zone offense was good, i got a lot of touches and moved the disc efficiently. But other then that, i was out of rhythm and not seeing lanes on the offensive side of the disc. Defense was also poorer then with Forge. I was getting beat to spots i wouldn't have and i was losing match ups that i shouldn't have. I had a few really good spots against Penn and some really low ones. Against Georgia Tech and Tuffs i played well, if not memorably, i remember that anytime my player caught the disc it was a 71% chance of a turnover against Georgia Tech (5/7 total, 3/4 on their main handler/cutter dude), and against Tuffs it was 50% (2/4), Dayton it was 3/5 or 60%. That's not a lot of statistics, but i think that also does show something within itself and i did keep very specific note, considering i didn't make any key plays that i wanted to. Against Penn i didn't have that kind of success i think the guy i covered for most of the game threw back field and the other guy i covered for a point did break me for a goal, lowest point of that game.

I also got really unlucky with that mother fucker. This is the shit i was talking about before, huck went up, i got in position, in this case a bit behind him, pushing forward, the disc is high so i'm going to get the D, and then all of a sudden it dips literally right into his bread basket. I tried to grab it, but he caught it as well, i'm guessing first cause i ended up tangled with him and the disc. I thought for a moment to try to argue, but between his yelling and my embarrassment i let it go saying, that i was going to get the D on him the next throw. I over commit to stop the dump throw to him, find myself on the wrong side, bid for the breakside, and Boom, break goal.

I'm not really going to say much about the team. I thought we had moments of beauty amongst a busying performance overall. I was disappointed in two tactical things. The first being our total lack of physicality. There were not many fouls called against us, and even less so bids. The former may sound like a good thing, but a team built on aggressive under defense, pressure and containment can not be doing it's job if someone isn't pissed off at either the cutter defenders, the handler covers, or the marks. The second is our total lack of defensive cutting and our lack of offensive endzone. Our defensive offense is let the handlers do some shit, and hopefully we'll get a huck off and score, if we get to the endzone we're kinda screwed. Our offensive endzone was impatient at best. Everyone wanted the break side cut and everyone wanted the force side cut. I tried to bring calm during our games against dayton and whatnot, but i don't know if that translated well. Needless to say, it sucked.

Goals for myself now.
Run.
Around a month until the series starts, so that means for the week i took off i need to work harder to get back into shape and get back into great shape.

Throw.
No need to explain, be better, throw better.

Agility.
I've had some good ideas about cutting motions that i want to translate into some individual drills and exercises. I need to get my directional change into top gear.

Without going further, i need to refocus, get my shitty performance out of the way, and start working hard. I will be great.

Attack

Personally, tomorrow i think i need to go out and dominate. One of my last chances before this tournament to show guys what i can do and that i'm a good player. After watching the TiV video my previous thoughts were very accurate. I was hesitant and i lacked an attacking edge. On a total digression, it was funny that i was guarded by Dusty at one point, and during the time i didn't even realize it was him, until i had to mark him. Severly unimpressive.

But continuing... Tomorrow and Thursday's points of interest for myself are in being physical, imposing, dominant, and tireless. I need to get the notion of being perfect out of my head, i don't need to make perfect cuts, get the disc alot, or clear space for other people. Obviously i can't be a deterent in those fields, but i know i shouldn't over think or place them on a pedastool. Whether or not this is a good choice, possibly Weasel, Chris, Eddie and whoever want to see a player who does those things exceptionally, but i don't know. What i do know is that i need to be active and powerful. On the TiV tape as soon as it turns on you see me marking, as the disc gets swung the camera zooms in on the action of marker and thrower, sadly not paying attention to shut down defense i placed on the main handler. It's this kind of thing that i want people to now take notice.

What that takes is a commitment to be tireless. This is something i hold in high, high esteem. Rob, Josh, and Jake are players that i loved to watch and loved to play with: they also emmulate the one thing i need to do now. They're quick, smart, and intelligent with their cuts - but they are also athletic and commited as fuck. Commited to the team, the workouts, their teammates, and they're roles. Now, with this last few waning practices i need to push myself, my body, and my mind to keep moving, cutting, defending, and bidding to show to the team, to myself, that i am worthy of a spot on this team and a spot on the line.

It's late. Time to get mentally focused and well physically.

Icky

This weekend/week have been unproductive. I've been sick, I've been overworked, and I've been down in the dumps. I'm guessing the last is because of the previous, but it really doesn't help. The team practices I've done so far have been going well. I played exactly how i said i wanted to: i used my body, threw myself around and got a few Ds and a few weird ass catches. I could have had a few more but i was still feeling a bit off and a bit unmotivated.

My cardio has gotten worse though - possibly just stunted, not actually worse. I've been very sick, so much so that the congestion really hurts me when i'm doing hard and continuous work. Cutting, playing D, marking, accelerating i felt great, but when i had to do the tumble rolls i was dead as fuck. Chris asked me if i was okay to which i gave him a wheezing, "I'm just sick, I'll be fine." Honestly, it's difficult to breathe when one of your nostrils is working at half capacity, the other dead, and your throat congested with some kind of sickness. On the other hand it is pretty cool to be able to shoot a snot rocket for 10 yards... gross, but cool. My goal for this week is to get better before Ultimax. Whether that means wearing things to keep me warm, or just not playing outside when it's ridiculously cold, or even simply eating better I'm going to have to do it.

Focusing on the team now, i think we're progressing pretty well with defense and offenses... mentality lesser so. Jake called some pretty... Jake-like calls and got the other team aggravated and riled up: i liked it. Everyone started hating each other and the level of the game definitely picked up. The only fear i have is that some people take Jake's and even other team's calls too personally, get to amped up, and then take things beyond themselves. We need to gain a tougher mentality, something i feel like the team has never really had. Whether it's been a bullshit call or getting broken a few times, Pitt has really struggled staying focused in games and making sure that we continue doing things that make us better - the pillars. This goes as far as a team wide mentality and as small as individuals motivations and thoughts. If one person is stuck in their head, they will inevitability affect the teams cog like offense or defense. Whether we need to gel more, get more wins under our belt, or just sit down one on one and make sure our heads are in check our mentality is key to success.

I definitely need to do this. Yet, for me its not a matter of ultimate. I need to be mentally in check before this tournament. I'm getting to work as soon as i finish this post, finishing late homework, finishing late essays, and going to get started on homework due later this week. I've bullshitted for a while now and i need to do my work. I also need to prioritize my financial situation, this is really my one only fear right now. Money sadly doesn't grow out of trees and definitely isn't free. Hmmm... i think what i need is a study buddy, for lack of a better phrase. I need someone who i can motivate to do work (school related) and someone who'll motivate me. Finances are being worked out by me and my mother so it's nothing that anyone can help me out, but someone definitely needs to help me out with my study habits. Then i think everything will start streamlining and start working for me, instead of against me.

Fuck That

I'm bringing this shit back. My tumblr is going to be for myself - to make sure my academics are in line - while this one is going to be a public, more ultimate based forum.

And with that, i need to blog a bit. So as i've realized my academics have really been slipping. Right now that has no true impact, cause all my class are piss easy and - oddly - not moving quickly at all. On the other hand, my body, mind, and ultimate abilities have personally sky rocketed. I've been working hard with Christo and Eddie - spare this last week - and have really seen noticeable improvements in how i play. My cutting has been a bit hesitant and i've been working on that.

During the Oregon game i started as a cutter and it was great, but one thing plagued me the entire time. 'Don't fuck up.' And that really held me back from cutting full speed and working to maximum efficiency. When i did get the disc i was cool, calm, and knew what to do. The problem was the cutting: i wanted to do everything right. I wanted to make space from players, i wanted good hard cuts, i wanted to make my guy to be chasing me, i wanted too much. What i think people saw from this was a lack of play for me. My mind was going a million miles an hour and my body was moving at two. This wasn't true at CCC.

At CCC i played balls to the walls, i remember in the Wisconsin game just making striding cuts up and down the field, defender behind me, always a step behind, moving the disc, making the space, and i think it all came from the fact that i played with confidence. The Oregon game was the first game of the Spring, against a good team, in a big tournament, it was over my head and i was in my head. I don't want to say it showed in the beginning break mark drill, but it obviously did. I didn't throw well, i didn't do the things i usually do with ease.

So now i make a decision. I am confident. This sounds absurd, you can't just tell yourself to be confident. But you can - it's easy. I know i can work hard, i know i can beat my guys, i know i can do it: so i will.

On a quick other note. I need to throw my body around more. It felt great to do it in practice last Thursday, i nearly had it (mostly because Jason didn't realize the importance of D-ing a disc as soon as you can). My one goal right now is to get some great layout bid for a D. This fall i was amped up to do this, i remember repeatedly hitting the ground in the Space Bro tournament: I also got some pretty sweet D's this summer with Zebra. So I know i can do it, i've done it before: let's do it again.

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.

Regional Thoughts

Not winning the region is something that has been on my mind for a while. The game was really rather lopsided unlike the score suggests and we were for some reason in a huge rut. Delaware was a one dimensional team that consisted of bombs from their main handler to their main cutter. They had played a really tough game against Edinboro and we had been rather well rested: demolishing Princeton 15-2. Yet for some unknown reason to me we couldn't even touch them. The score and game was slow, boring, and frustrating. Our cutters couldn't catch and our D line couldn't break. The drops in the game edged into the teens and the unforced errors were much higher. We played shitty. We played slow. And we really didn't preform.

Reflection:

1)
I am really, really proud of the O line. Not only did they keep us alive in the Edinboro game and game us a fighting chance in the Delaware game, they also played nearly flawlessly. I'd rather not put the competition down, but would rather talk up the fact that our O line is really a brilliant, cohesive, gelled unit of guys who really don't take on too much on their hands. They played smart in every game and were truly keeping us alive in a few games when for some reason the D line couldn't score.

2)
I'm rather surprised at the D line. We played unemotional, boring, and without urgency. It was really shocking to watch Delaware put up fucked up, swilly, nonsense bullshit and see their players come down with it. There isn't much to say other then the fact that no one was fired up.

3)
I was talking about this with some one. The D line plays great when the team is fired up and screaming in their ears, but the problem lie with who is on the sideline when the D line is on. It's not that i am bringing fault on the O line for not being excited and urgent, but it's the fact that the mentality they need on the field is not conducive to the emotion the D line needs from the sideline. Chris, Josh, Vatz, Chowder are all very cool, calm individuals, but that's not what the D line needs when the disc is on the sideline, they need people screaming kill, strike, whatever to make sure the turnover is coming.

4)
I'm not really shocked about the RSD posts about us being in the bottom tier of the Nationals rankings, but honestly, i don't understand what people see when they put us in the bottom 4. I'm perfectly fine with, somewhat excited about the upsets we're going to make. Vatz, Weasel, and I were talking about it after regionals and we are going to be the shittiest draw for a 3/4 seed in our pool as we come in with an underdog mentality and a yearning to win the pool. Much like what happened at UCCs last year where pool D turned over, i have a feeling we're going to make a lot of people upset and a lot of noise. I know there won't be any lack of urgency or complacency from the sideline, or from the players on the field so i'm truly excited.

That is all. Otherwise i am just pissed the someone stole my camera.

Chumps

Adam

- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -
> On Apr 18, 6:24 pm, Jeffy wrote:

For reals, Pitt won't win the region. They have played very few teams
in their region. They'll get second though.

I like what Rob talked about at this practice. He said that he wanted to win the region handily, to show everyone that even though we are in the ME we are not an ME team. I think this is a perfect example of the kind of people that i want to look in the face, after we demolish them, and say, "really?" Our wins at Centex and other tournaments have put us in the limelight, but it's not cause we're lucky: it's because we worked our asses off. And that's the difference between us and Hofstra. We have a legion of athletes that have a passion for the game, we're all willing to work our asses off, shift schedules, and miss class for ultimate. We are willing to put money, time, and energy into something we find to be a once in a lifetime experience.

Honestly, i'm not shocked that people think they can beat us, but it makes me laugh when they have no idea what the fuck they are talking about. We have beaten teams that would trounce all the teams in the ME, we dominated everyone at Roll Call, we had a minor brainfart with Penn but then we taught everyone else a lesson. I can't wait to come into regionals and play it as though it was sectionals. What i mean is not that we take it for granted, but that the score lines look like sectionals. I want us to be intense from game 1, and not give anything until the day is over. We can do it, we know we can. We beat some of the best teams with that attitude, now imagine playing chumps with that attitude: complete domination. Let's rev up into regionals and keep the intensity going. I want to see at least 7 layout ds a game, two callahans, and no breaks: i want to make the sickest highlight video, i want us to play how we know we can, i want to win the region. Let's fucking do it Pitt!

Blessing in Disguise

For my epically cunt-acular, emo, shit post. I feel the need to redeem myself with yet another interesting thought i just had.

Could my ankle injury be a blessing in disguise?

My groin injury has persisted even though it's been over 6 months- possibly because i didn't do any physical training, and didn't give myself the proper recovery time. So what does this 2 week static Andrej phase mean, or could possibly mean? A fully recovered Andrej! Woah. I haven't actually thought of that in quite a long time. I have been at 80% speed for the last few months even with my brace and nonsense: so this could be an unprecedented fully recovery for me. Yet i feel as though if i remain completely idle i will only recover half way. Much like what happened over the first half of winter break, which led to a second repulling after i attempted to do 2 a days.

What this means is I'll be going to the gym and swimming pool area over the next week to keep as inshape as possible, but also to try to recuperate my groin and ankle. Sadly i will most likely not be in functioning form for Sectionals but will do my best to be 100% for Regionals and Nationals. I realize missing Sectionals is big, but with the idea of PT i have for myself, I'm hoping it will show in practice that i am a fully fit and fully capable defender.

I also have my camera and am hoping to film as much of the series as possible and make highlight videos of everything ASAP. Current idea, one week after every event have the videos done.

Clarification

To clarify, sorry to anyone who thought i was a bitchy little twat. All i wanted to do was put some anxiety i had out of my head. This was possibly not the best time with the series under our noses: for that i apologize.

I am still working hard, doing whatever i can to get better. I hold no animosity towards anyone, in all honesty, i'm proud to be everyone's teammate right now. It's truly a great thing to watch everyone in their peak performance right now. Keep working hard Pitt. Let's make some noise.

On another note i am really impressed to see how many people read my blog.

Pillars

Move the Disc

Don't get beat In or Up line

Don't Let Hucks go Uncontested

Energy from Sidelines

This is not a person to person mentality. This is a fucking team mentality, you don't fucking get to pick and chose what you want to do. Play as an individual and lose. Play as a team and play well. No excuses, do your job, play as a team. This is what we are based around, but if people decided to ignore and play their own game we slow down, get frustrated, turn the disc over, and lose.

We're fucking good. Let's realize it. Let's get our shit together Pitt.

Mourning Aftermath

Lately, I've been listening to Sage Francis. He's actually one of my favorite rappers, mainly because he is lyrical and very different. I don't like the whole gangster rap, bitches and hoes, rich bitch shit; I'm about actual music, not the ridiculousness behind them. But i digress. The reason i say all of this is that all my titles have come from his music, titles, and CD's. I don't actually think this is pertinent to my blog post, but just a fun little factoid.

So here's my deal. I feel like ultimate itself has been on the back burner recently. It's weird to say and think about, but when i take a step back, i can't say that i have progressed in ultimate at the moment. My throws have gotten exponentially better, my fitness has gotten better, and my knowledge of the game has gotten better. But i still haven't improved as a player. I know i sound retarded right? But bare with me.

Cutting, playing defense, throwing to space, skying, laying out is what ultimate is about. I have learned about it, but i have not done it. It's like that philosophical example. Jane learns everything in a bubble, she only knows about things through books, she lives in a black and white world, no color, nothing but books. When she steps outside and sees a red apple, does she learn something new, even if she has "learned" about it. The answer is yes. And it's an obvious one. It makes sense right, experience and knowledge together will build.

So this is my deal, i will probably not transform as a player until maybe, hopefully sectionals. I'm honest with myself. I know i won't play at Stanford, at Centex, and i know it's because I'm not a great player. I understand that. I know I'll play maybe 5 or 6 points total at a tournament and that i should take it to heart and take as much as i can from them all. But the thing is, playing 5 points were no one expects much from you does not a player build.

Here's my point or remark. Rob, Nick, Wes, Brent, Sean were all like me at one point. Maybe they were better, maybe they were worse, that's not the point. What I'm saying is, they were inexperienced players; they threw a throw behind someone as they cut to them, they may not have layed out when they could have, they maybe have been beaten deep, skyed, ded whatever; but they learned, from each of those experience you learn something. Each of those games, where they won or lost, they learned something about themselves, their opponents, tendencies, anything. But now as the team gets better and better, the stakes grow and there is less room for error.

Some will say practice is that time for you to grow and learn. Which i agree with completely, the more that you practice the better you get. Yet here's the deal. You will eventually guard everyone on the team, you will learn about them and they will learn about you. It becomes monotonous and monotony does not promote growth. Which is why tournaments become, maybe, the most important thing to the growth of a player.

From playing at Collegiates i learned so much. I played maybe nine or ten points in those first few games before getting injured, but i learned so much. I learned a bit about how to cut, i learned how to play ho-D, i learned some things about guarding in cuts, out cuts, deeps, everything. And it all happened in those first two games. It was amazing, i felt like i had learned a whole new facet of the game. I was exposed to new players, new tendencies, new cuts, new threats, and from each of those things i gained at least one valuable thing.

I may have made this remark in a prior post, but it's a valuable one. I had talked to Weasel at Collegiates, and had told him that when i attempted to restart playing on the Sunday of the tournament, and had made some obviously freshmen mistakes and dumb ones, that i beat myself up about, i felt as though it was because of the time i had been injured the other day. It sounds odd right. How can i say that the time i had missed from the day before could possibly affect me? Easily. We played 5 games. That's 5 opponents with different players, different plays, different tendencies, different everything.

Honestly, i think i have the best attitude about my situation now. I admit i was pissed after QCTU because i had played 4 points on the weekend, and i had every right to be. I understand i had just come back from injury, but i couldn't grasp how i didn't play in the first game where we had beaten VU by 8 or 9? Whatever I'm over it. This isn't the attitude i was talking about. I had an idea that i wouldn't play a lot of points, i told Nick that weekend that we weren't going to play like the veterans, and he was shocked, i actually just hadn't recognized the magnitude that this was true. My wave length was this, "I will play enough points to learn things and be able to take ways of changing my game to improve it." What i ended up with was a shaky resolve and a disheartened out look.

That was my attitude after QCTU. But, after the first week of being mopey, of being a little pissy, i said to myself, "fuck that, I'm not breezing through my freshmen year, being pissy and sitting around not caring." So what did i do. I worked my ass of at practices and still have. I started retraining in swimming. I've started running at nights to make up for missing track practices. I've done everything shy of skipping classes to lift, to improve myself. My backhand is now very respectable, i can fight through an Eddie mark. I can pivot better (it's really not that impressive, but it's better then ever before). I've learned a lot more about cutting and defending. I've regained a sturdy resolve, I've realized being a bitch isn't going to get me playing time. Work is.

This all brings me back to my first point. I've worked hard outside of ultimate. I've improved myself as a player, but does my play actually follow suit? I don't think so. Sadly, i know this. I won't get better at throwing a backhand unless i get a stiff mark and have to throw to a player who is being guarded tight. I won't get to defend unless I'm fighting with a guy to get a disc in the air. But does that dishearten me like it did after QCTU. I'd like to say no. I know I've worked hard prior to this coming season, and i know i can say that I'm not ashamed or regret anything i did - following my injury - and hopefully it gets me somewhere.

Complacency

Complacency is my school life right now. I'm at an attitude of "I don't really care and I'm fine." That's not good. A few weeks ago i was a head of the game, working hard, everyday, got my homework done, studying all the time... etc. The thing is, it wasn't bad. I didn't feel overwhelmed and i didn't not like it. So why am i now being a bitch, and not doing my work? Why? I think it's very simple. I fell one step behind. One step behind, and i said fuck that. It's weird i worked really hard, but then totally forgot to watch a movie and write a summary, so i got dismayed. The thing is, I've made up my mind. I'm done being a little pansy and this shit happening. I'm starting my hard work ethic in school and busting my ass. I'm behind in a few classes and have skipped one too many classes of Math Theory; so now i know that i have to work.

On the contra positive, i'm not complacent with ultimate and practicing. The diesel and myself have been to the pool, he loved it and so did i. It got my shoulder and biceps and triceps really working, and DZ was complaining about it a day after the fact, so he knows its a good thing. Swimming is going to be my alternative to hardcore lifting; my schedule at the moment has been hectic and will most likely stay that way. Therefore i've decided swimming will become one of my main exercise routines. Running is top priority, then my throwing, then my overall size. Size is not really a factor right now, i'm huge and am comparatively to everyone else on the team. Running and my cardio has been hurting real bad because i have been sick, but i'm constantly working on it. I haven't really been able to breathe well/at all and when i ran 800s it really showed; i was drained, mainly because i didn't have enough oxygen and my muscles didn't feel fatigued but like near failure. Swimming is going to help me a) rebuild some lost muscles, b) work on my cardio, c) get me back into great shape. It was great watching DZ really struggle but still try to push through and keep working. I helped him learn some stuff about form and stroke and he really enjoyed the total workout.

On another note: I quit the BBoard.

Introspective Look

I've been a little upset over the last few days. I can't believe i stopped swimming. I mean, wow. It was my life; i had lots of friends, had lots of fun, and was very good at it. I recently looked over the Pittsburgh top times and other non-sense, and saw the 100 butterfly top times of this year. God fucking damn it my best time would have been like 3rd or maybe 4th. This all comes at the light of Ricky and his stardom at the moment. For those of you who don't know who i am talking about google "Ricky Henahan." He's a good friend of mine, who iv'e sadly not been in superb contact with. We are really best friends, we can hang out anytime and just good around. The thing is Ricky has been, even though he is younger, kinda of someone i looked up to. He was bigger, faster, and an all around better swimmer. He inspired me. Ricky and I always talked about the most random shit and had insane things to talk about; i remember drives to Fairport during which i taught Ricky the proper way to tell a girl to leave him alone, and the proper way of burning a bridge - both of these are obscene sexual gesture, which i care not to discuss.

The thing is, I've decided i love Ultimate. I love it so much. But swimming is still there. My unrequited love. How pathetic, ha. It's not so much that i miss working my ass of 2 hours in the morning and afternoon, to be tired and not be able to do anything with any one, but it's that i miss being great and being apart of a team that was exceptional. FAST (Fairport Area Swim Team) was the club that i swam for 3 years and had devoted a good portion of my life. My best friends were from there, my best memories are there, my greatest moments are there. I gained some of the best friends from swimming; Ricky, Todd, Brad, Dan, Hailey, Will... the list goes on. They were people i loved to be around: they would call me up, i would call them up, we'd have bon-fires, hang out, play halo, drive around for hours, eat ice cream.... everything. I lived a grand and hilarious life. Elias, our whipping boy, reminds me of the best story bar none:

Traditionally, after home/away meets we would celebrate our win, or drown our sorrows at our local BK. It had been a tradition followed for around 7 years, and was a great one. The thing about Elias Homerin is that he isn't normal. He has 3 balls, is somewhat disturbed, has a foot fetish, and is an absolute retard- but he was so loyal and annoying it hurt. He is Ricky's bitch, and was mine for the ladder half of my swimming career. On a side note, he has actually gotten a hell of a lot better, he made states and is becoming a decent swimmer, even though he has no form and is annoying as ever. But, i digress. BK, Elias, mischief. It all started after some meet we had lost, probably a meet Ricky and i had won in our events but the rest of our shit team couldn't even swim in, we got there before Elias and his van of people, and set down to eat our Grilled Chicken Sandwiches. Out of the corner of my ear, i hear an Elias retard noise (he makes wierd noises, and there is no point to them), so i ignore it. Two minutes later Elias and the rest of the people with him come back in tears, Elias was foodless, and everyone else couldnt stop laughing. What had happened? Elias had 7 dollars to spend, Elias is not normal, he spent 10 dollars, he asked if he could borrow the rest of the money.... from the lady at the counter. "I just need three dollars, can i just borrow it. I come here often, i'll pay you back." This story was awarded the "I'll Pay You Back" paper plate award.

Yet, why... why in a semi ultimate related blog, do i bring this up? I haven't had any of these moments yet. I feel a bit adrift in college life and i feel a little isolated. I think it's due to my nature. When i was at FAST i was forced into being with people, High School was an obvious duh, and i didn't worry about much. Now i am forced to think about my FAFSA forms, my next year living condition, working hard, working for money, making sure i had enough money, paying for tournaments, it's become overwhelming. I don't think it's so much overwhelming as much as i am just distressed. I need a friend to vent to, someone willing to put up with shit and help motivate me. With Ricky gone, and swimming for the moment on retainer, i feel empty and feel that i need something or someone to push me. Personally self motivation for me doesn't work. Seeing someone in lane 2 swimming next to you, and saying "fuck that I'm not losing to him" does push me. Ricky, for no particular reason other then being good and being a friend, pushed me to being a great swimmer - something i regret now completely giving up. Yet now i search for someone to push me to become a great ultimate player. Someone who will push me, care about me, and care about my struggle. I'm not clingy, I really don't think I am, I just want to be able to say, "Yeah he's my friend, he pushes me hard, and i really appreciate it."

Determination

I will be the best.

I will catch every disc.

I will out run, out jump, out play everyone.

I will run the best players into the ground.

I will d anyone.

I will sky anyone.

I will not be beaten.

I will never give up.

I will not get d-ed.

I will not falter.

You train everyday. You give yourself everyday. Why? To be the best. Set goals high and keep them there; the higher you strive, the harder you have to work.

En Sockeye Nur

It's official, as i predicted our jerseys came out mega sockeye-esque.

Sockeye:
Sabah:

Not much to say right now. Gonna wrap my groin up and attempt to do a full practice tomorrow.

I'll write a full blog tomorrow. It'll be good, it's been simmering for a while.

Bump

So here's the deal. I have 110 posts on the bboard.To my knowledge i didn't know there was "post stuffing." I mean isn't anything written in a forum to some effect post stuffing. I understand that if someons is just saying "k" or "hahah"or "lol", then they're just bullshitting posts and their total count, but as far as i've known i haven't been that ridiculous. There are maybe two that i actually think i have to take credit for, and one was because Brad asked if there was a cost difference to our two spring break choices, and i came along and just said "Jake says they're negligible." I realize now that he probably could have read the forum to find out the answer to this silly question, but i responded. Another one i did just in spite of this nonsense, the post i responded was the following:

Ben_Ristau wrote: It's polite and cuts down on bboard clutter.

David_Lionetti wrote: But then how can you possibly expect to artificially inflate your post count?

David_Vatz wrote: Good point

To which i eloquently responded "bump." I mean come on. HILARIOUS!

Alrighty, now that i've got that off my chest. I've been kind of aggravated considering i haven't been able to run or do some of the leg things with the team. I've realized that i need to heal up and that i shouldn't push myself just because i want to do something. Meaning, i shouldn't force myself to run, if i know I'm going to hurt myself, just because i need to get into better conditioned shape. So i've done a vast amount of abs, which is doing my good and i've been throwing plenty. The ladder is great. My backhand has finally come to be a respectable throw and my huck is actually really nice, both backhand and flick. Needless to say i've been working my ass off. I do the nine minute abs routine a few times a week and i do push up regularly. I don't know how everything is going to fall into pieces, meaning my season and my workouts, but i know that if i just keep working throw, rehab my groin, get to full speed, that everything will workout one way or another.

On another note, i've had this reoccuring... sort of... horror moment. I don't know why, but i know that it's not true and it's literally never going to happened. I have this ridiculous idea, possible because of my lack of playing in along time, that i am going to suck REALLY, REALLY bad. It all boils down to me being like completely incompetent, the horror scenario. It plays out something like this: D-line, running down the pull i am totally out of breathe and can barely run down, my man is fast, deadly, and smart, and i can't touch him, and to top it all off i get lay out d-ed a whole bunch. The thing is, the last time i played was at the UNC tournament, i was injured and i couldn't run, i was half dead, and was not prepared for good defenders, so i just got wiped all over the field. Me and weasel had talked about it after the game; i told him that i felt like the rookies that got to play all the games on Saturday (of the tournament) and contribute in some minor way gained an abundance of experience and knowledge about how good the teams were. When i jumped in half way through the quarter final game on Sunday i was totally out of my league: and we were playing some chump team... I've realized i just need to scrimmage and play my best and hardest during practices and tournaments (for the few points a may play).

Finally, jerseys. I'm a big fan of Nick's designs. I loved the Pitt man in the block lettering, i thought it was a really good idea, but apparently it's "too busy." Well at the moment our jerseys are too boring. The deal with the colors, as i had told the Bird, was i was going to vote for blue or gold, it would be together, and if i was going to vote for white and black, i would once again vote for them together- but to my surprise it came out half and half, which may or may not be bad. We're also taking a big page out of the Sockeye book. Currently it looks like we may have numbers on the front too, which i am a proponent of and think looks very professional; along with that there are the sick shorts which also seem vaguely sockeye-esque. Overall i am a big fan, and i can't wait to see/wear them.

It's like i told Charlie, i feel like we're a team right now, but when we get our jerseys we ARE a team.