Sunday, October 22, 2006

personal process, group outcome

well, that is what i think playing 'pick-up' ultimate.

personal process: "i am going to play reasonably hard defense for at least 2 turnovers." "i am not going to get angry when my foolish efforts to be a downfield cutter are stymied by other people running around in a manner that could be well simulated by pouring dye into a running mixer (i was going to say toilet. i have matured)." "i'm going to handblock the crap out of this high school kid who has 7 times refused to throw it to the obviously open cutter, whether guy or gal"

group outcome... "oh, for the love of god, will someone just go? they are forcing BACKHAND (i'm lefty)" and, "no really, flat mark, trust me, it's 5 more throws and it's not like anyone is in position any way," and, "let's just play zone"

well in all serious, i admit the little devil on my shoulder shouting in a high pitched voice (is it physically impossible for a miniature devils to have a deep voice? or am i attaching too much significance to the movies?) has made me think of some of the above... but when i play pick-up ultimate, i am constantly amazed by concepts that are anathema to me (or are they anathematic. i don't know. i had a ex who took albuterol for her anathsma)... like... let's work on the short game... let's get everyone involved... they are new, let them pick it up...

see, people are messed up.

let's work on the short game?! why? are we developing dynamic rapport amongst our handler corps so they can over time develop the subtle communication necessary to become the dominant 1-2 punch of this pick-up game?

let's get everyone involved?! i don't know, i guess i'm just horribly horribly obsessed, but when i first learned to play i had this unreasonable fixation on scoring goals and playing defense. frankly, i was a little nervous that if i tried to force a forehand, it might cause 1) me to play more defense and 2) my team mates... oh, i have to be honest... i was always just concerned that i would have to play more defense...

they are new, let them pick it up. you have to be effin' kiddin' me. are you just trying to make them feel bad, or what? what about saying... hey, next time you get a 'd', pretend you are going to pick it up, and then take off and i'll throw you the bomb?

now let me be clear: i'm a big fan of team process goals for, well, teams... like, developing an offense at the expense of early season wins, or scoring alone... or developing a defensive scheme that means you suffer for a while... oh heck, just turn everything i just said around, apply a little intelligence (DON'T use common sense, it doesn't exist) and there might be lessons for national bound teams...

which is interesting: outcome goals, DoG's assertation that their PlugandChug (AdF) offense is radically different than west coast Huck n' Hope (tTM), well, it's just less hucking than they used to, and less than some. But honestly, for DoG, still, the threat of a huck is always there, as it is for all elite teams... Even now, perhaps beyond their salad days, the threat of someone speedy taking off meant you would have to accept SOME amount of bowling alley cuts, and short gainers, and down field dumps...

moving on, in my own inimitable stream of conciousness way (note, i do actually write w/ caps and puncs, just not on my blog), my theory is that west coast HnH grew out of the earlier rise of 4-3 coed on the left coast, more space, more huck.

so boston gains a lot of credibillity w/ me in that i ASSUME they work on process early, at the expense of outcome (w/ pretty good outcomes coming from talent and experience), w/ a true plan of finishing well. but please comment on the much lauded boston/furious semi final 4 turnover game... did furious get 2 turnovers playing HNH, or is it more likely that in a true, good game, there is a certain similarity in the plays of the teams? i don't know. i was playing one field over. not much. losing, but playing...

meanwhile, the west coast teams are also working on process goals, but they focus more on HnH? and break marks? i don't know... i'm retired... until apparently next year...

i think there is more to be said here, but, my limitations are obvious. i don't care enough to save and edit this tale...

this week, i was tailing off the running... i.e., the shorter faster things would be appropriate if i was jetting' to 'sota, but i'm not, so i'm back to base training...

yesterday, about 60 miles biking (40 in a single ride), 45 minutes of roller skiing... today, oh, 20 miles of biking, 12 miles of roller skiing (like 1:10 or so, fell), 2 hours of frisbee (dove and landed on the EXACT same spot i fell on, one neato catch on overthrown pass on comback w/ a high trailing edge catch and a pull from behind the opponents ear). and some juggling... Got Mills mess, yeah!, and a new uni-bike (tm, sounds much cooler than unicycle, if you feel compelled to make the obvious observation assume it's the origin of the name, not the other way around) PR of starting w/ nothing to lean on, and then 1500 feet over varied hills and such...

frisbee was fun, i dove a little, few handblocks, caught some neat stuff, hucked and hoped...

oh, mildly irritated, when i offered the new player some advice : "would you like some advice (does everyone ask?!)" and heard some mediocre player who thinks i'm a ball hog say, "just say no"...

state of the bod, good, foot a little achy, but only after a lot of time on my feet this weekend... and i bought another new pair of shoes (note, i'm not a collector, i just go through running shoes fast)

dinner: new current fast food recipe...
1.5-2" of pasta
1 bag of mixed fresh veggies... poke holes in it, microwave for 4 minutes (i'm probably carcinogenating the crap out it, but it says to do so on the bag, so the material is at least moderately up to the challenge, and no ecoli),
2 large frozen chicken breasts, micro thawed, and grilled
healthy dose of decent off the shelf teriyaki sauce...
enjoy...

this week is just short running, sprints and easy runs as we prep for districts.
i will get to roller ski a lot after each practice(not much time before snow fall precludes this), it's strengthening some basic muscles, and identifying the holes in my game (my V2 stroke) that i can more cofortably work on when i'm on snow... the parking lot at the nearby middle school where i unibike is nicely lit...

the girls look pretty good, but the top girl broke her femur 10 meters from the finish (Where she might have gone sub 18:00 for a 5 K... likely number one in the state)... but they should qualify... they just aren't the number one team any more...

and the boys need a really good race to go to state...

and did you see the pics of the kid getting molested by the deer on NPR? well, he'll be at summit in 2 years...

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

broke her femur 10 meters from the finish? how can that not be a blog worthy story?

at least post us a link, ya?

parinella said...

In the DoG/Furious game of 2002, they did indeed huck more than we did. Half of their turnovers came on a classic HnH bomb, a pass that went 70 yards when 68 yards would have been a completion. They were deadly on hucks from midfield, though. On the videos of 2006 play, I see lots of hucks coming from the brick mark or further away. That, to me, is something that distinguishes HnH from a sensible long game.

I guess there is another qualifier Luke alludes to when he said "they are forcing (me) BACKHAND". A sensible long game (SLG (TM)?) will look to get it to a few key huckers in power positions (which could be on a stoppage with the right thrower and force). HnH has lots of people hucking from all over the field, forehand or backhand, after comeback cuts or leading passes, crossfield or straight downfield. I would expect that teams that I might mistakenly label as HnH actually refine their long games over the course of the year, and the long cuts are created rather than just happening. Oddly, I think this actually makes the offense more predictable, but a) few if any defenses will know the O well enough to be able to predict it, b) few if any defenses will be able to react in time if they do predict it, and c) the offense will have options if the D does react (take the bowling alley cuts (is it still "bowling alley" if it's a ho stack and the cut is up the center of the field?)).

Luke said...

i think it's very challenging for any defender actually engaged in raising the stall count (always a PRETTY good tactic) to be in the best position to stop the HnH (SLG) TM. Now, if you are willing to give up on the easy under, always seeing the field, well,,,... yeah... but a decent space clearing offense makes it hard to stop slg... i.e.,, you poach off me to help deep as a going concern... i can drift in and receive an easy break, or an easy second pass continuation... assuming decent stack management... which is non existent in the context of pickup play that i mentioned...

i hope the average reader liked the humor of the 'half their turnovers comment'... see, that would be '1'.

the challenge of blogdom, is am i writing for the literally dozens of readers directed here by idris' meta blog... or am i writing for the few readers that pause, reflect... and get it... happy medium is my goal...

hence, my teriyaki recipe