killin time

Listening to the Black Eyed Peas, and killing time before the Teacher's meeting. 4 hours that could better be spent lesson planning. Oh well. A reality of any job with a boss is management meetings.

Goals for the day:
Finish off my US History Curriculum (for next few weeks, at least)
Start Religions of World Curriculum (see above)
Kick High School Butt in mini.

While yelling ridiculous things like "THIS IS MY LABOR DAY THIS IS MY LABOR DAY"

'Relevant Reading' to finish this Weekend
Nothing Like it in the World, Ambrose. Dealing w/ TransContinental RR.

summit

Team Time Trial today. I had to work, so I didn't get to see it, but the results are impressive. This years girls, led by some really talented frosh (the number 1 runner) equaled last years Oregon Bronze medalists (Summit), and our boys team this year is unreal. We should get at least 5 runners below 17, which makes it reasonable to talk about notable performances at states. Of course, this was just 3 kilometers, and states is a ways off...

Speaking of work, I'm cranking. With 3 more work days before the kids arrive (I guess I'm allowed to work on the labor day weekend, but...) I'm getting there. I'm several weeks ahead in World History. Tommorrow, I'll work up my rough syllabus revision for U.S.

Interestingly, we've got some new web features, so I'll be able to post syllabus, lecture notes, readings in .pdf, etc. for kids who get sick, etc. I've not received my user i.d. and such, but it is apparently, kind of blog like.

My goal this year is to increase the amount of primary source reading (for example, Bismarck's explantion of why France must be crushed) AND develop some relevant games and sims. Honestly, the games will have an entertainment component as well, but 30 minutes out of 540 each week doing education 'lite' will probably just help keep things moving. Besides, I'm kind of 'anti-movie' so this is the carrot to the stick of higher expectations for reading and writing.

In other news, seriously, did you know new orleans is below sea level? I think i'd have left.

On the excercise front, Sunday, 18 mile road ride, frisbee in evening, monday, 5 mile run, evening frisbee. Today, relative rest. I've got some kindof knee-itis from 3 weeks of doubles... but I'm hopeful that as school starts and i only can work out w/ the team, the 'relative' rest will fix me up. I'm also doing all sorts of core strengthening, and icing and stretching, and trying to eat well.

Sectionals in a couple weeks, with the return of a couple noted players from the past. Guess their names and receive a prize. Not really doing anything in particular to train up for it (as in speed work, etc.) but I'm staying more or less on top of throwing... it finally seems to be getting back to pre - fracture form.

That's all.

bloggin the glory.

Alex has taken the low road to comment glory. Asking fribee players to talk about injuries is like asking a... nerd to talk about linux? a skier to talk about gear? a redneck to talk about nascar? you get the idea.

Me, I have no pith today. I'm kind of tuckered out. Wednesday night I played disc with the kids, then thursday morning ran, then played 'men's team practice' last night, then, a short adventure run (probably 1.75 hours of running around in the woods trying to decipher a VERY bad map) then playing some ultimate this evening.

I'm reading Nothing Like it in the World by noted plagiarist Stephen Ambrose in anticipation of starting US history with a discussion of the transformation of the American west (HS US starts after War of Northern Aggression and Reconstruction). I think modern world history starts with French Revolution and Napoleon, then continues w/ a long and uninterrupted series of other wars. I'm also teaching AP US govt, and Religions of the World. The AP class is going to be a bear, at least as far as grading goes...

I think I've read like 40 plus books this summer, and watched a like (maybe more) number of movies... Now the fun is drawing to a close. I suspect that my days will go like this...

up at 6:00, breakfast, coffee, bike to school
7:15-8:00 office time, coffee, make copies.
8-8:25 prep, coffee, lesson planning, read paper, grade papers.
8:30 - 2:45 teach
3-5 XC practice (then ski practice in november, then frisbee practice in february)
5- 10 grade... read, eat...

And once every 30 days anxiously await the ginormous sums of cash that make it all worth while..


I'm on my way (sort of) to pick up some new pedals for my road bike... I'd rather spend the money than switch pedals back and forth... Fall is coming. Last night it went down to 27 somewhere out in eastern oregon. It's been low 40's maybe even high thirties here at night. It's awesome. Cold enough that I can finally get some decent sleep at night. My goal is to have my 'bestest' ski season ever this year. That means, in addition to the base conditioning that running and frisbee offer, weights, and balance work (yoga, maybe some roller skiing for nordic specific -- although honestly those roller skis seem like a fast path to a cast). I also want to do more back country touring. I have more friends now who have sleds (snowmobiles), which are really useful for getting to the base of backcountry areas... the goals are miles on skis, and lots o' powder skiing... never too early to think of skiing...

I'm working on my preview of the UPA season. I'm not sure why Huckleberry Hinterland is writing it, but I promise it will be full of subtle self aggrandizing prose.

wednesday

last night played some co-ed ultimate... somehow i've developed a rep for being lazy. i prefer to think of myself as being smart. why should i motor around aimlessly in some 6 turnover point, only to be cut off if i make any in cut over 30 yards... 'men's play' on thursday, and theirs a couple old rhino guys out there, so it's good fun.

this a.m., the 3 mile tempo run, 20:40, felt pretty good, but i'm looking forward to the intervals (decreasing from mile repeats to 800's to shorter faster more frisbee like stuff by mid october.).
At that point, i'll publish my times, and if i'm not running faster than Alex, well, I'll lie.

Mountain bike ride this afternoon, then playing disc w/ some of the highschool kids.

I think I'm going to read, eat a little in interim. Might watch Bourne Supremacy...

Man I'm hungry.

grip and rip.

short 4 mile run today... foot a little sore... frisbee tonight. Nice ride in the afternoon, but I dallied during the nap phase, so it was after 5 by the time I got back to the congested area. So I got stuck in the crowds. 6 people. Left a bitter taste in my mouth for the whole sport.

Today, I'm playing w/ the local co-ed group... I should probably go to the track, but frankly, I'm a little 'solo - runner - training - ed - out'.

Starting to cool here... they say we may have first snow this weekend (but up around 10,000 feet... I'd be suprised if I"m skiing before thanksgiving... ALTHOUGH I did ski in October last year... or the year before, can't remember... that was an anomaly... apparently used to be more common)...

Enough...

Tommorrow the 5k tempo run, and bike. I think sectionals is coming up... I'm going home to take a nap.

lazy weekend...

took some time off to read and sleep. and watch movies.
Read a couple books, watched some movies, slept.
Today, 7.5 in 55:30... didn't have my heart rate monitor on, but perceived effort was less than the same run done a minute slower last monday.

did it without breakfast and coffee, so my stomach hurts and i have a headache.
I'll fix both with a cup of coffee, and fix the caloric needs after i finish up here at the library.

We're on daily runs with the team, so I'll have to be playing frisbee only in p.m. from here on out... and mountain biking...

last week of summer, so got to pile it on. we had rain last night, so the trails, often moon dust in summer, will be exquisite... time to charge the ipod, and get out away from the people...

later.

that's how I roll...

i did get in the afternoon ride on tuesday. went well. 2 hours, in the 65-70% range... (my runs are usually like 85%, frisbee, i don't wear the heart monitor, and i'm not doing intervals yet. I should probably wear it, just to see). Yesterday was 1.5 mile run up College way, and then ran the steps 6 times, then a hill run, so like, 7 solid intervals... the whole workout took about 1.25 hours, plus a core workout. Not a great workout for me (tired from a few days of doubles), but no vomit. This a.m., some mini and dutch drill (3 v. 3 in a box, 10 consecutive completions = 1 point, games to 3 or 5 or whatever). The kids are getting it.

By getting it, I mean lots of blades, pushing, and shoving.

Some anecdotes...
At the running camp recently, the head coach Dave had left a walkie talkie w/ some straggling kids... they were freshmen, so even though there were technically no wrong trails to take, he was concerned by their tardiness after the long run... While standing 10 feet away from, in full view of the 35 or so student runners who were eating milling, drinking water, whatever, but hidden behind a tent, I did my best squeaky voiced impersonation of a 9th grader. Playing on the abillity of people to misunderstand walky talky chatter, I managed to keep Dave going for several minutes... It was especially ridiculous, because my voice was like some kind of cartoon character, and the walky talkie makes a huge electronic CHIRP everytime you release the button... did i mention I was 10 feet away (and to be fair, dave is a really bright guy)

me: he- he- hello? (CHIRP)
dave: is this the freshmen, come in, come in (CHIRP)
me: uh - uh- yeah, where do we turn? (CHIRP)
dave: OK, WHEN YOU GET TO THE LAKE, TURN LEFT. (CHIRP)
me: uh, leak? leak? what leak? (CHIRP)
dave: LAKE, IT"S A BODY OF WATER. (CHIRP)
me: B- Body? What body.(CHIRP)

etc.

Good times. Almost as exciting as the time we (Sockeye) bounced back from a disappointing semis loss to Ring of Fire to close off the Beer Tent at nationals and start carding everyone there... I may write a script treaty of it sometime (narrative doesn't really do it justice)... suffice to say, the 55 year old guy didn't initially think it was funny, but he came around.

I've bogged down in Killer angels... I kind of know the ending.

I picked up a Parenti book about 9/11 called the Terrorism Trap, and an Illustrated version of The Right Stuff... Yesterday I read Rain Fall, by Eisler. This hitman dude kicks some ass. Pretty good. Kind of sort of like what a Clancy book would be like, if Clancy didn't suck.

Later, more ultimate... tonight, one of my Library DVD's either 28 Days Later, Ronin, or Spartan. Haven't seen Spartan yet.

further adventures of the albino rhino

little enough to report.
breakfast, a single pancake and cup o' coffee,
then 7.5 miles in 56... like 7:30's???
now some internet, then, back to headquarters to eat 2 more pancakes, and a pb and j smoothie.

frozen apple juice
frozen bannanas
frozen strawberries
cheerios
2 cups of adams hippy peanut butter*

blend.

mmm.

I've got a little runners knee (patellofemoral / chondromalacia / wussy-itis) so I may or may not bike today...

I'd like to finish off killer angels (by Shaara), and I might play a little more tiger woods 2005 on my xbox. But frankly, the game is too easy. They should have made it harder.

I should probably write a few lesson plans...

The obvious excitement that Jim and Alex have for the game right now, in contrast to the mundane nature of Idris' (and my own) blogs, confirm that I have in no way shaken (shook?) the ultimate bug at the tender age of 35.

I got to get to perth.

*Just kidding, more like 2 tablespoons.

update

I've been out and about for a few days at a running camp, and I'm still number 42 on your program, but... Alex and Jim have been listing their track workouts... so i thought I'd join in on the bandwagon...

Monday 15 miles biking.
Tuesday 5 mile run to camp (gear was boated in)
Wednesday 3 mile hike to base of mountain, 5 miles (and 2000 feet) up, run/walk down, 3 mile jog back to camp.
Thursday 13 mile run
Friday 5 mile bike
Saturday 15 mile mt. bike ride.
sunday 15 mile mt. bike ride

I'm going to go play frisbee in a while.... lots of aches and pains after the week, but hopefully i'll be able to run hard for an hour or so.

Also, today, eggs, pancakes, coffee. mmm good.

Recent reads:

Running with the Buffalo, a year in the season of CU's outstanding cross country program. They run, a lot. And fast. These guys are running in the 30 minute 10 k range, which is fast. Their mileage is insane (to me), in the 80-100 mile range per week. Typical 'season in the life of' tale with it's share of ups and downs.

It raises the question, is there a 'curse of the sports writer in the locker room'? Are there any chronicled seasons that end with everyone alive healthy, and standing at the top of the podium?


Read Black Dahlia last week, by James Ellroy (L.A. Confidential). Read L.A. Confidential instead.

Currently reading The Killer Angels by Shaara, fictionalized novel dealing w/ Gettysburg. So far, so good.

The weeks of 3500 pages per week are drawing to a close. Kids back in school in 3 weeks, I'm in the office in 2...

C'est la vie.

The big summer wrap up is coming up, but here are my predictions for 2005-2006 school year and summer vacation.

80 plus days skiing. Here's to skiing where they don't keep the rocks, and avoiding broken bones.
3.50/gallon gas next summer. I hope I'm wrong.
A couple Weeks at Bandon lake learning to windsurf. I hope I'm right.
Return to tournament play, i.e., travelling a little to play in some more competitive gigs...

That is all.

hmm.

foot MAY be feeling better. Played a little low key frisbee this AM (dutch drill and mini)... playing some more, w/ a little more effort tonight. try and work on my syllabi... beyond that...
screw it. i'm going home to make some pancakes.

5 pm update. Read The Price of Loyalty today. It's good. Hardly the anti-Bush polemic it was made out to be, but hardly flattering. Probably fairly accurate description of modern media politiscs.

recent reads... updated

UPDATED
Read The Librarian, also by Beinhart. Like Wag the Dog, a politically themed mystery. 'Summer Reading.' Read The Godfather, by Puzo. No major departures from the movie, but a good read.

I've been reading a ton lately -- with school coming up, i'm not sure i'll have, uh, any time to read anything but curriculum related materials (i have to read a LOT of stuff to find something to have the kids read, plus I end up reading a lot of outside stuff just to bolster my own depth of knowledge. hmm. Do you bolster a depth?)

Next up... we shall see... Since I'm teaching religions of the World, I need to bone up on my comparative religion. And some religious related issues in history (crusades, arab-israeli wars, modern... wait a sec. I'm noticing a geographic consistency)...

i read Wag the Dog (Formerly American Hero) by Beinhart yesterday. Pretty good, even if you've seen the movie. The two are significantly different in their plots. I'd not read any of his stuff, but it's good entertaining summer reading.

I also read Reefer Madness, by that one guy, what's his name, he wrote Fast Food Nation. Interesting look at the black market economy in the US (marijuana, illegal immigrants, pornography) in a series of case studies. Fascinating, a little meandering.

Reread the Hitchhikers guide trilogy (quintology?) over the weekend. I liked it. I'd actually not read Mostly Harmless.

state of the luke.

I'm going to make a departure from count-baiting, at least as long as he is in a potentially litigious mood.

foot still gimpy. so freakin hot
I woke up at 5:30, so i actually had breakfast before morning frisbee. there is nothing more inspiring than seeing some 8th grade going into hs students w/ a month of experience stabbing hammers and winging blades... and gleefully arguing the line calls in hotbox... great young athletes and runners... one of these kids is one of those, juggle on the unicycle, and runs like a 2:15 800... 5 nuthin, hundred and nuthin... literally.

we are winning states this year. in frisbee, i mean.

45 minute run yesterday, more frisbee this evening... man it's hot. tarzan himself couldn't stand this kind of heat. but at least its a dry heat...

cheerios for breakfast, i'm going to have a mid morning burrito now... from the super burrito... mmmm....

looking forward to school, doing a lot of lesson planning right now.

recently read: freakonomics, a rebel economicistisitist blah blah. pretty good.
harry potter and the magic thing. I liked that one.
the long emergency. kuntzhauer. something. actually, that's been a few weeks. but it's still checked out. hmm.
Ghost Soldiers, which is being made into a movie called the Great Raid...
Tom Clancy's stupid Something or another and The Something Sanction or Covenant or Identity or Conspiracy by Ludlum. Hey I admit I read 'em, but I don't have to be proud of the junk...
Just finished a history of Stalingrad (Battle of) called 199 Days.

I need to start concentrating on School stuff... American government, US History, Modern World History... that kind of thing...

that is all.

le tour de... freedom

This message goes out to Frenchman and blogonaut Alex 'le compte' de Frondeville (which means 'Frondeville' in english).

Do you hate us for our way of life? Or for our legacy of superior cycling?

It must be one or the other.

The French are quite indignant over Lance's dominance... you'd think, given the state of things since Napoleon, that another mark in the 'L' column would be, well, just no big deal.

What gets me are the absurd, desperate attempts to besmirch this great man, with ludicrous allegations of drug use.

Lance has repeatedly stated, "I have never tested positive for drug use."
There. Clear as day.
Never. Tested. Positive.

Come on, what more do you want?!!

To demonstrate my solidarity, I would like, at this time to state unambiguously, that I have NEVER TESTED POSITIVE FOR PERFORMANCE ENHANCING DRUGS.

Couldn't be more clear. That's why I'm making this bold statement at this time. I want my legacy to be unblemished by the taint of wrongdoings. As opposed to the wrongdoings of taint... which I don't want to get into.

pancakes.

One night this winter I had a dream. I dreamt I had pancakes. And that morning, you know what? Yes, that's right, I had pancakes. Yes, dreams can come true. I like to share that one with my students before a race.

Over and over again.

Woke up yesterday w/ a new owwy. Pain on the inside of my ankle. It's either because my bike shoes aren't stiff enough to handle a 25 mile mountain bike ride... or because I spent a lot of time in flip flops. Hmm. Technically, it's not the shoe's fault it's my foot's fault. But I'm going to buy some better bike shoes.

Went for a 4.5 mile run with HS xc team this am, soaked my legs in the river. Took a nap.

Hit count way up. This gives meaning to my life.

Spent 3 hours today working on my online course dealing with Teaching AP Government (US). Pretty excited about teaching that... it will be a lot of work.

Found a new breakfast that I like. It's a smoothie... but with cheerios blended in. Nice higher level of bulk, and should keep that cholesterol down. For sweetness, use honey nut. I like a 50/50 mix.

I think I might go home and make some pancakes. Ice the foot. Got a beach tournament this weekend. My first ever.

Remember, the lesson of pancakes.
Dreams can come true... and...
They seem like they're going to be awesome, but as soon as you have one bite too many, you feel like you're eating sponge.

blogs

The Blogosphere report...

Jim has a list of drills he likes. It includes Seegerball, which sounds like rugby cum schtick. (note when we play schtick, getting tagged on the opponents side has a consequence, involving a sprint)
Idris is talking about shoes, and bashing guys he cut. We miss the Mike O'Dowd bashing.
Alex is talking about why good teams don't go to bad tournaments. A corollary (or obverse, or converse or something) is that, it's really hard to go to good tournaments without a team. Remember the glory years of everyother year club worlds... ah, good ol' summercamp. This will be a topic of it's own.
Dix (who I don't really know, in the sense that i don't remember him camped out over a keg a la the others referenced) started strong w/ some great stories. I think he stopped blogging in 1989, or March, or as soon as Jim gave him a link... It appears he's been removed from Jim's page.
Marshall Goff has a good page, and his own domain. But he seems to have a variety of interests other than frisbee. This is incomprehensible to me.
The Atlanta people have a blog on a variety of frisbee questions. It appears to be printed on parchment paper, so it is classy. They are killing me on hit counts, so they must be doing something right. They did link to the Atlanta message board, which is big.

state of the luke

todays entry are random musings... just got done w/ a 2.5 hour ride, and i'm all endorphined up...

since i'm not playing any serious ultimate these days (the very occasional tourney) but lots of 'swilltimate' here are some observations of swilltimate.

i find it personally very difficult to try in swilltimate. that said, each of the 5 or 6 times i'm playing each week in local pickup/coaching/ whatever, I'll try once or twice... I usually attribute this to niggling little ache or pain... but i've noticed that I niggle and ache a lot more when there is nothing on the line... why?

the hs kids are more fun to play with. their not really that much worse than more experienced players, and their attitude is a lot more refreshing. it's truly fun for them, they have no 'baggage' so fun pickup can actually be fun pickup.

as opposed to 'grown up' swilltimate which often involves 'the guy who keeps running backwards 20 yds to pickup the disc' and thinks he's the greatest handler in the game.

we'll call him 'alex'.

that said, I like throwing the frisbee; so I'll keep playing ______timate, in whatever form it takes.

I'm still on the verge of picking up my very on copy of jim parinella's book, just as I'm on the verge of paying that library fine. But I especially want to know how it addresses 'percentage based offense.'

I.e., I know Jim is a big fan of stats and percentages... I wonder how deep the stats go? For me, the best offense (strategy, and instantaneous decision) is the one that has the best percentage of leading to a goal...

the obvious one, is that if your team completes only 70% of their throws, but you've got one guy who has a decent long huck (call it a 50% throw), it's obviously better to huck it the length of the field.

Now there is a sliding scale too, if there is a decent 70% break mark swing, and a 50% long shot, which should you do? If you turn the swing over, the opponent has wonderful field position, and at least a brief personnel advantage...

another source of irritation is the big dump. I love a good reset, wherever it goes too, but there is some large percentage of players/ teams that lose 10 yards with every dump, w/ no perceptible gain in field position (laterally). Why don't you turn the dump into a very short gainer? Or at least a minimal loss. The classic case of this was the Spokane national Championships. The Stanford Women's zone O was the BIG dump to someone in the middle of the field and 15 yards deep, then on to the far side. By mid game, UCSD was just running straight accross the field to mark the far handler.

There are some obvious problems with this.
And unlike many bad decisions in sport, there is an object lesson here, if outcome counts.

What's my point? Hell if I know... Most of what follows is derivative. I just want to write it in my own words.
A good offense, to start, should,
1) have some simple plan. go towards the goal, don't lose yardage, don't freak out, don't hold onto it. Unless you are Frank, then it's go backwards, be a martyr, every concept that someone not named tex winters came up with is dumb.
1a)gain as much yardage as possible with every pass
2) apply risk/return thought to risk passes... i.e., risky passes for a dump are kind of stupid. a risky huck, or a zone busting hammer that leads to a fast break... perhaps a good idea...
3) Develop a progression of throws for your players to support your strategery. Jim talked about this, I think... And structure drills for this (this is mostly for newer teams, I think... but maybe for all)... I.e., if your progression after a swing is, look huck, then reset it with as little loss as possible, then look huck again (maybe not the most sophisticated offense, but I suspect it's won many a league title)... then set up a drill w/ a thrower marker, a cutter/defender pair in the deep, and a cutter / defender to get it on the high count... I GUESS you could hit the deep guy coming under if the huck is not there, but people always drop that one any way... (just kidding)
4) remind the team that the good players get to do whatever they want, their creativity (foolishness) is what keeps the dumb repetetive stuff open and workable...
5) I think there is a lot to be said for doing a circuit of drills. see Jim's blog... for list of good drills. But do the ones you like, if you like one of the one's he doesn't. Running a practice as a 'camp' with a mini game, a trap game, etc... and move through them can kill time, get touches, etc.
6) deconstruct, personally, with a team mate, or as a team how well you did this. this is where you can use stats... and maybe create stats for what you are trying to do. like 'dumb, difficult break mark dumps' vs. 'risky, panicky hucks'
Hopefully your plan is a little better than that, it's just an example.
7) I'll come back to this one day and edit it into some actual plan for making an offense.

losers perspective

a new post...

well... jim and alex are posting like mad men.

but I have some thoughts.

recently, I played 2 tournaments, and was sucessful, as an individual. not, as the title indicates, as a team.

and here is what I think.

Based on the philosophy of jim, I

1) took what was there
In a tie game w/ portland, my mark turned his head twice. The first time, I suddenly realized an advantage. I'd like to think that if I were 'on my game' I would have immediately struck... but I recognized an advantage... and the 2nd time... I caught a goal.

Lesson... You can be 'first step fast' if you wait for your defender to look aside.
Lesson... if mom had raised me faster... dammit mom.

2) moved them
I would wait for the play to set up. This is a problem if you are away from the disc. Sometimes your 'handlers' are helpfully closing off all lanes. To make it happen... move around. Vertically. So I would go upfield, by a step, jab, feint, etc. All the while... seeing the disc. And often, the opponent would look askance, and at the same time the space would be there. Big gainer.

Some times, the space and timing was there, but the thrower was not...

don't panic. move to another spot.
go eat faster food.

3) do what you have to do.
sometimes, it comes down to a catch... a diving continuation.
make the play.

It seems that a key to winning the game is to make 'jordanesque' plays ... and no, jordan, i'm not talking about you... unless that was your role...

just don't have to make them often.
unless you are jordan...

of course, in addition to being a supremely gifted athlete, he also had a sweet jumper that made defenders have to come out on him... leading to posters.


so can it be argued that the less often you have to make plays, the more you win.

pointless ramble over.

here's the rsd post for potlatch.

in what is likely to ruin Idris' day, here is the content from rsd repotlatch...

just so I can have a copy for editing later...

day 1) roadtrip to redmond. a caravan of three cars, one w/ a baby. a gazillion stops are made. arrive in redmond, jump out of car, as will and joanne pull in literally behind them. off to seattle.

day 2) discover that we have a 2 game bye. very happy. most of the team gets the memo, but not blaine. but we TELL him we're at the fields... and entertain ourselves when he calls by yelling out in the back ground... throw me that frisbee... etc. Pretend that the kid is there by yelling 'bwah WAH wah blah wah wah' in the background. If you know kid, you can imagine that it would be very possible to convince someone that that was kid yelling in the background. Arrive at fields, learn that blaine DID in fact believe that kid was in washington, and at fields. And had been telling every member of the team he could find that kid's here.
Success.

Bandwagon, wearing yellow jerseys and cycling shorts (for the most part) goes 3-0 on day one. We watched the 2nd half of USA vs. Candada after chilling out for an hour after our last game. It was a good game. The weather had been misty, so a bunch of us went back into the city for sleeping.

Annecdote of day: Apparently, someone from SanDiego got so drunk that they couldn't find their tent. Also, they couldn't keep the contents of their stomach where they belong... so, at 5:00 a.m. the rough equivalent of a small bear was alternately vomiting near, on, and in a variety of other people's tents. Then, the guy would claw his way into a tent, and pass out. Leading to people yelling, "GET OUT! GET THE FUCK OUT! THIS IS NOT FUNNY, ASSHOLE! GET OUT" Apparently this went on for some time.

This type of thing is why I generally prefer to lame out, and return to the city.

Day 3) In a dramatic contrast from day 2 (which was day 1 of play), we found out that we had to play at 9, not 9:30 against the Brownish/Padaeiaish team. It ended up being 9:30 any way. And it was not against them. We had them in round 5. Highlights, down 7-5 vs. some team, we went on a 10-2 run.

We then played booty rumpin snoopy w/ Hector and Kyle, and Misha, and SRV and a few other players I didn't know as well... Nip and tuck until 10-10, and then we won 15-10.

The Bus ride to the Party. Apparently, 85% of the Bus thinks I'm an asshole. 10% thought I was a good guy. 3% undecided. 2% margin of error. I know this because I took a vote. I'd like to point out the high degree of voter participation/ candidate recognition.

We had to serve food for the tournament, which involved breaking in line, since we were late getting there. I'd like to think that those who voted 'asshole' were perhaps chagrinned when it came time to have the server decide how much salmon to dish out.

Then at some point someone pulled the fire alarm. Since I work in a school, I have a pretty good idea of what a modern annunciator sounds like, in contrast to the old 'school bell' type alarms. I can only hope that idiots who pull said alarms are legitimately ignorant of the pain of a ginormous shrieking decibel count... aside from the tremendous inconvenience of what it takes to turn the things off (like firefighters, and shit).

There seemed to be some people still partying at the fields. I was pretty wiped out, so I went to sleep. However, my sleeping bag was this thin, THIN sleeping bag liner, so I spent several fitful hours freezing my ass off/ alternating w/ massive muscle cramps.

Day 4) Sunday dawns. Ate a large breakfast. Played Humbolt early. Turned out to be a little easier than I thought it would be: they can put together some good games. I think the 3 day tournament hurts things. I pulled up lame w/ some kind of groin cramp. I'm thinking now that it was actually that I dislocated my pubic symphisis. Yes, this is real. We won the first game, though, and then lost to Sleveless in Seattle (like a So-cal-ish) team by 3.

Left in the middle of the semis, w/ USA down 11-10 to vagabonds, Canada crushing Sleveless. Stayed awake long enough to choke down 2 whoppers, and a jr. whopper, and some onion rings, and then slept for the next 250 miles.

Day 5) Technically trip over, but woke up at 8 to go get the highschool XC kids started playing frisbee, so I got few throws in. Walked home went to sleep for 4 hours.

Hip cracked, so I think the groin pull is cured.
40 seconds to my library time ends.

the end.


nothing original to add...

groin is healing nicely, coreworkout and 5 mile run this morning. found 10 bucks on the ground. muscle spasm in leg, unrelated. might be time to put veggies on the menu...

maybe an easy road ride today...

or just read a book...

haven't eaten. I think I'm going to go convert that cash into mexican food from the super burrito.

potlatch... 1

nice luck tonight. my ride turned into a caravan... which means, a stop anytime anyone in 3 cars has too pee. a 5 hour drive turned into a 7 hour drive. but...

the nice thing was, as my ride to seattle dropped me off... my seattle connection literally pulled into the pancake house parking lot in redmond... right behind them.

well there were a few cell phone calls involved. but the nice thing was, my ride from bend was 1 mile from their hotel, and my ride into town was coming off a sucessful thrift venture that netted appropriate lance armstrong style bike jerseys for our team...

bandwagon 05. we are lance.

although, we probably should be ullrich.

upcoming content

Stories deserving of being told.

Doing nothing. All day long, and all day strong. How I eat, sleep, sleep, and eat, and turn a 24 hour day into the blink of an eye.

My favorite foods. Eggs. Beans. MacandCheese. Mix and Match.

Preferred Content Stories: For subscribers only.

Never Been Convicted!!!

The time I saved a prominent blogger from, at the very least, having a fake mustache drawn on his face. And at worst, some kind of hoffa-esque fate.

Probably, the really interesting stuff will have to wait another year.

when I get my tenure.

In other news, recently read,
The Long Emergency dealing w/ oil issues... Yesterday I read Book One of the Tripods series, The White Mountains, took a good hour or so, but I like escapist fiction...

More to follow.