school's in...

and i am out to lunch... but what a great summer... the past 4 years have been the best of my life... and this summer has arguably been one of the best of the 4 (hard to compare experiences, but short of world's in hawaii... well it's been a good one)... tons of riding on my new road bike (30-50/day between commuting, and put on the tights type riding), riding my mt. bike... maybe once per week, but enjoying that... running say, 20-25 miles per week, ultimate 1/2 times per week (and sometimes that has meant 'a half)... learned to juggle and do a few tricks, got started unicycling... basically a great time...

the only things i didn't get to do... looking back on last year... i had hoped to learn to windsurf this summer, but didn't... but i did get in 80 days of skiing, my running times are getting a little better...

i'm mildly bummed i'm not playing more ultimate this year, but i'm kind of focused on school, and coaching, and frankly, it's easy to get pretty much broke (money wise) for that last month of the summer when you are teaching...

i also got a little burned out on disc after march/april/may/june, pretty much 5or6 days/week of practice, or when my hammy was busted, running practice when i couldn't really run... i'm pretty psyched... now that the season of daily doubles is over, to start adding back in some disc, and some weights...

weeks workouts for those of you who's life has been lessened by my absence?
today, recovery day... 26 miles on bike. 6 of those miles due to bringing two right shoes to morning cross country practice... and by right, i mean wrong... juggled about an hour (working on 4 balls), lifted weights/abs... worked a little, but school wasn't ready w/ the books, so i ordered what i could from the print shop, organized the room a little, hooked up the computer...

sunday, 54 miles riding, including 30 while following a race riding the course backwards... topped by a 10 mile sprint trying to match the womens pack... unfortunately my riding partner was kind of small... so i got no draft, so no rest... i.e., a sweet interval ride... we lost by 200 meters or so... but i was tired b/c

saturday, hiked down off of south sister (big 10000 foot mountain) and rode around say 10 miles for recovery...

friday... light, say 15 miles riding, couple miles run/walk, a vigorous game of everybody's it tag (hey, gotta havethe fun days) (then hiked up south sister, 5000 foot vertical, say, 7 miles?. steep. camped on top at 10000 feet, nice)

thursday... i think that was the 30 mile ride... plus some extra commuting... say... 40? oh, plus a run... of probably 5 miles... can't remember... no, wait... easy 3-4 mile run... slow and easy, with core workout... played ultimate...

wednesday... now it's getting hazy... oh yeah, ran the steps at the college... 6 hard intervals of say 2.5 minutes each? plus the run there and back...

tuesday... shevlin park run... 5.5 miles, 37 minutes, 7 minute pace, (much slower in beginning, faster at end)... lot of commuting... weights...
monday... run, maybe that was the day i mountain biked 20 miles plus the 25 miles of commuting...

and i'm eating my veggies and fruit...

out of here...

watch me eat paste!

well, i'm having trouble with my server, so until i can get the tape up at youtube, you'll just have to settle for the transcript:

"sound of paste jar unscrewing"
"sound of smacking sound"
"kind of a 'eh, not as bad as i thought sound'"
"more smacking"... then kind of an "uh-oh" but more like "mrewerrh mreooih"
then... kind of a pasty belchy sound...

uh, hamstring improving, monday, i ran friday, and biked, took saturday and sunday off, ran 5 in 34:20 and lifted, tues am, played some hotbox, and mini, then rode around and went for a ride (say 30 miles for the day), wednesday was just a brisk 6.5 mile run, hammy is 'tweaky', minor riding, say 10 miles, walked the dog i'm dogsitting a couple miles, today, ultimate, and rest... it is like 95 right now... i could play ultimate again in an hour... in a windless area surrounded by trees... i think i'll pass...

supposed to get into the 100's over the next few days... so i've got a morning run tommorrow, and i'm going to try to wake up early to do the longer rides on saturday and sunday... need to lift one more time, tommorrow or saturday...

this week, read

henlein's The Cat Who Walks through Walls, To Sail beyond the Sunset, Foundation (Asimov), finishing up Sleeping w/ the Devil by Baer about US Corporations/US Gov and Saudi's (Basis for Syriana), and starting Lucifer's Hammer by Niven (which i've read, but i've also seen Raiders of the lost ark more than once)... I have a book about the US v. England soccer upset of 52 or whatever year it was... The Game of their lives...

this blog has been brought to you by paste...

state of the hamstrung...

the nice thing about a blog... is it's a nice place to go back... and look for running times... nothing comparable... but i can go back and look and see my times... my times for running are a little faster this year... my 5-6 mile runs are more at a 7:15-7:30 pace... about 15 seconds per mile faster... my total mileage is way up... as i'm now biking average 20-30 miles per day... but my hamstring is a bitch...

it only bugs me when i play disc, and sprint... but it's there... and it's only there when i 'stride it out'... but it's there...

today... morning frisbee w/ the hs kids... 1.5 hours of mini... and hotbox... (plus 5.2 miles commute), then a 28 mile bike ride (road) then another 1.5 hours of frisbee... a little gimpy... total ride, 40

the espn highlights of the day... a fake the lefty flick (i'm lefty) righty nutmeg 20 yarder for the goal... a behind the back no look righty flip for score, some hucks... and...

3 easy pancake drops... am i done? that's literally the total number of fumbles for... like... a year? 2 years? i don't mean missing a hard one... got all of those... just the kind of nonchalance idiocy that reflects youth...

i think it reflects training load... this week... wednesday...6.25 mile run... in 7:15 pace, w/ minor hamstring tweakage... lifted weights, biked, oh, say13 miles... ... tuesday, rest, monday, 5 mile run in 36:15 (7:15 pace)... plus 26 miles of riding, plus weights... sunday... 12 on the trail, 26 on the road....

and loads of stretching... 3-4 by 10-15 minutes each day...

goal: 'healthy' hammy in the next 2 weeks (the stretching and weights is per my PT, so i'm hopeful i'm on the upswing)... hit a 60 mile ride, go sub 7 for an 'easy run', ie, 35 minutes for a flat fast easy conversational run... w/ the goal of nice fast mile and 1000 times that coincide w/ the 'healthy' hammy...

i defend zz.

do you know what i mean. i mean it fececiously. is that simply a mispelling of shit?

zinedane zidane. what an emabarassment. the single player who defined the world cup for me. i watched everygame but one. i was lucky enough in my teaching to have my ap gov class done in time for the cup... every kid... graduated... and my prep... game after game.

and every game... mediocrity... EVERY game mediocrity... the occasional brilliance... but time after time... how many games... 64 i think... i missed one during finals... and another during graduation... but...

i saw 60 plus games... only from zidane did i see the brilliance...

and i'm not talking of the play here or there... great team work... i mean individual brilliance...

his work against brazil was rediculous...

cancelled by anger... too many calls... too many cards... and the horror of the best player in the finals eliminated by anger....
it's like when mike g spat on eddie... except that mike is not zidane, and eddie is not the italian guy...

but, what a travesty that the game was decided on pks...

today... ran, 5 miles in 36:15, then lifted weights, then an easy 17 mile bike ride... and frankly... the fact that the world cup ended on pk's... attrocious.

pathetic that france dominated the pitch w/ 10... and if zidane had shot... almost a gimme... would it have been different... i don't know.

ribery's brilliance... thierry's genious... but for the italians... the defense...

i ... don't know...

congrats to italy, i hope zidane plays in the US in retirement...

the end...dddddddddddddddddddd

stolen bike, pt. deux.

dammit. twice in one year. last time, my mt. bike, this time my classic takara 1984 road bike. literally on the day i bought a 150 dollar saddle. so if i had that kind of insurance, the bike would be worth 280 bucks. saddle, plus 100 dollar pedals, plus a 30 dollar bike.

the replacement, was somewhat more... a 'felt f75',

here it is in german... just because... it's sweet though...

yesterday...25 miles of bike commuting (3 plus trips to town and back), today, 5 mile run, 37:30, and another 25 miles of just riding... most of it on the ginormous clunker (no pictures of the 1996 fischer kaitai w/ the snow tires still on) but some on the new sweetness... aluminium/carbon blend... 20 speed... yes, from 12 to 20... and several pounds lighter...

tommorrow, 8:30 am frisbee... 12:00 soccer... evening... either nothing or a bike ride... then well i live like 250 yards from the butte they launch fireworks from... yippee...

it burns every once in a while...

potlatch... sorry i missed it. sounded fun... hamstring, well i went to a pt, no evidence of bad shoes, or gait issues, or what... just a 36 year old trying to play friskee 4 days in a row, culminating in a 4 hour workout... so, diligent stretching, and about to begin strength training... just need to be 'good' 'good' by sectionals... for prides sake... but i can lope around at pickup and kids league no problem...

updoc

whither kenny?
whither more billy?
and.. flg, whither worm?

and idris, was that a spam? the lost podcast?

school is out, i'm moving, putting together furniture... and finally getting legitimate attention for my hammy. unlike real countries, this meant a 1.5 hour trip to see a doctor for a prescription for an appointment already made... but... USA...

i fell asleep in the office chair after an easy day of (well including pre and post doc) 14 miles biking, 1.5 hours of ultimate...

the frisbee was awesome. it's been 90-100 for a couple days... and this morning it was raining steadily... no doubt, lighter than east coast... but raining... apprehensively, i biked over, arrived soaked at 8:40, and was taunted by the 11 kids for being late. it's a nice game, right now, it's all 'experienced' frisbee players, upperclassmen, a couple of alums... we played a mini mini tournament, then played some shortfield 6 on 6... i had my side experiment w/ some 3/3 'euro' just to see what it felt like... it cut down on the goals from 'huck and hope' but was fun to mess with... and see the kids understand some space clearing stuff...

the road bike needs work... and i'm waiting on a new lower chain ring to sub out... from 42 teeth to 39... hard to find for a 20 year old bike... but it should make hill riding better... also have to put in a new front derailleur... should make cruising fun...

but the frisbee... 1.5 hours in the best weather ever... probably 65-68, in a steady rain... it really was something you'd want to play for hours in... just awesome... left, bought a new chamois...

tommorrow, basic rest, PT, and if i get the chance, a mt. bike ride. the rain turns the already dusty lower trails (about 3 -4 mile ride at new house) into perfection... more to follow.

the trophy is off, having my name carved in...

champions!

well, count, i guess it's not as cool as a big saturday at easterns... but it's what i got... so i'll take it.
first round bye based on our season record of 9-1... earned us the toughest pool.. don't ask me how.

talbot is at some kind of first aid seminar: he's expected at 5 pm. 3 of my best girls are gone to europe... 4 of my best boys are gone, to wherever... the replacements are some girls sister (who's a stud, but has never played ultimate), tosch (my best young player, crushed w/ a mild concussion/broken nose)'s sister... and a couple girls who either haven't played in a year, or have never played... one kid back in from hawaii at 2 in the morning... one kid w/ 1 day of 'league' experience...

first round game, 13-7 i used all 3 time outs, for rest, and to stalll.

second game, against 'blue'. it was close for most of the game, but the 'throw it as far as i can' offense bogged down a little in the wind, and we dug ourselves a hole, 11-7. it was tough, my choices were, throw it to the open player, who was brand new, and then watch them get smothered, or just settle for the long turnover...

down 11-7, we ran off 5 straight to win, 12-11. we went w/ the same 7 for the run... wasn't even a question of 'the best 7', it was simply, time is short, the cap is coming, line up, let's pull...

5 minutes later, on to the semifinals...

at this point, i've played 43 points of frisbee. game was against decent players... we kept it close. again, i used all timeouts... i knew that talbot would show up at 5 pm. tough, tough draw.
our pool play opponent was in the 'semi-final' on the other side. odd, since as the number 2 overall team, an 'easier' pool seemed in order. but, the kids kept fighting... and down, 12-11, 76 points into the day, talbot shows up, we score the upwinder to tie, and hold on to win...

10 minutes later: on to the finals. started close. stayed close, but we took half at 9-7, and never looked back... what made it work? obviously, having a good player show up w/ fresh legs was good... but our win was against our one defeat... and i finish up 41-2 for 3 years, w/ 3 trophies... final was 15-10...

highlight, the 5 point run to win a pool play game w/ half a team of brand new kids... lowlight... down 12-11, both calves locked up, needing my buddy to help win.

i'd of won it on my own, of course...

but have you ever been so cramped up that you can just concentrate on running on your heels, as that seems to minimize the pain... well, there i was...

anyway, i only played about 20 of the points of the finals, to finish up at 96 for the day... not a record, but a high count of points...

the hamstring, well, a minimal amount of real sprinting. almost all d's on the mark. but i survived, so i guess, time to go to the track.... hamstring cured...

luke.

thirty something and 2

a loss...
12-11 loss to a good team (i know, i was the 'draft consultant.)

we just dug ourselves a whole, and couldn't get back in.

we brought in a few more (new) hs kids for this, as most of the team has left for europe, or mexico, or whatever...

so we weren't able to run our endzone plays, uh, play... which usually goes for 1-2 per game.

hamstring is coming back, my defense was still joke-er-iffic... but, what else is new. the offense was not going well, but, frankly, if i play any better on saturday... well, that's good...

talbot is unavailable for the 1st 2 or 3 games, so i'm counting on him to anchor the line for the finals. too bad. i was hoping he'd do the dirty work for 3 games... hee haw...

2nd game, less pleasant, a purple player's follow through broke the nose of my best young player... a 15 y.o. w/ wild athleticism... i.e., the best player on the team... we carted him off at 9 ish (yes, games start at 6)... and lost him, his sister, and her friend (who had to drive).

the mom, an awesome athlete (div I 800 runner, world class biker, great ski racer) was super cool... had the kids just meet at a friends for ice cream...

nice.

final was 11-3 or something. after we scored a couple w/ 6 players (4/2), they agreed it was dark...


next up, the tourney. hopefully we'll have a team. i count... 3 girls... just enough... go-zone.

world cup.
moderately dissapointing finish for the team.
let's spread the blame around...

1) take more shots: my impression is that the US team at some point read a stat that time of possession = wins. as a result, i saw many, MANY back passes that maintained possession, but gave no positional advantage.... maybe we couldn't shoot more because of the lack of...

2) dominant player: we have some wonderful players... but if we are to be successful, we need someone fearless to take shots. but it's almost as if they fear for their place on the field. i'm a big dempsey and mcbride fan... but donovan never seemed in the form he's brought to other games... maybe due to...

3) coaching issues: i don't know arenas. but leaving mathis behind for being a dick head may have denied us the fiery game breaker we needed. also, our midfield oriented, possesion attack might not have been appropriate for a desparation game... (yes, i understand what a counter attack is)... and personel wise, if we don't have the players, playing for the counter attack is well and good... but, flg, someone TAKE A SHOT, and don't fear that your spot on the team is gone. likewise, arenas is gone, which is not very fair, because of...

4) state of US football. we are not yet getting the aggressive large forwards who fear nothing... giant egos who fear no coach.... which brings me to the officiating...

5) actually, the officiating was OK... by that i mean, it was equally horriffic in the italy game... and the call against whasis face in the ghana game seemed 'poor.' but they are not to blame...

6) now, bandwagon time... i like the relentless, opportunistic brazillian attack. who doesn't. the depth and talent of argentina... awesome... and germany's talented 11 w/ the home court... those are the obvious favorites (i haven't looked at the brackets to see where they fall out)... some fun-derdogs.. australia, ghana, and the new, more exciting italian attack... the door lock (what is that , the cattenacio, or something) is gone, and the attack is better...

predictions:
ok, looked at the brackets... brazil d. spain, brazil d. england, germany gets by argentina on homecooking, and germany knocks brazil off 3-2... deutchland... uber alles...

dday

d day.
the d stood for day.
as trivial as this one.

thursday, is league night, and we're playing for 1st or 2nd or third in a double header... i THINK second or third should seed us in the same spot relative to the tournament... i.e... we should still regardless of game result, not see the 'other' team until the finals.

but we'll see.

our team, like man others, is depleted by late season, summer vacations.

unlike other teams, the players are not going rafting, they are going to senor pepes or whatever you do when you are a senior in high school going to mexico.

likewise, a. talbot, the other 'adult' on the team is going to wofa (wilderness oriented first aid)... which i believe is an experience like first aid/cpr, but they don't make you count breaths and heart beats...

it won't change the game plan which is based on the 'beautiful game.'
and if you think the beautiful game requires touch pass to touch pass... well, you're an idiot.

the beautiful game requires one thing...
goal shots...

and i promise them...

aside, just got done watching some joel silver interviews, and i got this to say about frank... he's right. his game is pure. it looks a lot like the early frisbee games. and by that i mean, it seems free flow, and meaningless.

personally, i'm not impressed. but i did get the impression that silver was lying. his game was a copy of the northfield mt. hermon game, and he, even in his detachment from 'frisbee' felt compelled to give himself credit...

today... a little 8:30 am frisbee w/ 12 kids... mostly coached, played a few points, and finished w/ a game of dutch (3 v 3 in a box, 5 passes a point, 3 points win)... the hamstring is better... not 'best'...

then came home, read, ate pancakes, watched some world cup, and went for a 2.5 hour mt. bike ride... say, 25 miles... just a cruise... (lamely, i watched my heart rate monitor to make sure i kept it 'easy')

watched the replay of the england/sweden game... and a little dvd... and here you are...

more to come...

new team forming...

the arisocrats.

well, i'm not sure i have the chops or energy to form a decent nw club team...
but what a name.

if you've not seen the movie, it's brilliant. and if you hated it, here's some more ammo.
'waiting' is also brilliant.

school's out. i've got to go in monday for a few hours to finish, and enter grades, but i'm glad to be done. next year's schedule is out, and i have a ridiculously complicated schedule. probably the hardest at school (i.e., many different subjects, on rotating days)... so i'll probably gack it as i get sidetracked by the yearlong coaching (xc running (we may win boys and girls state), xc skiing, and frisbee)

plans? increased prose volume, if not... weight... run/bike/frisbee. i just now realized how detached from 'real' frisbee i am. solstice is this weekend, and while i'm recovering from an injury, that never would have stopped me in the past. but, there doesn't appear to be a 'whore' team there that i can just show up and mill around the sideline...

or maybe i just wasn't invited...

today i read the section of the coffee table book (zagoria and leonardo) dealing w/ co-ed... and just for the record, officially, co-ed is killing 'open' play. i don't 'hate' co-ed. but i do hate sloppy tournaments. and unfortunately for co-ed, those tournaments are often sloppy.

i just can't deal w/ the 14 minute points as a going concern, nor can i deal w/ a game where me throwing it as far as i can every time i touch it is as good a strategy as any...

me: two games last night (see previous post), so today, just 34 minutes of biking (17 each to and from work)... tommorrow, some biking (probably a 2 hour bike ride), same sunday... next week, i'll get in a few runs, play the last regular season league games, then the tournament. i'm a little bummed that i don't feel fully 'frisky' for the tournament... but i suspect, adrenalin will cure that.

the season is shaping up to a 2 team race. maybe 3. we have yet to play the 'top two' teams. for some reason, we're seeded 4th, w/ a 9-0 record, and a plus 6 diff... it has something to do w/ the fact that we were just 6 and 0 when the seedings came out. i'm not sure why the team w/ a loss was ahead of us...

and finally, soon, both 'grown ups' on the high school team will be allowed to play at the same time. for yes, there is a rule against a. talbot and myself being on the field at the same time, except for the finals, or the tournament... or something....

bowling night

double header...
vs 'blue', 13-4?

then vs 'white.'
13-3?

as is usual, games start on 'ultimate time', although, my team is there on time... then there is some kind of cap for the game... then an untimely break while the other team huddles... at some point (5-0) i asked for an 8:45 cap... agreed, then after a couple exchanges led to 7-2, the opponents smelled victory... and a few minutes later, we were chastised for 'taking too long.' i don't know if it was 90 seconds but it was quick.

this led to a change of strategy. 'jog back orange', let's play. some presumably good natured heckling by the white team only pissed off the kids... i told them that this was a sign that we were in their heads, and don't let that change. (the kids just generally run around, and never say anything to the opponents...)

needless to say, the kids started making blocks all over the field.

hamstring getting better, still not ripping around the field, but running at least... and played probably 15 or 16 points... been 6 weeks now, w/ 1.5 weeks to tournament... a one day, 4 games to win deal...

more to follow.

3 year record in bend city league.... 36-1, 2 trophies...

the stress is palpable

league, continued.
rematch tonight... a missed game... lightning.
it was the 'b' team (the a team graduated on sunday) plus a. talbot and myself...
won... 13-9 ish.

personal: uh, running... at 85%? 85% is a big jump from 80%. but i made a few downfield moves. no big breaks to the endzone, but some comeback cuts.

thoughts: the kids just need to 'run.' they are doing well at thinking through the offense, and making smart cuts... but there is far too much thinking about the cut...

my advice... just run. we'll adjust for errors... but lets' be a team that runs first, thinks later.

sorry boston.

played 17 or 18 points. did you ever notice, there is a certain point where an ultimate game is no work at all, and a certain point where you get a little tired.... minor point... i called d. nace on a 'violation' where he threw from about 8 feet in after an out of bounds 'ran in w/out checking feet'... i called violation before he even checked it in... throw was a goal... it came back... i told him, look even if you'd turned it over... i'd have given it back... i think a t.o. would have been a t.o.... but... i mean... i felt bad enough, up 4 to be mildly ticky tack....

but i mean, i wasn't even marking....

6 and 0, good victory margin (4-6)... kids are fine....

my first cleats

my first cleats...

well not exactly. i played soccer for 10 years as a child, and other than one inexplicable year where my parents didn't feel i needed them (which was weird, since i was playing on the supposedly elite 'kangaroo team'... elite because we had jerseys, and a mascot in a kangaroo suit who would come to the games and never talk. i still don't know who was in that suit. i do remember that our goalie was j.c., who was m.c. (the coaches) son... he was bad...but i remember my first ultimate cleats.

i had sprained my ankle in the yellowstone employee touch football challenge game, lodgepole lodge (the lodgepole longpoles) vs. everyone else... it was actually a break, but i wouldn't find that out for several years when i finally, for another sprain, had an xray...anyway, moving to eugene, i moved in w/ oregon players gb and cf, and heard about this game ultimate. i had never seen it. i had certainly never played it. i was vaguely aware that this one fraternity at my first college played it a lot.it sounded cool.

so, while still limping around, i bought cleats. i waited exactly 6 weeks from the 'sprain', per the docs instructions... ankle more or less stable, i strapped on my champion high tops, only one size too big, and went to my first practice. and there in the summer of 1990, at the fields by the oregon track, i began playing ultimate...

i was terrible, of course. my first memory is being taught a 3 fingered flick by some leaguer. my next memory is playing at sectionals, w/ some swilly team (but did have some old heavy guy who had played w/ the flying circus)... it turned out it was sectionals, which would cost me my elligibillity some years later. i'm not happy about the loss of that year of elligibillity, but i think it only fair that the UPA should send me the newsletters i never got.by the end of my 6 months in eugene, i thought i was far better than i was. at my last practice, i caught huck after huck from mike wing w/ c.f. diving behind me.i thought i was the sh!^.

today i finished up as the tournament director for the oregon hs tournament. and it made me reflect on my early days...

it's not a bad career, 6 nationals (3 w/ Chain, 3 w/ sockeye), 2 college nationals, 3 worlds... but... no championships.

bummer.

but its had its moments...

lowlight: played w/ a team of legends of boston at the boulder in 1994, and lost a game, then jumped ship to play w/ a bunch of NYNY stars and lost the rest of the games. i was, you guessed it, the only person to lose every game at that tournament...

highlight? probably worlds '02. playing w/ sockeye, in my 2nd year w/ them... played a near flawless tournament (albeit, w/ some restrictions on playing time), until i had like 4 goals and 4 assists against furious... i suspect that the game for bronze meant less for furious than for me... but i caught the game winner w/ a move i'd like to patent... i jabbed for the cone... and a young, but already obviously very talented oscar grabbed my jersey... i pulled up, said calmly... 'hey, don't...' and bolted for the cone, and caught the game winner and looked down to see my foot land just inside the line... yeah team.

along the way, couple poultry days wins, a fist full of seattle and bend league championships, a couple of upa newsletters appearances and some nice photos... most in the 'pre digital era'. shit. now, everytime there's a tournament, there's 800 pictures...

favorite tourney, is still, ironically, my unbelievably worst ever finish, some awful result in st. andrews... but what a tournament that was...

more to follow...

unlike literary genius kd, i promise no great prose this summer. but i do promise more. and i look forward to reading some classic blog entries... and writing some long pointless ones myself...

league...

da kids... are 2-0. I was dnp (dl) or for game one, a 13-8 victory... in game 2, thursday, i was probable, but played a couple points... it MAY have been a bit premature on the hammy, but nothing 'sharp' during the event itself... 13-2 for the kids... current state of workouts... 1200 trot/jog, 6 x 100 high knees (slow), 600 brisk jog, 6 x 100 easy butt kicks, 600 'run'... and now i'm up to the sprints... or in my case, a couple points of mellow ultimate... i.e., cover a handler, work at the mark, put it into the endzone... apparently, though there is a league rule that 'designated adults' talbot and smith may not actually be on the field at the same time... that was news to me...

last night, the kids defended their 'central oregon' title w/ a 6-5 (whew) win over sisters and a 5-0 over mt. view in STRONG up and down win. Of the 'starters' who were there, when played as a unit, they scored up wind at a good clip... the problem was, the kids got out of a car at 3:45 and played 10 minutes later against a team that had been warming up an hour... oh, and the game to 11 became a game to 7 at 5 all by fiat of host... needless to say, i changed the substitution patterns... but good practice for the kids to finish w/ the pressure on... we talked about the value of intensity in practice afterword... not a bad job missing several of the better players...

tough: i try to sub as deeply as possible and win the game, but it's really amazing how quickly a team can be let into a game... most significantly, a game to '7' is really kind of short... 3 weekends to state: focus is going to be on 'greater intensity' at practice... and i'll have to split up the teams pretty soon into 'a' and 'b'... beyond that, it's just practicing existing, but rough concepts... trap zone, position man d and helping, stack management, endzone, and cutting...

we're gonna work on 'these 10 simple things...'

got a solid 10 hours of sleep: the school year is working me... and ate some french toast... a note. charging the mp 3 player for the inaugural mt. bike ride of year... going to head up to the snow line and back... hope to get a couple hours out of it...

HAMSTRUNG!!!

hopefully a minor one today... first in years... kids were playing, i did warmups and drills, played a point or two... then threw and ran w/ talbot for an hour, then got into a 'local scrimmage'. for some reason i felt compelled to 'be the first one down on the pull.' after catching and throwing a couple goals... sprinting on pull, right leg cramped up on 'medial anterior hamstring' is that in a non scientific way right... a few inches above inside of right knee... locked up... i'm hopeful it's just a cramp, and the result of 3.5 hours of frisbee...

aside... jerseys in (i'll link to art, it's kind of cool), city league starts thursday... the league: 9 teams, 15 each. We are team 9. The other 8 teams are 120 varied experience players, all adults. My team, the summit high school team w/ me, aaron talbot, and mare schelz. should be interesting. could go either way. I got the hammy, mare hasn't played in a while, and aaron dislocated his trachea... my best hs kid has mono (that's bad for frisbee, i hear)...

more to follow. I served as draft consultant for aaron switzer, so he's got the best adult team. we've got a chance.

luke.

gandy goose.
a team of mostly bend players (russ and port zinner, aaron talbot, luke smith, doug voderberg, doug geygan, and 3 high school players (nate benson, acacia baldner, and scott dostert (ok, scott is my green 30 year old housemate), vi ho, hillary, anne, cathy O from portland, rob and alice from hood river, bob from eugene, tara and andy from corn valley....

jees, i hope i didn't forget anyone...

oh yeah... darth himself... switzer...

25 mph winds on saturday, good play by a couple of portland coed teams, and we squeaked out... 15-3, 15-9, 15-7....

sunday, faced 'eugene jedi' in the a pool quarters.... they got 4. I think. i was imbibing the free cofee and bagels. our pool was apparently tough.... also, the calm winds let the long game work... and it didn't hurt that our pickup team was actually figuring out everyone's name.

ok, just adhd luke. it really takes me that long to learn names.

semis. good times. no. yes. shit. 8 days later, i can't remember who we played. we won by a few.

now it was like 4 pm. the 'no cap rule' would come into effect.

finals.

1-0 us. 1-1. 2-1 us. 3-1 us. 4-1 us. 4-2. 5-2.

a wall of hail approaced from the east. this is unusual, because usually the weather comes from the west. preparing to pull, we noticed that hair was standing on end. only a few complained when we ran for the cars. later, i learned, that people were being shocked by their umbrellas. this did not stop utah dan from smashing a beer on his fore head, and drinking it.

eventually we returned, hair still on end. 'purple vein', a trigger/donner... ashlandy talented bunch, worked it down wind for the zone score.... we answered....

and we (both teams) called the game. when everyone's hair stands like mine.... well... not so good...

some fantasy stats....

talbot... 2 assists, 2 goals...
andy... goal, assist.
anne, assist
smith (ME!, self aggrandizement time), 2 assists, 2 blocks
hillary, goal...
i'm missing a goal and an assist...
mark of vein was on....

Week of HS practice:
5 days, 3-5, focus on vertical stack, the 'arch' endzone (thanks DoG!), zone.

Saturday
30 mph winds, 34 degress, snowrainsleet, and summit is undefeated in green/white split against churchill mostly freshies, and mt. view.... the arch is money.

thoughts: new players have a VERY difficult time in the wind. at the same time, young players have a hard time recognizing when it's not windy... i.e., when a brief calm comes, know that your old throws are good again.

but this clearly does not apply to experienced players.

with 8 inches of snow on the ground, mondays bike ride to work was miserable.

beyond miserable.

go put your head in a portapottie. pull it out. punch yourself in the neck.

repeat.

monday, practice cancelled for snow on ground.

Tuesday: 65 degrees and sunny. A little moist spots on ground. Crazy.

Focus was 'back to basics.'

Interesting thoughts. Only 16 kids out today. and 2 BRAND new ones. they struggled, but again, learned the basics....

here are my current thoughts on basics:

flick: grip, 'the gun'. hold it up. throw a blade. repeat. now at waist. usual mistake? a modified 'backhand grip.' answer. before throwing the flick, if you need to, hold it like a blade.

both: get low. lower. no, lower. you are a new thrower. even if you are not, you are not as goood as you think. trust me. get lower. bend your legs. lower. no, dont lean over your front legs. spread your stance, and drop evenly. balance is key. good job.

marking drill: teach it 2 ways.
1) chicken. no arms. easy for new throwers to complete. teaches footwork to markers
2) standard. encourage low stance. commit to throw. extend. ignore the mark.

'goto drills'

i do two.
1) trident: a handler cut. cut to one side, flare to other.
2) gladiator: standard goto, but i require a 2 or 3 step fake deep before the end cut....

philosophy:
kids wanted to practice: i.e. scrimmage. i said, if we have no turnovers in drills, we'll scrimmage.

responses:
average: oh no.
winner, jake hermeling, div 1 college pick at wide receiver, 'OK, we can do this!'

unfortuanately, jake won't be around much this summer for my summer league team.

but it's illustrative: and i will add it as a mantra. 'give me a "KILL" has been less than sucessful.
'OK WE CAN DO THIS' may be sucessful. You simply CAN NOT exceeed your goals on a regular basis. if your goal is perfection, you may not reach it. fine. but for one drill... 30 passes... you MIGHT... along the way... you may have to make exeptions for yourself (i dove, i missed it)... if you can make exeptions for others..if you can accept that a young person may make an error in the goal for perfection, that's actually OK. it's different. first time playing you make mistakes.... but if you make an effort to get everything, do it all right, you can within yourself work towards perfection...

bottom line... you should do everything to the best of your abillity... every time... and at the same time, you should forgive failure, at least, you should not let the failure of others lower you...

joke time... do you know the one about the brown pants? reply and i'll answer.

the end

combine!

i've got a dilemna... i'll have, for the spring... a group of 'full time' frisbee players. i'll also have a bunch of half track/half frisbee players.

i have ONE 'ultimate player', a club player level hs kid w/ speed, 3 throws (forehand, backhand, overhead), hops and some vision. i want to 'assess' all the kids.

i'm thinking of a combine.

this is what i had in mind.

run x yds. (i think 70) throw 10 flicks w/ a stack of discs into a lacrosse net from say, 10 yds (maybe make it more for 'better players?'... then run the snake (cones in a zig zag), then run back 70 yds, and throw 10 back hands into the lacrosse net.

for every shot that doesn't hit 'net'... a penalty...

then run the snake, run back, and throw long... maybe 45 yds for 'me'... 35 for the good player... so on... run the snake, run back, throw other throw...

then run say, oh, 400, then have to do a 'nietzche' of say, receive 20 passes... starting at a middle cone, cut forehand, receive a pass, throw a completion back to me, back to center, cut in again...

so...

thoughts? scoring? changes? alterations? better ideas?

i think, total time, plus y seconds per 'error'. there would be 80 opportunites for error, total distance runs = 1290 yds (too much?), total throw catch opportunites 80? score by time? i.e., x + 5 seconds per error? or, what? thoughts?

hmm... friday, about 10k in sunvalley, saturday, 32K, sunday, road trip back, last half of super bowl... monday, 17 k...

got in here a little before 6 today, entered the grades, and the new term begins... easier load this time, as i'm only teaching 3 'different' classes (i.e., i end up teaching the same class, a couple times, to different groups. much easier prep). Hopefully I can devote some more time to a couple of the classes...

this afternoon, intervals, tommorrow, frisbee... good weather for a while, i.e. 50 ish and sunny... finally. shorts weather. i wonder where my shorts are...

probably throw in some 'dump swing continue' drill... then lots of mini, dutch and hotbox.

the kids love hotbox...

and who can blame them...

recent read: 'Confessions of an Economic Hitman' pretty good. Honestly, you can google the interview transcript from democracy now (make sure to read the LONGER transcript... there are two) and get the gist of his experiences out on the fore front of exploitive globalization in the name of empire... the 'fun' part of the book is the role of the NSA in all of this...

theodore geisel roles over in his grave...

My AP class is year long, so rather than deal w/ a mid-year test w/ AP prep at the forefront, the assignment, write something about 'US GOVERNMENT' in the style of Dr. Seuss... Mine is not really about Govt, and I sort of pumped it out this AM in about 20 minutes... but it's a fairly descriptive tale of why i started teaching, and what it's like... sorry about editing.. i'll brush it up later...

IN the rainy far off land of freemont, washington there lived the blond fuzzy skier named tonk blartron

And he labored and toiled as he built pluperhouses, and the checks were all right but the plupers were louses

So he slowly went nuts designing riding vacuumns, and ridiculous pools that were supported by balloons,

Til he’d finally had enough of super pluper demands, so he jumped up and left to sasquatchy oregony lands…

Now he gets up in the morning, in the deep dark night, laughs at the droopery rain and jumps on his trumpalo bike…

And its 40 and raining but boy is he glad, he doesn’t even complain when he gets splashed by gage and his dad…

No the oregony kids, he really likes them the best, that’s why he works and he toils, and he tries to make jests

He reads lots of books, he stays up too late, he works 60 hours Boy is this great,

For their future is bright, and he likes them a lot, he knows that he can make a difference, so that their brains don’t rot…

And they come in to his flouresceny office, with looks of deep misery. Oh boy he thinks! They need help with us history!

But no, no, they say, in their oregony way, I don’t want to work. I just want an A

I am very bright, very smart, this I know. I deserve a good grade. My dad tells me so.

But, but, what, what, he says, all a huff and a puff, I’ don’t understand, don’t you hear, this history’s great stuff…

No, says the tot, readings a bore, and class is kind of lame, I’ll just take the ‘A’, if it’s all just the same…

At last lunch comes, and he can have some rest, get some grading done, maybe drum up a test!

But the fresh freshy froshies descend like a trumapling herd, they make a huge mess, and the noise, oh my word…

Then come the seniors, oh they’ll be a joy, they’ll read and they’ll work and the conversations, oh boy…

but no they all say, we don’t want to read, and we don’t want to chore, we’ll just show up late, give you grief, call you a bore…

We don’t care if you do the reading, we just rather not, we mainly want to complain, work… a bunch of rot…

And the end of the quarter comes, and it’s all just the same, thanks for nothing, you teachers are lame…

And they stand over head, badger, bother, pester him for days, if I turn in this paper, that test, that quiz, what will THAT do to my grade?

He says, do the reading, come to class, you’ll get into school! No they all say, extra credit’s the way, work is for fools…

But as he bangs his head, as the last kid has gone, he realizes w/ a sigh that here he belongs…

He didn’t get into it for the thanks or the courtesy or the praises, he got into it for 10 eighty an hour, but with annual raises…

storm!

big dump last night.

still fighting this cold, over a week and a half... the fever lasted two days, it's just beeen this niggling cough since then.

sunday, 10 k ski the day the kids raced, monday, weights, yesterday, 25 minutes of warm ups and drills on skis, then 5 x 3 min w/ 1 min recovery... ungh. w/ the 20 minutes of morning cardio (commute) and the 1 hour (i shit thee not) of shoveling 6-8 inches of heavy snow out of the driveway...

today, 2 hour delay, so i'm very peacefully getting very little done.

today, it's awesome out. going to try to go ski 10 or 12 k after school, tommorrow, last day of term, and off to sunvalley to ski.

just a note. 5 x 3 minute intervals with 1 minute recovery sucks.

stuff...

uh, sunday, a race... for the kids... today, 45 minutes of biking (commuting), squats, hangcleans, chinups, abs...

ultimate corner... well, they play local hs games on the cable... i saw the last few minutes of the hs girls play. up 15, the home team was forced to spend the last 3 minutes of game time in a 20 minute parade to the line. the opponents hacked their way to a 20 point loss. so, whoever wants to tell me there are too many stoppages in ultimate... just... get over it.

yes, it's a better game to watch when the defense is soft... but, it's not necessarily a better game. higher scoring is not necessarily an improvement...

some pet peeves. you say stalling, and it means zero. it's not stllnONE... but moving on...

once i caught a pass in a crowd, stepped to throw the easy goal, and realized that my arm was imprisoned in the two hand hammer lock... pulling my arm away from the opponent and throwing the goal, he called foul, saying i'd fouled him in forcefully ripping my arm from his grip. when i called him a f__ing cheating f___, he shrugged, and said, 'it's a strategy'.

this is very irritating.

for this is obviously a 'tactic', not a strategy.

the strategy was in our small team dogging it against this team on saturday, knowing the tournament format would force us to play them on sunday, and kicking their ass then.

strategy: multi game, if not season long approach.
tactics are plays, and actions with in a play.

duh.

tommorrow, probably skate intervals, wednesday frisbee, thursday, drive to sunvalley for the 30 something kilometer boulder mountain tour...

hopefully get back for the last half of the super bowl... go... uh... nouns of a geographic region...

morning...

woke up early, so thought i'd polish off a post... and post.... no, that doesn't mean, 'add caps.'

relatively good news on the knee... pretty clearly a 'tracking issue' thing with the patella... from shreding the nar nar pow pow (translation, i am a clumsy and oafish skier who probably is not aided by impending issues of age. luckily i have a medic alert bracelet. unfortunately, i am this close to constantly screaming profanities into the thing, collecting cats, driving a golf cart...)

seems fine. i might should modify the squats... and stuff... but they are just so fun... if it continues to improve, i'll not make modifications...

for those of you who just skipped my long whinefest... welcome, to ultimate stuff w/ me. so nice to see you...

i'm still waiting on the ultimate podcast 3. i showed up late for the broadcast, so i may or may not be included (whatever 'technical difficulties means'... i'm thinking it means the same thing that that call from doc meant the first time i got cut by sockeye... yeah... anyway...we're making a few changes around here...

that's a story for another day... this week, where were we...shit. been a week and a half, no two weeks. well, last week was my defacto rest week... no ski sunday, weights monday, tuesday cancelled due to to much snow (i know, i know), wed, weights, thursday, a preposterously easy ski...

this past saturday was an 18 k ski, the last half of a ski marathon... a couple kids did the race, we took most of the team on a tour to cheer and ski... it was fun...

last year, rich gross (head coach, former us team biathlete) and i skied the course on sunday (after saturday's race...) the conditions were horrible... warm on saturday, it had refrozen for sunday... the course is a screaming down hill, followed by a fairly easy up and down... but at the start of the screming downhill, we run into womens 2nd place finisher muffy roy, (mom, coach, and once top 10 in 3 different sports in canada... biking... skiin... and i THINK 800 m running) who has just skied up the course (point being, shes a stud. frisbee players, not so much)... this year, totally different... so much snow the grooming was just OK (for the occasional reader who knows or cares i.e. pbowen) for my stiff flex fischer 610's... oh, and she was robbed of the first place by a bad start by the starter (i witnessed) that put her in bad position for the jockey for the 3 mile screamin' down hill... why do i ramble on about these folks? well, the son, a 15 year old clocked a 16:20 this year, sis was top 8 in xc running for 4 years, number 1 in skiing, and dad coaches world cup snowboard racers... and i'm worried about finding a fall team...

finished the ski in good time, w/ plenty of breaks to gtfootw, and cheer... and wait for the rest of the ski team... mellow eve... but woke up after a few beers with a mild headache... what i initially thought was some weird alcohol induced head ache turned very VERY quickly into a floor writhing agony of something... hectoritis? head in a vise... front and back... couldn't move... spent all day, instead of going for the planned 12 k, flopping around on the living room floor... called in for a sub for monday... as it turned out, I MIGHT have rallyed for monday, but i just slept all day....

today, did some pointless drills with the kids... and a quick 8k in like... oh... 30 minutes... equivalent to, in running, at least in terms of effort... to say... 4.5 miles at medium pace... say, 7:40... (i.e., the times don't always match)... then 30 minutes of capture the flag w/ cross town rival redmond...

highlight: after a quick schooling by their head coach, local ski star (our 50 y.o. olympian was not there to humble him), i traded team jackets with one of their kids... in falling light, we did our best stratego spy impersonations... no, didn't necessarily affect the outcome... but pretty sweet... as I drew a crowd trying to catch the swing... in my mismatched jersey... micah (true captain... classic, work hard get good guy) catches the option... as i'm flailing 3 opponents to the ground, this kid makes the hottest athletic move of his life... dodging right to avoid the tag... LEAPS over me, (I MEAN BARREL JUMPS) as the 3 redmond kids crash (on to me) skates left, and dishes to tim (the olympians kid). tim, chronic underacheiver (his dad didn't make the national team until his 30's) skates left, jams up on to a snow bank... skates the bank over the oppositions outstretched hands... jumps down (this is no bull shit, between micah and tim, it looked like a tony hawk video, w/ me as the barrel) darts right and scores the winnah!

well, it's not about me, but hell, kids grew up on skis...

OK, you made it this far, you deserve some ultimate talk...

1) for real... come to the 5th fastest growing community in america for some frisbee...
2)first hs practice yesterday... went well
total time: 2 hrs. 3:15-5:15. solid warmup with running/stretching/running/plyos, 3 drills (swing/goto/dutchbox), mini, then 6 on 6.

thursday... 4 x 4 min intervals, hard... not SUPER hard, but brisk... didn't have heart rate monitor on. today... weights, frisbee.... tommorrow, skate, sunday, classic, and pm frisbee, if the snow is not as bad as projected....

luke

mlk rules

sup loyal readers. nothing new to add. the next podcast is coming up... apparently there's an 18 minute gap. as long is it has something to do with the 1994 boulder tourney... i'm safe. i thing there's some missing discussion of (beeps) (beeping) of (beep). (beep). that was good (beep). My favorite part is where (beep) bought the (beep) from (beep) and (beep) in (beep).

Beep.

In my life, the knee hurts. Might have to do something about it. I think it's ski related, but it just 'hurts'. SEEMS to be getting better, so i'll probably ignore it longer. Basically, (beeping) hurts, and when i run, it hurts, then stops hurting. Kind of hurts all over. Got the trainer to look at it, the ligaments are as solid as you can be w/ a missing pcl and some kind of ligament damage to the mcl. but that's old news. sorry about the whine.

Don't remember last post. Oh, oppened another window, it was monday... so, since then, tuesday, skied, I think it was... skate? No, I think classic. 5 x 4 minute intervals. That I remember. Remember the fun, not which shoes I had on.

Everyday, 20 minute morning bike to work, fearful for life, cars trying to kill me. Wednesday, Weights. Still light, full parallel squat, hang cleans. Bench, lat pull (to warm up) then pull ups, then abs. 10 minutes bike, Squats, 10x 45 (warm-up), 115, 125, 135. Hang Cleans (working towards deeper drop for less movement of bar), 10 x 65, 75, 75, 75. Bench, 3 x 10 x 115, Chinups, 3x 6. Abs.

Thursday, a fun day on skate skis. We did a relay race, teams of 3, so that each of the 6 intervals was 1/2 kilometer... so like a 500, BUT, there was 4-7 inches of new snow, so there was a strength component. I tried to time each interval a couple of times, but was too busy snotting and wheezing at the end to remember to look at my watch. I thought it was about 90 seconds. So more likely, 75.

Today, a race. And for those of you with any experience waxing a debacle. This was one i coach, not participate. Got up at 6, on the road by 7. Realized another coach had errantly told team 8 am departure... so rather than get there early and set up, i drew the duty of waiting w/ last car in parking lot until 8:30... miserable conditions. Rich (head coach, former US national biathalete team member) was struggling w/ wax. That means it's bad. We used klister (this gummy stuff), hard wax on klister, hard wax only, this press on tape... and all varieties of the previous. Nothing works. The solution, which we didn't use, is called a 'swedish tool.' not the one (beep) used to (beep). No, I'm not talking about (beep). Never mind...

We came in second, but that was because 2/3 of the team wasn't there. Now I sound like a frisbee player complaining that my spring team isn't really the team... that's why we're called New Yoke, No Joke, or duke of pooce, or chayne, or soqueI, or something... Now I sound like a soccer dad...

Basically a 14 hour day by the time I got the results formatted for publishing in the paper... tonight, ate some pasta, drinking some wine... sleep till i wake up, then go ski.

frisbee corner: uh... man. The regulars aren't around to respond to... Idris 'king of the beach' is off at some co-ed tournament, jim is playing ice goalty...

OK, here it is. I think this is a retread. But... it seemed like goalty was really growing. Then they instituted the 'no-zone' rule... that's a dumb rule... It's like playing hot box when all the sudden your opponent squeals out... 'no POOOOAAACHHHING the BOOOAAAAHHHHXXX'...

Enough? How bout this. The team that most capitalizes on proper filming will excel over the one that doesn't . High angle filming that allows a full view of the field will provide the best teaching tool for developing field sense in offensive players, and developing a concept of team defense and opportunities for switching that will lead to sophisticated, energy conserving defenses that capitalize on the slightest errors by the offense. You can as a result either force the defense to work commensurately harder, or, in a similar vein, minimize the traditional truism that the game favors the offense, lower the 'caloric' output of the defense per point, and give the defensive offense the opportunity to have fresher legs when the occasion to score presents itself... i.e., make the field crowded for the opponents offense, and open for your own.

shizzle

hmm. rsd is heating up, which takes the pressure off frequent bloggery.

what's up, though.

1) frisbee. no news on the sinkhole. i'm quite excited about the frisbee season (kids, not mine.... although i love getting lots and lots of throwing in...) and the weather is insane... last year, we played, all winter. occasionally in shorts. there is snow on the ground, still. i don't think my yard has been snow free since... uh, thanksgiving. really. no bs.

2) frisbee strategery. aw heck. how bout... oh... this. what is the hardest thing to teach.

field sense is often bandied about. i think it starts with a scale drawing of the field. VERY few people realize how narrow the field is... how deep the endzones are (too deep, but that's a topic for another post).

throwing (real throwing, mark breaking, the bomb, the decision to bomb or not bomb)

also. speed is overlooked. i'm not fast (although, once, i wasn't slow), but i posit that many frisbee players (Even good ones) could be better. you ever seen that tall skinny palsied looking guy? yeah. that one. you know what i mean. but, you can just 'show up fast' so, that's out.

sideline behavior? somepeople get it. how bout this. the winning team is seldom 'out sidelined'. not rah rah charge the field (although, in college, that often constitutes engaged sideline play). i mean, 12 odd (or 25 if you are jam (idris, that's your cue to deny)) 'coaches' calling the mark, warning about the deep, simple encouraging to mark... internal motivation is key. but a little bit of 'get a mark, good, no break' goes a long way... and you can do it from sitting on a cooler...

huma-craw. you name it, you should be able to open a beer with it. or else you are a piss poor monkey. favorites: an empty 6 pack cardboard container, a pizza box (dare to use less and less pizza box), a thumb (for shotguns)...

that's enough.

uh, ski, ski, ski. new mystery knee ache. other knee. the other one is fine now. so i just ignore it. today, bike commute, work, 5 min bike warmup, 5x10 sets of squats (Very light, but full parrallel, 95/95/105/105/125), 5 x 10 hang - cleans (again, light, just learning the motion, 55/65/75/85/95), chinups, bench, some 'pt' type stuff for the achy knee to stabilize the vmo (vastus medialus oblique, i think).

yesterday, 12 k skate ski. 1/2 fast, 1/2 slow. fast is above (well above) the conversational level... to the 'yeah... buh... huff... huff...' etc... slow was casual.

saturday, 12 k classic ski, massive snowball fight.

friday, rest (well, bike everywhere)

thurs, 6 k ski (had to help with a race for the kids)

wednesday, uh... that's a loooooonnnnngggg time ago. i think i lifted weights?

new year...

supposed to be a rest day... but lifted a little, light, chinups, bench, squats, hang cleans...

still figuring out the hang cleans, committing to dropping under the bar into the squat is sort of coming incrementally... kind of fun though, variety, variety...

in the news, the summit high athletic fields (14 acres worth) are condemned. a sinkhole appeared after recent flooding (see recent posts) destroying half the track, taking out a light stanchion, half the baseball field... and it just keeps growing... when there is a newspaper article, i'll link to it...

so it will be interesting where the ultimate team gets to play... working on it...

but right now, still ski season: intervals yesterday, skate race tommorrow (not me, the kids; i train, but don't really race -- but 2 this year, and i'll do at least 2 or 3 more, so i'm more into it than road racing. i'm hoping to vomit by years end. maybe the 35 k. or maybe the sprint... hard to say which is more pleasant).

so, few more weeks, and plyo's start... i haven't really thought it out... i doubt it will herald the return of the strength shoes... although they are sitting out in the gargage calling...

like Christine...

all is quiet...

...on new years day... hold on... let me fire up some U2 on the itunes here... actually ended up w/ 'i will follow'... ah yes...

good day today, made it all the way to 12:05 last night... yes, i'm soft, but it was that or bike, or cab, or whatever into town... seemed... cumbersome... so kicked it at the house, a little madden 06 (1-1) vs. housemate scott...

restive sleep, but for unknown reasons... got up a little before seven, skied in a new years relay... i had the classic leg... i'm embarassed to say, i'd not cleaned, waxed, etc... so my 'kick' (climb) was great, but my glide was ass... so i looked good on the up... (well, i felt good) only to have much lighter skiiers fly by on the descent... oh well... total ski, 8 k or so (5 k warm-up, 3 k race, pretty much maxed out at like a 2 mile race pace intensity, i.e., i went to the place where you taste the metal in your blood in your mouth)...

came home, slightly burned the potatoes, but not enough to throw out... amazing... 15 seconds of sear makes a lot of smell... added some turkey sausage, some cream of mushrooom soup... and then, the first annual summit high school new years day game...

now, this could have been anything... in the time since we scheduled the game, oh, 2 weeks ago, we've gone from 2 feet of snow covering everything, to torrential rain that erased the snow, to a new rainstorm leading to highway closing flooding, closed underpasses, etc...

and i'm not counting the locusts.

i live a couple miles, and 50 or 60 vertical feet (doesn't seem like much... but it mattered) above town... my house has 6 or 7 inches of snow... i wore plastic pants, waterproof jacket, took gloves, etc... and a white garbage bag... turned out to be perfectly good weather... 35 or 40, just cool, and the field was basically dry, w/ little patches of vestigal snow...

oh yes. and some dog shit. what is it with people. this is a park. a play field (aside, lemon (a much underated song ends, and new years day begins... rock on ireland, prior total wierdness))... a soccer field... during the year, people are pretty good. they even have this metal dog shit picker upper bag dispenser, next to a garbage can. what could be easier? But the snow flies, and everyone starts acting like the snow has magical properties that dissolve shit. I apologize to sensitive readers, but only shit captures the connotation of wet, residual dog crap remaining after snow has melted...

but, statistically, the turds only covered .001% of the field or something (somewhere, jim is firing up the spread sheet... assume slightly smaller field, average turd area...)... so any way...

anyway, ended up w/ 14 total, played make it take it mini 4 v 4 w/ 4 sitting until the last 2 showed up... and the tykes nearby finished up w/ the american football... then, the game to 7, i buy winning team cocoa.

i think the teams were fair, i'd like to think my throwing makes an advantage, but the balance seemed reasonable... final score 7-6 as we scored the upwinder on a short throw to the designated goal scorer... the only time we'd run a play, but the game was getting a little one dimensional... i'm sorry. i have tendencies... (pride-in the name of love). Did you know that it is reported (apocryphally, i'm afraid i don't have solid source available. please investigate, and comment)...

anyway, followed through, sprung for the hot chocolate for the winners. say what you want about corporate america... here's to starbucks being open on jan 1.

so i'm officially calling it the 1st annual new years summit alum hat tournament.

year's record: 1-0.

podcast commentary track.

So, here it is... with time stamps!

Intro: Corey is almost un-intelligibly quiet. A surprising change after last week...

:20 The book. And there was a segment on ESPN2's 'Cold Pizza' Program hawking the book, with the authors. Arnold Sanchez was the first guy ever kicked out of ultimate... he was in the background throwing in the segment... one of the people playing catch. Corey, former New Yorker that he is, points out that Arnold was only suspended.

:1:50 Arnold is mistaken for a High School kid. Do Adam Zagoria and Tony Leonardo look like Jim Belushi and Harold Ramis? You decide.


2:30 I just had to turn up the volume on Corey. When will the porridge be just right.

3:00 A reference to the good old days of no stall counts.

3:20 I mutilate some hotcake metaphors. Have I told you about my dream about Pancakes?

3:40 Discussion of publishing. Y’awn.

4:20 This brings us to the bash Alex DeFrondeville section.... and a segue to the Hall of Fame... Starting with Eric Simon. Yeah Eric.

5:40 Luke interrupts Jim. Rude kids. Questioning Joel Silver as founder and a discussion of Santa Claus’ origins. Kids, Earmuffs.

6:20 Ah yes, smallpox.

6:35 Am I in it? (Yes I am, as it turns out).

7:10 Strategery with Jim. MVP’s can throw.

8:30 Idris: Frisbee = Little League Football.

8:45 Luke: Frisbee = Madden 2006. Then blabs on... And monopolizing microphone, and stating the obvious, ‘the good defense is one that keeps the offense out of the endzone.’ You can tell I spent some time at state school... You know, I think that one reason the flat stack is so popular, is that it looks just like madden. JUST LIKE MADDEN

10:00 Idris agrees Offense is important, and Corey...za-zing, take that idris.

10:00 ish... Corey explores defensive strategy. There is some Confused silence from Jim and Idris, who are both uncomfortable and confused.

11:00, luke with another one liner...

11:15 Jim, damn him, with a concrete suggestion. The idea of using film to get better.

11:30 Back to ‘d’ guys can’t score...

12:00 Jim, Offense guys just have to be able to call people out-of-bounds to play d... good stuff...

13:40 Idris gives away the secret to his game...

14:20 the Shasta-meter or the Parinella Excite-o-meter... I couldn't find the reference, and I don't remember when idris talked about it. But Shasta (Phillips? I think) a fast bay area guy apparently referred to the level of excitement as a defining statistic. Turnovers, goals, assists, blocks. They are all hugely important, under the excite-o-meter... (which, I think, was jim's term).

14:50 Chris Sherwood’s campaign platform... Props to Chris, he took a lead role in rewriting the rules, or something... And was on a title winning furious team...

15:23 Jim says ‘Dog’ has not the sack to cut Jim...

15:51 Year in review? Furious is old at 30... They are not, infact that old. See, that's where we, at the podcast include you in our banter... see, a hearty guffaw as jim (40 something) calls mike grant (19 years old) old.

16:20 Idris wraps, editing out his brilliant recap of running down a ‘little person’ the first time he went snowboarding... This was a truly great story, well developed, and a huge punchline. Basic summary, Idris is snowboarding, in quasi-control, and runs down a small child, turns out that small child has beard, and whisky and cigarrette breath. Farrelly brothers inappropriate, perhaps, but funny.

17:20 Luke thanks sponsor deja news, which was bought out by google groups several years ago. Just to let you know how old school I am, I still type deja.com to get to google groups...
Thanks to our sponsors, skype, adidas, deja, and Deschutes Brewing!

training...

lots and lots of skiing. i've been skating almost exclusively. skate skiing is on skiiny cross country skis, accross a trail that basically has had the same grooming as the ski area. it's flat, and fast. the movement is like ice skating, but you use poles.

i've done some classic skiing (looks like you are shuffling along: done properly, you transfer all your weight to one ski for part of the time. challenging, and rewarding) but not a ton as you have to wax for kick (the middle third of the ski receives a 'sticky' wax that interacts with the snow. it's called 'kick' because you kick your leg down, and slightly back to propel yourself forward)...

today, i finally rode my new telemark skis (After a 40 minute, approximately 8k skate)... and they rock. a little (4-6 inches) new snow... and while there was no deep powder... there was plenty of opportunity to explore shallow powder, ice, cut up snow... and these skis rock. you just let them run... awesome... of course, i ran into a couple of the local xc kids, who grew up on skis since age 2, and they are legitimate athletes (the 8th grader will likely run sub 17 next year, the 12th grader, a top 6 in state skiier, is the starting tailback, and likely div one baseball player).

i could ski with them... but not that moment when they all launched off this 6 foot high kicker that threw them 15 feet into the air... i just skied around that...

so, skiing for every day of the past week or so, more to come... life is good.

no weights though...

best video i ever saw.

borrowed a video from JG once. Showed US (NYNY) vs Sweden (i think). It was a very close game. No KD. The US team was huddling and singing kum-bay--yah. The camera was a tower cam, from the top of a swivel above a flag pole or something. Great footage.

The climax: US has disc to score (and I think win). Calls timeout. There is an argument in huddle. JG is attempting to rally troops w/ kumbayah. Various players are just wandering out of huddle... tape... just... ends.

US went on to win, but it was also the end of NYNY. It was a metaphor, get it?

AWESOME tape.

blah.

hmm.

some thoughts. so, against my better wishes, the 1st annual, summit reunion new years game is scheduled for jan 1 at 1 pm. The game's duration will be decided when we see the numbers, and the conditions. Right now, there is 1 foot of snow on the ground. There could be 1 foot, with freezing rain by then. But, i'm aware that this is one of those traditions I can get started NOW, while i'm in some semblance of abillity to start, that can continue without me after I can't do these things.

although, why I didn't start this last year, when it was 60...

oh, for you frisbee guys, if you're not going to comment on my frisbee posts, i'll assume you don't read them any more than you read my lame attempts at literary posts. therefore, luke's true bloggery continues unabated.

1) let's get a RSD moderated going. is that possible? Jim, Idris? Y'all are more saavy than me. Maybe you could simply host, and moderate a forum.

2) it's cold here.

3) tommorrow, I go to the meeting to set up our own ski league. the details are that the league head secretly (for real) gave himself a raise, and that he tried to kick out 2 of our skiers for receiving scholarships to participate in camps and races. Does anyone know the ins and outs of getting event liabillity coverage (every time i've done it, it was through the UPA).

4) got new skis. Fishcer RCS 610's. suffice to say, they are as sweet as it comes. Got them at uh... best price. Bought new boots. Top of the line... not because i'm infatuated w/ top of the line... the fact is, well, my feet could tell the difference. Has anyone out there had experience with RADICALLY different sizing for cleats/running shoes/ ski boots.? My cleats and running shoes are a 12. My ski boots are a 10.5 (w/ an expensive heat molded liner). Am I ignorantly trading comfort for performance? Or is this just an industry thing? I wear running shoes to work every day, so I only wear athletic shoes (run/ski)... What are dress shoes like?

5) Are you all aware about bovine growth hormone in your milk? Are you aware that fox news defeated a whistle blower by demonstrating to an appellate court (i think the 5th, florida) that news need not be truthful, for it is a free speech issue?

6) Watch the corporation and the control room. Great documentaries.

7) When is the next ultimate talk LIVE? Jim, I need 48 hours to make up what i think we might have would have said.

8) Training log? I don't remember when last I posted. I skied every day but friday. They groom at a local sport park (w/ lights)... Tommorrow, I ski my new gear for the first time. Presumably, with a hangover. But we'll see. 4 or 5 beers wrecks me these days. But the fact that I have to ski w/ a former national team member, who mistakenly construes me with an athlete, at best I'll be bugeyed. At worst I'll vomit. IN good news, I'm getting better at this, the most technical of disciplines (w/ apologies to swimmers -- i know that that is techy too). The issue w/ technical disciplines, which has a strong connection to frisbee: the better you get, the less excercise you get. Therefore, old OFFENSIVE players are good. They get open with less effort. They throw better. And when they turn it over, they get it back by forcing multiple throws.

9) ON driveway clearing. If you get after the snow while it's light, a push broom is ideal.

10) More thoughts about frisbee.

OK, We played a team that had a bunch of good athletes... but they ran this crazy short game three man. Lots of picks... like what jam used to be accused of. Brutally effective against high school teams (they don't call picks)... They had plays set up. All 6 cutters would run these elaborate patterns that only SORT of created picks: what is the role of a frisbee player. Do you have to decide ahead of time that the player you are covering is actually going to NOT run into the person right in front of you? How long do you have to decide? What if they jump out of the way, right as you decide the train wreck is coming? I mean, totally legal, right? The pick didn't actually occur? At the last minute, you were given the opportunity to run with your player?

11) Holiday stuff. AFter 9 years of college, 6 years in seattle, then 4 years of poverty jet set... I realized the other morning, after 2 weeks of low single digit bike riding... I'm really lucky. I live in a house... it's warm in every room. The pipes don't freeze. Pretty good. Similar for most frisbee players? Life is good.

12) Still stupidly plan on putting together another men's team for the fall. College kids and transients: Wanna spend the summer in paradise? Requirements: talent, athleticism, abillity to play a simple system (completions, conditioning, and what ever the c word is for playing multiple 'd's)... Housing can be arranged... employment... well, landscaping... or something. Construction? Park and rec?

Ringers welcome.

tooday...

Idris. Save us all... Do you have the option to simply post a link to my NON frisbee posts... or must I continue to be called pancho by stadler, (jim) while I live on as Cervantes...

Lessee...
Saturday, my first 10 K race. It was actually a workout, and my splits were dead on... that's just excuse talk for I sucked. For although I ski all the time, nordic skiing is still new to this georgia boy.

Sunday, recovery day, 45 minute hike in my randonee gear... then one ski down. Kept my heart rate around 130... so, easy.

Monday, weights (patellar tendonitis, aching since running season was an issue) squats, hang cleans, chin ups, abs... then, a 45 minute skate ski, under the tutelage of Rich Gross, former US team member.

Tuesday, an hour skate ski... again, lots of pointers from a former olympian. That's why I ski. It's the hardest thing i've ever done... and i'm getting good pointers.

Wednesday. Oh wait. That was today.
Squats, shorter range of motion (to protect the achy knee). No problem. 3 sets of hang cleans with higher weight. Knee extensions (to work the quads, but not the joint), chin ups, bench, abs... then 1 hour of skating (there is skiing, in town, on the way home). Ran into Mike Heidenreich, another coach, who gave me great form training... and as a kinetic learnier, I'm actually incapable of learning from words... so I actually learned something, as it was using other words and another model....

In other news. Looks like Summit is splitting off from the OISRA (oregon ski something) and taking most of the teams with us. The league head apparently budgeted a pay raise in... and we are not happy.

The end.

PS. Ultimate. I agree with Idris (means sunshine, or something) that quality throwing is important. I do think, that JUST THROWING is also... very important...

In other news, my housemate / homeowner Lynn Ott, leaves tommorow to qualify for the olympic team (downhill dual slalom snowboarding).

Go Lynn.

tidings...

most of my relatively humorous thoughts come not from within. where school is concerned, they often involve the kids.

here is some christmas humor.

I have 20 kids who come in and eat lunch in my room every day.

Every Day. Many of them are cross country runners who got run out of the math teachers room.. I don't mind the cacophany, the kids are a constant source of mirth, random thoughts, and most importantly...

food.

snacks galore.

Today, I was on my 'A' game teaching, which means I was awake, alert, and responsive. So at lunch, I set up a rochambo.

There is a box in my room. I'm not sure why. West (name) brought it in. It's about the size of a dog box. Reminded of the time, at a Chain/Ozone party in 1996 when we had a rochambo, get in the dog box and bark for 3 minutes, I established a roshambo, winner picks a victim for the cardboard box. There were 8 participants. I used this for a bye to the semis... (won)... and then we played it out. Annie Brinich won... But she felt self concious about picking a victim.

Lucky, because, sure enough, the kids on the frisbee team immediately started chanting SMITH SMITH SMITH as she walked out.

For some reason, not currently clear to me, Brandon (Brando) Roadman, entered the box. As an Aside, why is Brandon Steets nick name Brandice. Wouldn't Brando be better?

To summarize, HS kids, rock paper scissors, time in a cardboard box.

In other news of high school... I entered grades yesterday. I have the abillity to enter comments with a few key strokes.

(11) Good attitude.
(18) Participates.
(13) Leads discussion.
(25) Too talkative
(35) Class required for graduation.

There are literally dozens more. My AP government class requested comments. They also noted the comments they had received in the past.

Then the conversation degraded... to comments that were not on the list... but might be.

In bizzaro world. Comments like....

'Hot'

'Attractive'

Needless to say, we all laughed... some (me), more nervously than others....

But, I Did enter comments for all of them. For many, I used certain unusual, specific comments.

No, not 'hot' or 'attractive'.

I went with (39) 'fails to dress out for PE' and, a favorite for good kids, the combination of...

(19) Shows leadership... and
(42) Disruptive in class...

I then added in a series of 'espanol' comments, which you can do by just adding 100 to any comment...

So for the movie script... you get...

(132) Disruptivo... and
(199) Caliente

No, dork face, I did not enter Caliente.

and another thing...... on strategery...

The Luke on Strategery (sorry Idris, I think I erased your comment. Please re-chap)
... scroll down for the continuation...

Following a day of being called Sancho Panza, Gleek, and being compared to Homer Simpson by Jim, I must post... But I'm late for practice... so here is a teaser trailer....

...Contrary to the musings of the self-described strategerists, I hold that it is a misnomer to discuss x's and o's as 'Strategy.' If you are truly interested in building an ultimate team, and establishing the best strategy, you don't start drawing up plays and calculating statistics... You start considering...

Recruiting...
Conditioning...
Focus...
Intensity...
Long term goal setting...

What wins games for Duke? Is it coach K on the sideline saying heave it to midcourt, then sink the halfcourt 3 pointer for the win? Not no but hell no. It's the focus, discipline, conditioning and belief in self that has Reddick in better condition than any Texas player and therefore able to go for 40 something... And has a team believing in his abillity, and not offended when he's putting it up...

So a team, especially a new team, that wants to be successful, needs to get the players in position, and then start conditioning... this doesn't have to mean ultimate 24 /7 , but the best teams have a season long plan, and are made up of a bunch of nerds who just generally like being fit... sure, once you get old, you can lounge for months at a time... but we'll get to that....

fitness precludes injury, builds confidence, and increases success as fatigue leads to mistakes... and then you build your team, etc...

And you have to practice... catch, throw, etc... pretty basic stuff... have we gotten to tactics yet? Not really, but it's common among better teams. They are full of tremendous nerds who are really big into frisbee. Most if not all the players have, at some critical juncture of their career, lived frisbee (travel, playing catch, staying fit) at the expense of all other past times... THIS, along w/ ability, is why they develop as individuals...

STRATEGICALLY, skills, fitness, and tournament touches are more important than tactics. Yes this is basically obvious, but how many teams, especially new ones, read too much into the offense of a elite team... and start trying to create plays, and run drills and do stuff that only a couple people on their team can do...

So again, most of what is being called strategery is tactics...

But now moving to tactics... well here are some tactical thoughts.

1) Make the defense deal with much more than you do. The most significant point of that NYTIMES article about Texas Tech (to me) was that their offense is actually really simple. They just set up in these different formations... Now granted, whether it's eurotrash/stack/ or the belgium clump, it's a safe bet alex is looking for jim... but for joe schmo team, whether or not the team you're playing knows you, you can line up Beau in a couple different places on the field... and have him run the same cut each time... but everytime you move his start position, the 'd's usual help positions are, well out of position...

yes it's more complicated... but it's a start...

2) there is no 2 for now.... more to follow.

Idris' comment... was that Reddick might suck in the NBA, since Duke guys are usually not UNC guys, when it comes to the pros... Brand is good, I don't know about Battier... we shall see...


(revised 12/14)...

Just got done skiing, day 15, lifted some weights. Thought of the day. 'It's freezing' is becoming a hated, overused trite expression. A coworker, walks in from their car, a late model car, in a down parka, drinking coffee after a 50 foot walk accross the parking lot. How you doing, I ask. 'It's freezing' they reply.

A 20 minute bikeride, in negative weather, on shitty, permafrost roads. Yes, for you fans in europe and canada, thats farenheit negative, aka, effin cold.

Today, more of a tactical thought... but still within the overall concept of simplicity as a strategy. Back to the Frisbee...

OK. You've picked three letters out of the scrabble bag at random, and you've decided to run the X, the H and the O stack. (I exaggerate, I assume you are learning the Horizontal, and the Vertical, but maybe you are more or less of an experimenter). You also know in your heart of hearts, that your offense, in key situations is going to run through the same few guys, and your transition offense is going to probably work on some basic principles (huck it or you are nobody (west coast) or tap tap tap it in (DoG)). Or maybe dog is more risk prone on D. I'd ask Jim or Alex, but I'm not sure they'd no who I'm talking about.

The D team. Drawing a blank? Those guys, at practice, who can't usually afford their own beer after? Those college kids you keep making Barrett have to talk to... You know he actually had a perfect GRE? Really. And he's 36. Yeah. Yes... the guy you keep calling young un... Still drawing a blank? The D team. Never mind.

So here's how you run the same drill for both stacks.

What really goes on in a game is this: you've got your 3 guys, and you are really just letting them react to the situation, because they are bestest and smartest, except for your '4' guy, who's just this amazing athlete you don't ACTUALLY throw to unless he's in the endzone... So instead of just drawing all these x's and o's that try to recreate experience and talent (i.e. having your non huckers chucking it wildly around frustrating the talent) set up drills, that teach success, and SLOWLY work sparky into actually winging one...

Here's an example. Before practice, show what you want to work on that day. It's one play, a one pass throw that assumes that you are the '2' throwing to the three. Show how 1 threw it to 2 on the dry erase board. Show on the dry erase board, what your next cutters two options are. Do not show the fills. Do not show 5 other zig zag lines and specific clear routes. Show the players starting positions, then show the areas they need to get the hell away from. How to do so will come later. Takes 1 minute.

Disc in hand, loose, or non existent mark your next cutter comes, from some particular point that relates to your stack... So having established the areas you want to primarily attack (i.e., Mike might do a bunch of stuff, but a lot of the time, he's using his size and speed to make you give him what he wants underneath)... then you run through it. Disc in middle of field, cutter works with a move (maybe two) and comes under or goes deep. Cutters decision should be based on who the thrower is... and their abilities...

Why even have players do drills/cuts/throws they are not going to do in the game? Well learning to cut like bill kill will not turn you into bill, but you will understand what the good players like to do, improve your game, and improve your teams game by anticipating what they do, the better to learn to clear space... That's how drills can teach field sense... And there is always a place to implement these skills, whether it's in a scrimmage (a mid/low level team can therefore be reasonably expected to have a higher practice TO%: game TO% than a high level team), or in league play (Corporate!)... or er, co-ed.


Then, next time you run said drill, you MIGHT throw one player in there to key off of, anticipate, and clear for the cutter (before moving into cutting role)...

But the Beauty is, a cut from the middle of the stack, with the option of coming in or going deep, is the same whether you line up in the middle of the of the horizontal, or the middle of a vertical. The clears are a little different. LIkewise, a cut from the far side of the field to the throwers side, is 'cross' whether it's run from a vertical or horizontal... clears or a little different... and from the same position, the deep break is the same thing, but the help positions are different, depending on your stack...

Still with me? Questions? Comments? Concerns? I'll edit this later. So sorry for, and thanks in advance (or in hindsight) for wading through this.

Oh yes, after practice, take 2 minutes to show the starting positions again (here is where the disc was, it is assumed they had just received it from an imaginary player here (which you can add, if you like), and here are the two areas we attacked. Then redraw your H stack ghosts. Show where the heck they should have gone for the under (not everyone has to have a job, so mention active engagement, or buy jim's book)... and the deep --- then THEN! AHA! Erase the H stack ghosts, and draw in the vertical stack ghosts, and showhow they should have moved (which usually involves clearing the deep, and some rudimentary stack management, and again, small movements to engage your player)...

Then, you sit around for 2 hours, talking about that shit till none of your non ultimate friends exist... Then you go to a tournament, and learn it for real... and talk about it ad nauseum... watching players do it right, etc... then you revise your tactics...

to be continued. Should I do this as a separate post?

Did you know that...

...if you play the podcast, and the wizard of oz....

First, right when the lion roars... start this commentary...

Corey is unconvinced anyone will listen to the commentary... he also thinks all boston players are hacks... especially, Paul Greff, aka, TGPITGBF (the greatest player in the game, by far)... Luke Mumbles in there about Courtney (Corey's real name is Courtney. Before Idris learned to operate the microphones, there was some witty banter)...

Luke "Rsd died when Gerics left" (Do I need to tell you what/who RSD and Mike Gerics is/are?)

Corey thinks Gerics and Garrett Dyer are the Same... Garrett Dyer is another NC or state Guy. I think he's an NC state GUy...

Jim brings up mixed Gender...

Luke on the Hernia...

Corey wants entertainment...

Luke = no hernia...

Idris brings up blogs...

Jim discusses. He is, infact pro blog. Just b/c his is worth 12000 dollars. As estimated by some website I believe he holds stock in...

Idris discusses the golden years of blogging, when it was just him, and the etch-a-sketch...

Luke: First Frank (Billy Berrou Referencs). Banter insues. Frank would be a good guest. He often has some interesting things to say, albeit... stridently...

Ahh yes... car wreck and train wreck...

Corey enters into discussion of Condor's collapse... and Jim with the Zinger...

Somewhere in here, 20 minutes of Condor's collapse is discussed... and Deleted by Idris...

Discussion of East Coast players I'm supposed to know...

And Jim talks of the golden days of no Stalling. I'm pretty clear that you can hear his rocking chair creaking in the back ground... In fact there was no stalling in the good old days. Then a 15 second stall count. Which, if I understand Jim correctly, was seldom enforced, except, I assume, by elitist assholes...

Luke threatens to link to DiscHoop(TM)... and he delivers...

Ultimate Talk is worldwide... clever references to spam, and an early post in which Idris' name, that means sunshine, or something, ellicited many emails from the middle east...

Luke Jabs at Zaz for bailing after a loss at regionalss... Eric Zaslow co wrote the book with Jim...

Luke does not infact ski moguls or tricks, AND

...that brings us to a little Co-Ed bashing... Corey goes on record as the first basher of Co-ed... Jim points out that Corey is now a beach co-edder...

The Tea Party likes to talk about corporate league, and Idris takes a jab at them...
And then we all pile on Alex...

Luke notes that Dan Cogan has these video teaching sites... using film in a multiple frames to teach ultimate... I couldn't open it...

Eric Zazlow, former national champ, is credited with a gratuitous layout bid in his book, co-written by Jim...

Billy Layden, Double, EPig... legend, and brief blogger...

Shit. I owe Ben Wiggins a T-Shirt. You pay shipping...

Threats of special guests...

podcast

well the reviews are hardly pouring in... but the first podcast was fun to do at least.

some thoughts. the cordless phone gives by far the lowest quality... either that, or Corey is just... loud...

a little structure would be good... maybe a round table format...

the main thing, is it just needs some editing...

thurs

just got off the conference call with the cognoscenti of ultimate... i will link to the new podcasts of frisbee asap.

sick today, so took my first sick day in 2 years. the fact that the roads were covered in a slick layer of snow and ice made the decision easier. that is, yes, if the roads had been good, i'd have gone to work, alternatively, if my ethical/moral standards were lower and i was feeling better, i'd of skied.

because the conditions were marvelous...

so, this year, 14 ski days (4 of those days were daily doubles of nordic skiing, but i can't bring myself to call it 18 ski days).

daily ride 7 miles (more if i take the longer, safer route due to snow conditions)

weights 1/2 times per week.

frisbee, none for a week... crazy. i'm going to start having skills and drills in the gym on sunday evening (only time available) for the high school team, and of course, because i like to throw.

the purchase of my new skis has served in an anti - car wash makes it rain capacity. no new snow fall for the forseable future... so i'll concentrate on the cross country...

weights: i'm adding olympic style lifting under the tutelage of the summit track asst (who has a history of high level coaching) which has amazing reported benefits in explosion... we shall see... i'm hesitant to do plyos right now (especially with strength shoes) because i'm still dealing with occasion tendon issues from my late model speed tds (still looking for nice low cleats -- speak up!)

so for the past couple weeks...
sun -- frisbee (40 min bike)
mon -- 40 min run, weights (40min bike)
tues -- skate (20 min bike)
wed -- skate (20 min bike)
thurs -- snow day (tele'd) (3 mile walk)
friday -- rest (40 min bike)
saturday -- 10 k skate
sunday -- 4 hours tele skiing
monday -- 10 min bike/squats/chinups/ (20 minute bike commute)
tuesday -- skate (50 minute bike commute)
wednesday -- 5 minute bike/squats/chins/bench/abs/hang cleans (20 min commute)
thurs rest

sorry for redundancy... coming up... hmm... did i ever tell you about the time, at worlds, where i found the secret door, and was for a brief time the king of scotland?

ps: why do i train? at 36 am i just sensing mortality, spitting into the wind? it's not like i still play for a touring team (exclusive of the fighting otters...) oh well...

it all just runs together.

Last sunday, played a little short field 3 on 3, mostly kids, couple adults... 45, sunny... then the bottom dropped out. Heavy snowfall has made skiing a joy, and biking to work... well, i'm graying and balding, in one week.

Last week, lifted on monday (squats, chinups, abs), skied, tues, wed, thurs (skate, skate, skate) and then skied saturday (skate). See the pattern?

Sunday, an absolutely gorgeous day, still air, 8 degrees. Perfect. So instead of skinning up (back country touring faq here), I elected to ride the chairlifts instead. Just... amazing. But my sore knees made me realize I needed new skis. So, last night, I bought new skis. Atomic TMX's. Yippee. No bindings yet...

And speaking of 8 degrees, amazing how 8 degrees for skiing, perfect, 8 degrees, biking to work with skis on your back, as drivers challenge you for road space, with some kind of magical amalgam of snow/grease/chemicals turning the road into a combination of bumps that are somehow slick...

Today, we'll skate (i'm not really sure why we've not been classic skiing, but I don't really care), probably do drills for 20 minutes, then a nice easy ski... for those who like numbers... i'm finally getting my technique down enough to skate skiuphills and keep my heartrange towards the easy aerobic range and out of the garbage range. (The garbage range is 70-80%) of your max, which does nothing more for you than 60-70%, and requires more recovery...

Frisbee talk... er... treasurer. Worst job in ultimate. Period.

Ok, seriously? Uh, shoot man, like, I'll get back to you. Uh, more? Why aren't there more frisbee players in central oregon?

More? OK, it's all about the GOOD HONEST HARD MARK, (GHHM), not cheating. Finally, what is it about DoG that turned Moses' hair gray at 17 years of age?