Sunday, June 29, 2008
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Friday, June 13, 2008
Welcome Mischief 2008
As the dust from tryouts settles, the team is looking around, welcoming new members, shaking out practice schedules, and generally getting to know ourselves. First things first, a round of introductions.
We've got a smokin' line of ladies this year, starting out with Lyndsay, Steffi, and Shwu, and early additions of Sunya (who first wowed us at Lei-Out - and the wooing began soon after) and Kara (awesome handler from Stanford Superfly). Sunya is a dominating cutter and Kara really shone as she shredded the big LA Metro cup at Cal States. These two superstars are joined by Danielle and Gizmo's athletic defense and cutting, and Hannah and Fresh's all-around awesome disc skills and speed. Emily also returns to Mischief, bringing more confident cutting and ridiculous catches. Kitt continues adding to her lengthy list of contributions to Mischief, this year as a practice player. We are sad to be losing Crystal to grad school on the east coast, but glad that she can keep practicing with us until then!
For the men, we returned Mark, Doyle, Warren, Kyle, Chucky, Wes, Wade, Pickett, Adam B, Will, Ryan, and Andy. To that spectacular list of men's finest, we added several more studs both familiar and new. You all know Paul from his previous Mischief exploits and the famous series on "5%". Yes, folks, the workout nazi is back. You might also remember Dan O, who snuck his way back onto the team in a manner befitting a sneaky handler. There was never an official announcement (until now, I guess) - that's how stealth he is. Perhaps the yang to Dan O's yin would be Adam Leventhal, that larger than life brash talking trash talker. And adding a much needed Goliath is Chris Hyde, aka Snaggletooth. Rounding out this ridiculous roster are rockstar alternates Eric ("LT") and Nick Weiss, who contribute between the two of them a veritable smorgasbord of speed, hops, lefty throws, facial hair, big sunglasses, and je ne sais quoi.
So there you have it, Mischief 2008!
Next up, we'll be testing our mettle against some of the best in the mixed division at the first elite tournament of the year - Boston Invite, June 28-29. Then we've got the fun optional tournament - Potlatch, then Spawnfest in Seattle in late August, and Labor Day, before we buckle down for the series. Should be a fun ride.
We've got a smokin' line of ladies this year, starting out with Lyndsay, Steffi, and Shwu, and early additions of Sunya (who first wowed us at Lei-Out - and the wooing began soon after) and Kara (awesome handler from Stanford Superfly). Sunya is a dominating cutter and Kara really shone as she shredded the big LA Metro cup at Cal States. These two superstars are joined by Danielle and Gizmo's athletic defense and cutting, and Hannah and Fresh's all-around awesome disc skills and speed. Emily also returns to Mischief, bringing more confident cutting and ridiculous catches. Kitt continues adding to her lengthy list of contributions to Mischief, this year as a practice player. We are sad to be losing Crystal to grad school on the east coast, but glad that she can keep practicing with us until then!
For the men, we returned Mark, Doyle, Warren, Kyle, Chucky, Wes, Wade, Pickett, Adam B, Will, Ryan, and Andy. To that spectacular list of men's finest, we added several more studs both familiar and new. You all know Paul from his previous Mischief exploits and the famous series on "5%". Yes, folks, the workout nazi is back. You might also remember Dan O, who snuck his way back onto the team in a manner befitting a sneaky handler. There was never an official announcement (until now, I guess) - that's how stealth he is. Perhaps the yang to Dan O's yin would be Adam Leventhal, that larger than life brash talking trash talker. And adding a much needed Goliath is Chris Hyde, aka Snaggletooth. Rounding out this ridiculous roster are rockstar alternates Eric ("LT") and Nick Weiss, who contribute between the two of them a veritable smorgasbord of speed, hops, lefty throws, facial hair, big sunglasses, and je ne sais quoi.
So there you have it, Mischief 2008!
Next up, we'll be testing our mettle against some of the best in the mixed division at the first elite tournament of the year - Boston Invite, June 28-29. Then we've got the fun optional tournament - Potlatch, then Spawnfest in Seattle in late August, and Labor Day, before we buckle down for the series. Should be a fun ride.
Friday, June 6, 2008
5% fewer throwaways
In a tough game, throws are harder. The mark is better and on average your cutters aren’t getting as open. This means that you will probably have to look for your dump more often, but also that the dump coverage will also be tighter.
If we look dump 50% of the time and only complete 90% of those passes, 5% of our total passes are turnovers. And those turnovers in the backfield kill you in transition. We need close to 100% connections and knowing that we can dump easily will let us look off tougher throws upfield. When dumping at close range, a touch forehand can be hard to throw, let alone with a mark that is harassing you. From the dump’s perspective, a forehand can be difficult to read off of your hand.
For this situation, I really like a “flip pass”. I’m not sure what you call it but it’s basically a pizza-pie toss. It’s the throw you would toss to yourself if you’re jogging and want to catch one above your head. The disc is flat and parallel to the ground so it will hang in the air at a particular spot. It’s a very short pass so it’s a lot of wrist. Your arm should be mainly straight at the elbow on this throw, and the lift comes from an underhand ball toss motion. The spin comes from a backhand grip and snap.
As the dump comes around, you can step towards your target window using your body to seal off the mark, and fairly easily toss the disc into the smallest of windows. This pass doesn’t move very fast and is easy to read off of your hand. To practice your dump, try to throw a disc into a laundry basket (vertical, not on its side, maybe on a chair for elevation) from about 10 feet away from your pivot. This simulates being able to hang a disc in a very small window where your dump can go and get it. Personally, the flip pass is the easiest way for me to do this from a number of different body positions. Can you do better with a different pass? If so, please teach me.
If we look dump 50% of the time and only complete 90% of those passes, 5% of our total passes are turnovers. And those turnovers in the backfield kill you in transition. We need close to 100% connections and knowing that we can dump easily will let us look off tougher throws upfield. When dumping at close range, a touch forehand can be hard to throw, let alone with a mark that is harassing you. From the dump’s perspective, a forehand can be difficult to read off of your hand.
For this situation, I really like a “flip pass”. I’m not sure what you call it but it’s basically a pizza-pie toss. It’s the throw you would toss to yourself if you’re jogging and want to catch one above your head. The disc is flat and parallel to the ground so it will hang in the air at a particular spot. It’s a very short pass so it’s a lot of wrist. Your arm should be mainly straight at the elbow on this throw, and the lift comes from an underhand ball toss motion. The spin comes from a backhand grip and snap.
As the dump comes around, you can step towards your target window using your body to seal off the mark, and fairly easily toss the disc into the smallest of windows. This pass doesn’t move very fast and is easy to read off of your hand. To practice your dump, try to throw a disc into a laundry basket (vertical, not on its side, maybe on a chair for elevation) from about 10 feet away from your pivot. This simulates being able to hang a disc in a very small window where your dump can go and get it. Personally, the flip pass is the easiest way for me to do this from a number of different body positions. Can you do better with a different pass? If so, please teach me.
The Huddle - the Ultimate advice column?
Ultimate-related websites pop up with some frequency; some are good, some are bad, and some are actually useful. The new kid on the block right now seems to be The Huddle.
The Huddle seems to be inspired both by RSD (in its ideal form) and by a couple of blogs out there that have tried to aggregate the wisdom of Ultimate's elite players. ICUltimate started this off with articles and blog posts contributed by a group of high-level women's players who had insight into the women's college division. Since then, blogs have proliferated, and there are now dozens of them attempting to distill Ultimate knowledge to the less knowledgeable (this blog no exception). The Huddle, however, is an interesting variation on the multiple-author blog theme, combining input from many elite players from all over within an editorial framework that makes it feel more like an old fashioned educational advice column - quite refreshing in this age of DIY indiscriminate content-generation and information overload.
Each issue, The Huddle poses a question or situation and publishes responses from its panel of contributors. Currently on issue 3, they've covered the pros and cons of horizontal and vertical stack offense, the tryout process from those on the inside, and how to defend against a hucker who has also been hurting you as a receiver. They include about a dozen "answers", which I think is sometimes too much, since many of them say the same things. Maybe later on they'll do more to ensure that what they publish isn't too repetitive, but this probably involves an extra layer of editorial oversight that they might not want to do. At any rate, The Huddle is good for a couple reads each issue and is packaged very nicely in a clean-looking website that has sweet pictures by Scobel. Plus, good friend Nancy is an author! I'm working on the 5 yr plan for Mischief.
Some other interesting Ultimate websites are:
OpenUltimate - online learning and coaching environment for Ultimate
BananaCut - a Digg for Ultimate content
UltimateTalk - an aggregator for Ultimate-related blogs
ICUltimate - blog, articles, and coverage of college women's Ultimate
The Ultimate Handbook - rules, educational articles, instructional videos, and forums. The videos (Flash animations) are actually pretty cool, they have step by step play by play with written commentary.
The Huddle seems to be inspired both by RSD (in its ideal form) and by a couple of blogs out there that have tried to aggregate the wisdom of Ultimate's elite players. ICUltimate started this off with articles and blog posts contributed by a group of high-level women's players who had insight into the women's college division. Since then, blogs have proliferated, and there are now dozens of them attempting to distill Ultimate knowledge to the less knowledgeable (this blog no exception). The Huddle, however, is an interesting variation on the multiple-author blog theme, combining input from many elite players from all over within an editorial framework that makes it feel more like an old fashioned educational advice column - quite refreshing in this age of DIY indiscriminate content-generation and information overload.
Each issue, The Huddle poses a question or situation and publishes responses from its panel of contributors. Currently on issue 3, they've covered the pros and cons of horizontal and vertical stack offense, the tryout process from those on the inside, and how to defend against a hucker who has also been hurting you as a receiver. They include about a dozen "answers", which I think is sometimes too much, since many of them say the same things. Maybe later on they'll do more to ensure that what they publish isn't too repetitive, but this probably involves an extra layer of editorial oversight that they might not want to do. At any rate, The Huddle is good for a couple reads each issue and is packaged very nicely in a clean-looking website that has sweet pictures by Scobel. Plus, good friend Nancy is an author! I'm working on the 5 yr plan for Mischief.
Some other interesting Ultimate websites are:
OpenUltimate - online learning and coaching environment for Ultimate
BananaCut - a Digg for Ultimate content
UltimateTalk - an aggregator for Ultimate-related blogs
ICUltimate - blog, articles, and coverage of college women's Ultimate
The Ultimate Handbook - rules, educational articles, instructional videos, and forums. The videos (Flash animations) are actually pretty cool, they have step by step play by play with written commentary.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Team Bonding
Posted on RSD, from Dan Savage's advice column on The Stranger:
I'm on a kick-ass coed Ultimate Frisbee team. We are all hot, drink tequila together, go naked hot-tubbing, and reward great plays with lap dances. And each of us is at least 10 percent gay. I want to take the team to the logical next level: an orgy. I brought up the subject at the last team meeting, but everyone thought it was a joke. Can you suggest a way to get a whole team to be GGG? Please help!
Maybe the whole team would be down with making a film for HUMP! 4, The Stranger's annual amateur porn festival. The team could win a $2,000 first-place prize—think of all the Frisbees and tequila you guys could buy with that kind of money! More info at www.the stranger.com/hump.
I had to look up "GGG." According to Wikipedia it means "good, giving and game."
My suggestion to Sports Orgies Team Bonding would be to make Nationals as the 15th seed.
I'm on a kick-ass coed Ultimate Frisbee team. We are all hot, drink tequila together, go naked hot-tubbing, and reward great plays with lap dances. And each of us is at least 10 percent gay. I want to take the team to the logical next level: an orgy. I brought up the subject at the last team meeting, but everyone thought it was a joke. Can you suggest a way to get a whole team to be GGG? Please help!
Sports Orgies Team Bonding
Maybe the whole team would be down with making a film for HUMP! 4, The Stranger's annual amateur porn festival. The team could win a $2,000 first-place prize—think of all the Frisbees and tequila you guys could buy with that kind of money! More info at www.the stranger.com/hump.
I had to look up "GGG." According to Wikipedia it means "good, giving and game."
My suggestion to Sports Orgies Team Bonding would be to make Nationals as the 15th seed.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
The reverse fist pump
Sometimes you don't want to go crazy with the fist pumping. Maybe the occasion is slightly subdued, or showing your enthusiasm could mean an undesired punch in the nuts. There are also times, however, when less is more, and the subtle, so-called "reverse fist pump" may be just the statement you need.
The reverse fist pump is mechanically simpler than the classic full extension fist pump, but arguably harder to master.
- (The Fist) Make a fist with one hand with your forearm extended out, elbow slightly away from your side. At the same time, rotate your fist so that your palm is up.
- (The Pump) To execute the pump, bring your elbow in to your side, making sure to clench your fist and contract your bicep slightly. This ensures the assertive motion which is essential for all fist pumps.
Exactly how far out your elbow starts results in different degrees of the reverse fist pump. A shorter distance is usually used for more personal fist pumps or extreme subtlety. Farther distances can turn the reverse fist pump into a defiantly public expression of victory. Modest distances of about 4-6 inches are standard for visual affirmation with a small number of people. The speed with which you execute the fist pump can also affect the message it sends to others. A fluid, controlled movement is usually preferred, but a deliberate pause between The Fist and The Pump is sometimes used in more droll situations. The standard reverse fist pump has been used to great effect in sports as well as politics, showing spectators that the fist pumper is happy in a self-assured but not flashy way.
In the picture, Mark demonstrates a passable reverse fist pump caught at the very beginning of The Pump. Although the arm itself has sound technique, notice how important body language can be in bringing across the bigger fist pump picture. Mark could have adopted a more aggressive body stance - straightened back, hips thrust slightly out, feet set a little wider - which would contribute to a more assertive fist pump. Also, there is no smiling in fist pumping. But what Mark lacks in contextual cues, he makes up for in his bold costume choice. In fact, one could argue that Mark is actually performing a rarely seen cousin of the reverse fist pump, the Reverse Chuck Norris Stealth Jaguar Fist Pump.
Many variations of the reverse fist pump exist, including the double reverse fist pump (two fists), and the extreme (double) reverse fist pump (prolonged end pump with fists clenched hard enough to vibrate the forearms). Only superficially similar to the reverse fist pump, the double reverse and extreme reverse fist pumps are usually associated with over-hyped and over-adrenalized people like pro wrestlers and others who have yet to master the art of subtlety.
5%
How important is five percent? Five percent better completion percentage against Slow White and we have 7 extra possessions and they have 7 fewer. Five percent less speed and Adam is just a kid who gets injured a lot and has dashing good looks. I work my ass off all season to improve just five percent. But sometimes I waste energy. I have done workout programs that have had little impact on my game and lose sight of the goal: improving at Ultimate.
Sometimes improving can be as easy as working on one particular throw when you’re already warming up. Sometimes it can be hard like going to the gym and pushing yourself when you lift. Before you embark on a really intense workout schedule, make sure you’re also taking care of the easier five percents.
It’s early in the season. Take stock of your game and try to figure out where you’ll get your next five percent. But balance effort with benefit. It’d be great to add four inches of vertical leap, but is it worth the effort? Maybe you'd get more benefit from working on your throws for half the effort. Are you unhappy with your PT? Maybe you should focus your energies on peak performance instead of sustained performance.
Five Percent Fewer Injuries
Some injuries are unavoidable, but you can work to avoid self-inflicted injury (lead with your LEFT Ryan, your LEFT). Personally, this means shoulders, hammies, and groin. Laying out is hard on the shoulders, so I add 3 sets of standing shoulder butterflys to my workout (not sure what the actual name is). Pivoting is really hard on my hammies and groin so I do leg curls and ab/adductors. I haven’t pulled a hammie or my groin since I’ve been able to leg curl about my body weight and do about 2/3 my weight on an ab/adductor machine.
I hope to do regular five percent posts with techniques that have worked for me and I'd love to hear what has worked for you.
Coming soon: Five percent better chance of scoring on a possession, five percent better completion percentage, getting five percent more out of the workouts you’re already doing, five percent more strength, and my next five percent.
Sometimes improving can be as easy as working on one particular throw when you’re already warming up. Sometimes it can be hard like going to the gym and pushing yourself when you lift. Before you embark on a really intense workout schedule, make sure you’re also taking care of the easier five percents.
It’s early in the season. Take stock of your game and try to figure out where you’ll get your next five percent. But balance effort with benefit. It’d be great to add four inches of vertical leap, but is it worth the effort? Maybe you'd get more benefit from working on your throws for half the effort. Are you unhappy with your PT? Maybe you should focus your energies on peak performance instead of sustained performance.
Five Percent Fewer Injuries
Some injuries are unavoidable, but you can work to avoid self-inflicted injury (lead with your LEFT Ryan, your LEFT). Personally, this means shoulders, hammies, and groin. Laying out is hard on the shoulders, so I add 3 sets of standing shoulder butterflys to my workout (not sure what the actual name is). Pivoting is really hard on my hammies and groin so I do leg curls and ab/adductors. I haven’t pulled a hammie or my groin since I’ve been able to leg curl about my body weight and do about 2/3 my weight on an ab/adductor machine.
I hope to do regular five percent posts with techniques that have worked for me and I'd love to hear what has worked for you.
Coming soon: Five percent better chance of scoring on a possession, five percent better completion percentage, getting five percent more out of the workouts you’re already doing, five percent more strength, and my next five percent.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Cal States = 65 fist pumps
Mischief was woot-erific this weekend, going undefeated at Cal States and increasing our tourney championship record to 2-0! No one was really sure what things were going to look like since it was a tryout tournament, but we had the legs and the heart to come out on top even when things got rocky. To recap...
The mixed division was split into 2 pools of 5: Pool A was Mischief (1), CTR (4), Night Train (5), Kill My Landlord (8), and A.I.R. (9); Pool B was Brass Monkey (2), LA Metro (3), Feral Cows (6), Blammo (7), and Joy Huck Club (10). Mischief had a first round bye and warmed up for our first game against Night Train with overcast skies. Night Train's many seasons together worked to their advantage against a Mischief team where many players were playing together for the first time - they moved the disc very quickly offense and we struggled to string together consecutive scores. Eventually, we were able to play more effective D and calmed down a bit on O to pull it out 15-12. Highlight of the game was one of the tryouts making a ridiculous catch over a Night Train defender and then yelling "F*CK!" before spiking the disc to the ground in anger. From the sidelines, we wondered, "Did his defender call a foul?? What happened?" Suddenly a bunch of players on the field dropped to the ground on all fours combing the grass. "Oh... he lost a contact lens...??" "No - it's his tooth!" "Holy crap, he lost a tooth!?" The defender lifted his elbow for confirmation, where there was a spot of blood from what must have been elbow to tooth contact. But, actually, it was a chip off his tooth that he'd chipped 4 times already. *Whew* Ok then. Game on. But that didn't stop Adam L from dubbing him "Snaggletooth", a nickname that stuck immediately...
So after game 1 we had another bye, after which we played A.I.R., put together by our friend Tim Tuttle. A bunch of familiar faces on that team, which led to a fun game that gave Mischief another scare in the first half as we again struggled to establish some consistency against the throws of A.I.R.'s wily handlers. We managed to win this one 15-11 but had yet to hit our groove.
The first real glimmers of greatness came in our last game of day against CTR. We'd been looking towards this game all day (perhaps part of why we came out flat against the other two teams) and had most of our tryouts with us, which made for big sidelines and fresh legs. CTR seemed to be tired and simply couldn't match up against our personnel. I think it was around 8-5 at half and the final score was 15-8. A nice way to end the first day but I think we learned a good lesson from the first two games.
On Sunday we won our last pool play game against Kill My Landlord to earn a bye into semis. Brass Monkey had lost to LA Metro the previous day and so was playing in quarters against CTR, who had also lost to Night Train. Monkey had a lot of difficulty containing CTR's star receiver and apparently this was a significant factor in their quarters exit. So our semifinal game turned out to be against CTR. (Incidentally, Night Train also made it to semis, making 3 of the 4 teams in semis from Pool A.)
Despite the long break between games, Mischief got fired up from the first point in the game. We received to start, and it was a no-turn O point with 2 or 3 quick passes culminating in a long flick to Lyndsay streaking deep to make a spectacular grab with tight coverage from her defender. The sidelines stormed the field and the energy was palpable as we rattled off a couple more scores (helped along by some great D plays by Kyle and others) before a CTR time out. CTR managed to punch a few in but Mischief quickly took half 8-2. The second half was more of the same - it was clearly Mischief's game and CTR simply couldn't answer as the gap widened. The final score was 15-4. The only question was who we would see in Finals.
Over on the next field, the other semi was turning into a battle. When we finished, Night Train was up on LA Metro 9-7. Metro was able to tie it up at 9's and then the two teams started to trade. At this point we had to pack up and head to the lower fields to get ready for finals, but it was not at all clear who would be showing up to play us. They fought to the hard cap, and LA Metro managed to eke out the win 14-13, making for a DUI rematch that was sure to be an exciting game.
For a while, though, it looked like we were going to blow out LA Metro. Maybe they were exhausted from their previous game, or maybe Mischief was just getting better and better. The energy was high and people were connecting and getting Ds. We cruised to half, 8-3. However, LA Metro had already shown that they could fight back, and fight back they did, with a clever switch to zone defense that stymied us for a good 8 points. Although we were able to slice effortlessly through their zone on a couple points, their zone ended up being quite effective and allowed them to go on a 6-2 run in the second half. Mischief's energy started to ebb as they punched in score after score. Things started looking bleak for us as the LA Metro took their first lead of the day at 10-9. Their big guy, Keegan, proved to be a daunting mark in the cup and a huge target for them deep on offense, generating multiple turns and pulling down most of what was put up to him. But another break through their zone and we started trading points. Then all of sudden we were mounting another run and it was 14-12. When our opportunity came on game point, Ryan put up a big throw to Andy isolated in the end zone for a big layout grab to win us the game.
The final game was particularly fitting given Mischief's history, both in past years and at this tournament. We can be prone to getting down on ourselves and often dig ourselves into big holes, but we usually claw our way back out of them with tremendous heart. With our shaky start to Saturday followed by dominating play against CTR, it was good for us to fight through another team rising up to our challenge. In doing so, we showed that we are not immune to the problems that have dogged us in the past, but we have the skill and athleticism to produce convincing victories and the heart and determination to battle it out when things get tough.
All around, we couldn't have asked for a much better Cal States. That definitely calls for more fist pumping.
The mixed division was split into 2 pools of 5: Pool A was Mischief (1), CTR (4), Night Train (5), Kill My Landlord (8), and A.I.R. (9); Pool B was Brass Monkey (2), LA Metro (3), Feral Cows (6), Blammo (7), and Joy Huck Club (10). Mischief had a first round bye and warmed up for our first game against Night Train with overcast skies. Night Train's many seasons together worked to their advantage against a Mischief team where many players were playing together for the first time - they moved the disc very quickly offense and we struggled to string together consecutive scores. Eventually, we were able to play more effective D and calmed down a bit on O to pull it out 15-12. Highlight of the game was one of the tryouts making a ridiculous catch over a Night Train defender and then yelling "F*CK!" before spiking the disc to the ground in anger. From the sidelines, we wondered, "Did his defender call a foul?? What happened?" Suddenly a bunch of players on the field dropped to the ground on all fours combing the grass. "Oh... he lost a contact lens...??" "No - it's his tooth!" "Holy crap, he lost a tooth!?" The defender lifted his elbow for confirmation, where there was a spot of blood from what must have been elbow to tooth contact. But, actually, it was a chip off his tooth that he'd chipped 4 times already. *Whew* Ok then. Game on. But that didn't stop Adam L from dubbing him "Snaggletooth", a nickname that stuck immediately...
So after game 1 we had another bye, after which we played A.I.R., put together by our friend Tim Tuttle. A bunch of familiar faces on that team, which led to a fun game that gave Mischief another scare in the first half as we again struggled to establish some consistency against the throws of A.I.R.'s wily handlers. We managed to win this one 15-11 but had yet to hit our groove.
The first real glimmers of greatness came in our last game of day against CTR. We'd been looking towards this game all day (perhaps part of why we came out flat against the other two teams) and had most of our tryouts with us, which made for big sidelines and fresh legs. CTR seemed to be tired and simply couldn't match up against our personnel. I think it was around 8-5 at half and the final score was 15-8. A nice way to end the first day but I think we learned a good lesson from the first two games.
On Sunday we won our last pool play game against Kill My Landlord to earn a bye into semis. Brass Monkey had lost to LA Metro the previous day and so was playing in quarters against CTR, who had also lost to Night Train. Monkey had a lot of difficulty containing CTR's star receiver and apparently this was a significant factor in their quarters exit. So our semifinal game turned out to be against CTR. (Incidentally, Night Train also made it to semis, making 3 of the 4 teams in semis from Pool A.)
Despite the long break between games, Mischief got fired up from the first point in the game. We received to start, and it was a no-turn O point with 2 or 3 quick passes culminating in a long flick to Lyndsay streaking deep to make a spectacular grab with tight coverage from her defender. The sidelines stormed the field and the energy was palpable as we rattled off a couple more scores (helped along by some great D plays by Kyle and others) before a CTR time out. CTR managed to punch a few in but Mischief quickly took half 8-2. The second half was more of the same - it was clearly Mischief's game and CTR simply couldn't answer as the gap widened. The final score was 15-4. The only question was who we would see in Finals.
Over on the next field, the other semi was turning into a battle. When we finished, Night Train was up on LA Metro 9-7. Metro was able to tie it up at 9's and then the two teams started to trade. At this point we had to pack up and head to the lower fields to get ready for finals, but it was not at all clear who would be showing up to play us. They fought to the hard cap, and LA Metro managed to eke out the win 14-13, making for a DUI rematch that was sure to be an exciting game.
For a while, though, it looked like we were going to blow out LA Metro. Maybe they were exhausted from their previous game, or maybe Mischief was just getting better and better. The energy was high and people were connecting and getting Ds. We cruised to half, 8-3. However, LA Metro had already shown that they could fight back, and fight back they did, with a clever switch to zone defense that stymied us for a good 8 points. Although we were able to slice effortlessly through their zone on a couple points, their zone ended up being quite effective and allowed them to go on a 6-2 run in the second half. Mischief's energy started to ebb as they punched in score after score. Things started looking bleak for us as the LA Metro took their first lead of the day at 10-9. Their big guy, Keegan, proved to be a daunting mark in the cup and a huge target for them deep on offense, generating multiple turns and pulling down most of what was put up to him. But another break through their zone and we started trading points. Then all of sudden we were mounting another run and it was 14-12. When our opportunity came on game point, Ryan put up a big throw to Andy isolated in the end zone for a big layout grab to win us the game.
The final game was particularly fitting given Mischief's history, both in past years and at this tournament. We can be prone to getting down on ourselves and often dig ourselves into big holes, but we usually claw our way back out of them with tremendous heart. With our shaky start to Saturday followed by dominating play against CTR, it was good for us to fight through another team rising up to our challenge. In doing so, we showed that we are not immune to the problems that have dogged us in the past, but we have the skill and athleticism to produce convincing victories and the heart and determination to battle it out when things get tough.
All around, we couldn't have asked for a much better Cal States. That definitely calls for more fist pumping.
Today's lesson: extension
Okay, there is actually some skill in fist pumping. A teammate or two may need help in learning this skill. As loving teammates, it is our responsibility to help the lesser skilled teammates improve in the fundamentally essential technique of proper fist pumping.
Today's lesson should really build upon previously learned techniques of the proper way to make a fist and load the arm for the pump. I'll let those more skilled in that specific area to give tips. This lesson is more about how to extend your arm, "to pump" so to speak.
When "pumping" you need to thrust your arm out to its full extension. Direction isn't as critical when initially learning this essential technique. What is important is FULL extension.
An example of good extension:
Note how her right arm is fully extended ("pumped"), while the left arm is cocked to begin another pump. This is good technique.
Let's contrast this to an example of poor technique.
In this example, note the lack of enthusiasm in the pump. This is demonstrated in the short extension of both arms. This is not a good fist pump. You want full extension. Having items in your hands or a pack on your back is truly not a valid excuse for a lame fist pump. In these cases, drop the items in your hands and sack up about the pack on your back. Fist pumpings always have dibs on your attention.
To recap on today's lesson: Full extension on your pump for maximum impact.
Today's lesson should really build upon previously learned techniques of the proper way to make a fist and load the arm for the pump. I'll let those more skilled in that specific area to give tips. This lesson is more about how to extend your arm, "to pump" so to speak.
When "pumping" you need to thrust your arm out to its full extension. Direction isn't as critical when initially learning this essential technique. What is important is FULL extension.
An example of good extension:
Note how her right arm is fully extended ("pumped"), while the left arm is cocked to begin another pump. This is good technique.
Let's contrast this to an example of poor technique.
In this example, note the lack of enthusiasm in the pump. This is demonstrated in the short extension of both arms. This is not a good fist pump. You want full extension. Having items in your hands or a pack on your back is truly not a valid excuse for a lame fist pump. In these cases, drop the items in your hands and sack up about the pack on your back. Fist pumpings always have dibs on your attention.
To recap on today's lesson: Full extension on your pump for maximum impact.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
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