Tim Edmunds Memorial

Before the recap, I'll just say that I took Monday off from lifting because I was very tired. I moved Monday's workout to Tuesday, then skipped Tuesday's workout altogether. I was too tired for quads and hamstrings today, especially after staying up til 4am (it was Jay's birthday). Alright, here's the recap.

Saturday, Game one: Princeton
We approached the game with a mixture of "let's beat the rivals" and "let's focus on our strategy, regardless of who we are playing." I don't want to say very much about this game, other than the following: our defense was poor, because we have not worked on it yet, and our offense was poor, because it requires coordinated movement, which we did not have. This was many a rookie's first game ever, so they were not really prepared. Our returners (including myself) also gave up the disc on dumps, and that sucked. Really. Okay, enough.

Game two: George Washington
The returners did a much better job of holding on to the disc, and we started to pull down some of the bullshit as well. They gave us the disc back a lot, probably because they were playing their rookies as well. So we got lucky on some ill-timed deep throws, played more conservative on offense, and got a little more aggressive on D. Lost 8-12, which I think is fairly respectable.

Game three: Lehigh
Always fun to play Lehigh. They threw in mostly their rookies, including J. Katzen from Watchung and a couple girls. We stayed almost even, then near the end of the game they played all-returner lines and brought it to universe point, which we lost. During this game, I think I skied somebody, got skied by somebody, and played about average on the whole. I had some nice hucks. When covering the pull near the end of the game, I was sprinting down and some Lehigh guy named Kahn turned and rammed his chin into my face. My lip started bleeding, it was very unpleasant. I think we scored to make it universe, and I think they scored without turning it over, but with some stupid throw where they got lucky. Honestly, I'm really hazy about what happened. As usual. Lost 12-13.

Game four: Swarthmore
Crossover game (i.e. prequarters). Even with our half-rookie lines, we stepped up and took control of the game. Our new guys started having much better cuts, and they played some really tight man defense--especially once we introduced straight-up mark. Our offense was pretty sweet as well, and I had more buttery hucks. I played pretty well this game. We won 11-8.

Sunday, Game five: Salisbury
It was windy, they went on a run in the beginning because our offense started off on the wrong foot. Then they played zone, but we worked it up and scored anyway, mostly thanks to our poppers Jay and Paul. Greg didn't play this game, so I was in for almost every point. We started pulling back into the game in the second half, capitalizing on their mistakes and forcing some turnovers with decent defense. We still had problems with O, though, and ended up losing 8-12. Not as bad as losing to Salisbury B, though, like last year. I was content.

Game six: Rutgers Y and Rutgers X combine and lost to Columbia U, 9-15. We still played half returner, half rookie lines. I think we could have won this game. We gave them the disc too easily. I didn't really play well. Not a great way to end the tournament, but overall the weekend was successful in that we got the new players lots of experience. I think they got a taste of how hard it is to go toe to toe with other teams. I was really really sore by the end of it, just drained. I also got sunburned, which sucked. But I feel alright about where the team is, and good about where the team is headed.

Lift, Practice

6 pull-ups
15 bench press, 45lb
12, 8, 6, 6 bench press 85lb
2x15 isolation curls 15lb
15 hammer curls 15lb

I would have done more on the bench, but I didn't have a spot and was afraid to push another rep at the end of the last two sets. At practice tonight: warmup, throwing, dishy drill, redemption, and scrimmage. Dishy was tiring--I am not so much sore from the tournament as tired, and there is definitely a difference. Scrimmage was okay, I overthrew Jay on a couple of his dump/swing cuts, but I took a balanced approach between throwing to receivers and holding back, working it with the handler motion. We had a line of around 40 people for redemption, and I lost in the finals to Joe K. who is just too lanky to stop. It was fun, though--and I felt like the newer players could start to see that, although they weren't heckling enough for my taste. I think redemption requires much heckling, and I surely did my share. At the end of practice, we did an ab ladder with pushups, and that was excellent but tiring--I had to really work to finish all the pushups, after doing bench today. Probably because I'm not stellar in pushups in the first place. I also did 20 squat-jumps, but refrained from the squat-thrusts and squat-thrust-jumps (burpees?) because my wrists hurt.

I'll post a tourney recap when I get around to it.

Lift, Practice

2x8 squats 95lb
2x15 squats 95lb
2x15 romanian deadlifts 95lb
15 deadlifts 85lb

Practice. Warmup, throwing (taught less this time), go-to, plinko, dump-throw (I liked this drill). Rosham'd with Greg to determine scrimmage or more drills, I wanted more drills but Mio said that we would scrimmage if I won. My scissors won, my rock lost, my scissors won. Damn. Scrimmage. Thursday should be better, Friday even better (I'll not speak of last Friday), and this weekend should be interesting. That is all for now.

Lift

Right back into it.

6 pullups
3 pullups
15 isolation db curls, 15lb
15 standing db curls, 12lb
bench press (15 at 45, 12 at 85, 9 at 85, 6 at 85, 2 neg. reps at 85)

Yeah, I know I'm weak. Leave my pullup numbers alone. To give a little credit, though, I'm releasing to full extension before each one--locked out elbows, dropping down at the shoulders, and hanging. I figure, why make it easier.

Club Sectionals, Day 2

This time, I got a proper breakfast: egg and turkey sausage on a bagel with a Vitamin Water. Showed up at the field with plenty of time, watched a couple points of Pike vs Roots, and meandered over to field 6 to warm up. One lap, stretching, dynamics, and a go-to drill. Our first game was against UPenn White, and our offense was really clicking here. Few mishaps, few memories of the game, we played pretty well and won 12-5. I do remember getting a lot of contact from one defender, who used his arms to block my path. I fought through it each time, scored the point, and said "yo, by the way..." and he replied "yeah, I know, I fouled you." Nice.

Next up was Columbia HS. I really wanted to approach this game as we would any other game against any team, but I feel that both sides were more intense because of the familiarity with each other. I certainly got up for this game. We pulled to start, and I watched from the sideline as their pull play scored without even sweating--somebody put up a huge loopy backhand, and somebody else didn't cover his man deep. I put myself in the second point, and we came right back at them. I am fairly certain that I forehand hucked for a goal after only a couple throws here. Basically, the game was point for point--we went up a break or two, but let them back in each time. Most points were scored within 5 passes during the first half, and I remember throwing a bunch of completed hucks--all forehands, all flat, most of them "nice" (except for the one that was to Jay, not quite open, it floated just a bit, but he went up strong with two hands and pulled it down in the endzone). It felt great to complete those hucks, and in general I was moving the disc very well. I threw to an open Thales, and he seemed to slow down and get D'd, but other than that (and another drop that wasn't my fault) I think I was close to turnover-free.

During the game I had another successful offensive layout, saving possession on an upline dump cut while covered by Zander, and this time I caught it without question. I also cut the shit up out of my knees in the process, because the field was turning dry and I was still a little scabby from my pavement-layout two weeks ago. I was bleeding a nice bit by the time we scored and I walked off the field. Later, I missed another offensive layout opportunity--Paul threw to me in the endzone, it was low and barely catchable with my left hand, so no dice. But we got it back and I caught the goal later that point anyway, so no problem. The few points I played defense (the captain kept me fresh for O), I mostly matched up with Declan, once with BWalt. I did alright, nothing too spectacular (I may have gotten a D or two during the game, but not on them). On offense, Zander stuck it to me, and played the tightest dump-defense on me of anybody all weekend. Lots of contact, very physical, and I felt pretty pressured when close to the disc. So I started cutting, and got much more separatation at that point. I did get pissed when Zander fouled me on the mark, then contested it--then talked smack about lifting more weights than I, so clearly he was just much faster. Interesting, I thought. It was all good, though--lots of respect for the kid, and I loved the intensity even if I thought it was the wrong call.

So we traded, and the game ended on serve. We lost 9-10 or 10-11, some kind of universe point. I was upset that we pulled, got the turn, then threw it away and let them score for the game--especially because I wasn't on the field for that last point. It was a great game, though, as intense as I remember it being between WHRHS and CHS in '06 states. They'll go far this year, and I hope we do too.

That gave us the rematch against Shippensburg. It felt great to avenge the loss, and we pulled off a solid 9-5 victory. We had pretty good intensity for this game, but some players weren't getting in the game after the battle against Columbia. There was one dude with platinum-blonde hair that had crazy change-of-direction, and I found it tough to cover him. Nobody really could shut me down, though, and I did my thing on offense. Their marks were not very good, so I made ample use of my IO's. Not much else to recall. We won 12th place after the next team (Bucknell?) forfeited. High hopes for the season, but some trepidation for the home tournament--getting playing time to all these new guys will be a challenge.

Club Sectionals, Day 1

We show up to the fields and find that it is raining, and that Joe J. hasn’t washed his jersey since the last Mercer game, weeks ago. The rain stinks, but not quite as much as Joe. I could only rectify one of the issues, however, and that was by ripping holes in a trash bag and wearing it as a shirt. Once Pete arrives with the tournament food and whatnot, I proceed to make two fields: one perfect, the other mangled by the treeline of the adjacent forest. I fix another field, then get warmed up for our first game of the day. My warmup includes about 30 seconds of stretching and 3 minutes of throwing. It is windy and wet, but more windy than wet, and though I’m excited the team is a little anxious, myself included. I win the flip, and we start out on D against Shippensburg.

We go up 3 points immediately, getting the turn and converting without too much trouble. Then, we slip a little, trading and losing point until somehow they win half. I honestly don’t remember much about this game--or the others, for that matter, but especially this one. I know they started pulling down some of the bullshit, and stopped completing passes. Problems. We lose by a couple at cap.

Next, we move to play Philly Love, a team deeper and taller than ours, maybe more athletic as well. D Murf was playing for them, and we exchanged greetings. Before the game, we did a go-to drill at my request, because I felt we needed some focus. I know it helped me. The other team won the flip though, and we started out receiving with wind. The slap a zone O on us, and Ariel yells from the sideline to take a timeout. I refuse, of course, and then break through their cup. Maz and I, with the help of Dave, Jay, Ryan, Steve, and Joe J., work it up 50 yards, turn it over, get it back near our own goal line, then do the same thing at least four more times before finally punching it in for the point. I was extremely confident that we could shred their zone, and shred it we did. I then sat, fired up about shedding the stigma of the Rutgers Zone O. Of course, Philly then scored three in a row on us. The game wasn’t over, however: we scored twice, the scored, we scored, and it was tied at fours. They say it’s tied at fives, but I don’t remember trading another two points. We had found a decent groove, however, and were able to work it up through their zone despite some rushed throws from a veteran handler and some defensive mishaps from non-veterans. They score a “sixth” time (I think we turned it over on the goal line), cap goes on, they roll us for the last two. Mostly, I remember us playing a solid zone O. I definitely had a couple assists, and at least the first goal of the game.

We stay on the field to face UPenn Purple, and I win the flip again because I am amazing like that. I tell Ariel that we are starting on O, to his amused disagreement, but we score and score again. We might have traded the next two, but at some point Purple scores to ruin the planned D-line roll. I connected on some hucks during this game and did my job well on man offense, but did have some occasional trouble setting up for the dump properly. I threw some goals to make up for it, though, and sky-D’ed their primary handler (and captain?) in the endzone. Almost a callahan, but he had the inside position. I threw the goal right afterwards, though. In any case, somehow we get to 7-7, receiving for universe point. We work it right down the field, although one throw went over the intended receiver’s head and another teammate saved possession. We scored! Game: blouses.

Moving on, we took a short break and then played Old Sag, the top seed in our pool. They were in great shape, especially for a Masters team, and played a good mix of loose and tight zone D, often trapping, and various looks on offense. We got a lot of D’s, but never converted. We worked it all the way up the field through their zone over and over, but couldn’t get it in the endzone. There were some crazy bad miscues, and the Sag defenders behind the cup also got a couple amazing layout D’s. I layed out to save possession from a dump throw from Ariel, caught it, clapped it to my body as I hit the ground, and retained possession I THINK. It was definitely loose for a second, but I’m not sure it hit the ground during that time. My defender had called pick on me anyway, though, and even though he tried to take it back (he thought he didn’t have a play on the disc?) I sent it back to Ariel. Anyway, we played well, and fought them for every point, got plenty of D’s, but still lost 0-13. A shutout. I was very frustrated about this, but I felt that I played my part well, especially on offense. I am confident about tomorrow.

Lift, Practice

15 bench press 85lb
8 bench press 85lb
8 bench press 80lb
8 dumbbell bench press 30lb
20 cable fly 7.5lb
8 bench press 45lb

A team tryout practice tonight. Warmup, throwing, triangle drill, straight-on drill, cutting drill, scrimmage, sprints. I poached too much during the scrimmage, my teammates have informed me, so I'll have to remember to stick to the basics in practice. Practice what we preach, in other words...

My hucks during the drill were consistently on point, and my throws to in-cuts felt much nicer than Tuesday's. They had the right feel and the right flight path to receivers. I was feeling better about moving the disc in scrimmage, too. There were times when throwers got stuck, and most of the time we completed something to get it off the line--although one time I threw into a poach for the up-line dump cut. The intended receiver caught it, but there was a small collision. Some other miscommunications worked out, too, but I was a little harsh when a cutter cut off my dump cut. I was more upset because he had played in high school, but should have kept cool because we haven't taught that much yet, and I shouldn't have expected him to know. I changed my cut, though, and caught the disc in the endzone. Always nice.

I tried to mark against returners, so even though I poached too often I still got to play some solid D. Especially against the roommate, I worked hard. He was staying closer to the disc than he usually does, but he took me deep a couple times too, and blew me away at least once with his raw acceleration. I stayed tight other than that one time, though, and even kick-blocked him. He slapped a mark so tight on me after that kickblock that I thought he might have been trying to somehow get in my shorts with me, but I was expecting the physicality and worked through it (although it took me a lot longer in the count than usual). I got a few breaks off and hit a lot of swings, mostly because my guys downfield were cutting for them, which impressed me and made me happy. It's really nice when teammates take the initiative and do the right thing, especially when they are new and you aren't altogether expecting it.

The sprints at the end felt awesome. The 30 pushups I had to do when my straight-on drill lost the completions-in-a-row game felt less awesome, after benching earlier in the day. Looking back, I am not proud of the D's I got, because most of them came from poaching. That was dumb, because they didn't mean anything.

I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's returner practice and Club Sectionals this weekend.

Lift

Continuing with the "endurance" phase...

1x20 romanian deadlift 45lb
2x20 romanian deadlift 65lb
1x20 deadlift 65lb
20 shoulder raises 10lb
20 standing dumbbell press 10lb

Lift, Practice

2x20 free squat 45lb
20 free squat 75lb
3x20 single leg calf raises

First practice of the season. Between 50 and 60 attended, and it seemed to run smoothly enough. Introduction, warmup, throwing, then a cutting drill in which I was one of the two throwers. My hucks were mostly solid, with a few floaty and a few forehands that bladed, but I was pretty happy with most of them. My passes to in-cuts were fine, but didn't feel perfect--I expect that I will get closer to that "just-right" feeling soon. Then we broke into 6 teams for scrimmage. My team had Andrew, Bryan, and Jared, plus 10 guys that were fairly new. I was impressed with the understanding of the game that some of them had, but not very impressed with the application thereof. They were better than I expected, though. I had maybe two turns, both from hucks that were definitely catchable. I had several other hucks that felt buttery, and I moved the disc well in general. My defense was tight enough, but I'm still worried about blocking the disc with my left hand--it just hurts too much. This really only becomes a problem while marking, but I stayed active enough--and it was scrimmagey enough--that it wasn't actually a problem.

All in all, a good night. I finished up with some tossing with two of the new guys.

Lift

12 squats, 45lb
12 squats, 140lb on front squat machine
12 squats, 45lb on smith machine
2x12 squats, 95lb on smith machine
2x12 calf press, 180lb on leg press machine
2x12 lat pulldowns, 80lb
2x12 seated row, 45lb

As long as I can get a spotter, I will try to do free squats, rather than use the smith machine.

Lift

Bench press: 12 @ 45, 12 @ 85, 10 @ 85
Fly: 2x12 @ 20lb
Tricep curls: 2x12 @ 20lb

I also did one set each of hip abductor and adductor, mostly out of curiosity. I felt like a woman the whole time, but it might be a useful exercize to throw in the bag. Other than that, I threw around for a while today and finished with a 5 minute jog. Also semi-argued with Ariel about the value of outside-in and inside-out throws. I feel like they have useful application in various situations, but he feels that our possession-based offense prohibits these supposedly riskier throws. "If you can't throw to a space with a flat throw, you shouldn't be throwing there." Maybe I just like being able to put an accurate semi-blade--it's true that bladey throws have much less margin for error, but I don't think it means they should be discarded altogether. A lot of teams use them effectively; a team can exploit a defense's holes more easily once you get the disc to those areas closed off from nice, flat, safe throws, so the reward is worth the additional risk.

Defenses are built to take a team out of its comfort zone by shutting down its prioritized looks. Why not then practice your second and third options? A defense can't take everything away at once.

First Lift of the Season

2x12 deadlifts 40lb
2x12 shoulder raises 10lb
2x12 romanian deadlifts 40lb
2x12 lateral raises 8lb
2x12 hamstring reaches
2x12 military press 20lb
2x12 shoulder shrugs 20lb

Rutgers Pickup

Back to school.

Pickup yesterday and today. Yesterday, with cleats; today, without. I don't think there's much to say about scrubby pickup. Some of the new kids look good, I hope most of them sign up with the team and stick with it. I know there are some kids who didn't come that will play, and I'm very excited about playing again with some of my old high school teammates. In general, I am very excited for the season. Including this:

Rutgers University is proud to present its first High School invitational tournament on October 13-14, 2007.

We will host 12 juniors teams for pool play on Saturday and bracket play on Sunday. All teams are guarenteed 7 games. Food and water will be provided. The tournament will include quality competition against other juniors teams, plus the chance to learn about Rutgers and the Rutgers men's Ultimate team.

Bids are due by Friday, September 21st. Teams will be notified of acceptance by Friday, September 28th. The tournament fee is due on Friday, October 5th. Checks should be made out to "Rutgers, the State University".

Please email bids to ru.tournament AT gmail.com with the subject line "ARJI 07". Please include the name of your team's high school, your team's name, spring '07 results, expected team strength in spring '08, and a brief team bio. Housing may be available to teams coming from considerable distances; if your team will need housing, please indicate the number of people (players, parents, and coaches) and for which nights (Friday, Saturday, or both) you will need it. Please bear in mind that we cannot commit to providing housing for teams, but will try to accomodate you if we can.

From Exit 9 with love,Machine Ultimate