After a few rounds of byes we played our second game and got wrecked, mostly due to a ton of throwing errors and dumb decisions, miscommunications and crap defense (what else can go wrong in a game?). By the third game we finally picked a single directional-force defense, instead of having four defenses changed with audibles. We may have also been playing a weaker team, but we finally won a game and earned ourselves...last place in the pool, due to point diff. We won our two crossover games though, then showered and went to eat at a decent pub kind of place with a Giant Hamburger special and decent local beer. We grabbed a Streetcar and went to the tournament party, already in full swing. Danced for a while with teammates, watched a team put on a show to "Who let the dogs out?", called my girl and then most of the team wanted to leave. I wasn't ready to go yet, but I knew if I wanted to go back at some point during the night I'd have to go then, or walk home alone in the single digits without any idea where the sleeping hall was. So I said screw it, I'll stay and win the party--after all, there's a first time for everything. Bernhard and Martin had also convinced Kevin to stay, so the four of us grabbed more drinks and hit the dance floor again. Fast forward to Bernhard getting too drunk, he puked outside and we put him in a cab (to whom he said, when asked where he lived, "Frankfurt!" and was halfway there before he realized the appropriate answer would have been "Karlsruhe Uni Sporthalle!"). Half an hour later Kevin and I had no idea where Martin was, eventually found him passed out in a chair at the corner of the dancefloor and put him in a cab (though the driver wouldn't take him until we had sobered him up for half an hour). So then it was just Kevin and I, the two left who hadn't really meant to stay all night. We partied all the way until 5:30am, outlasting all the other teams (aka winning the party), then found our way back with the help of a Karlsruhe native. It wasn't quite so warm on Saturday night as it was on Friday, either because the hall had a lot more people in it or because I didn't notice in my post-party state.
Two hours of sleep or so later, we got up for another early breakfast and first-round game. We lost, waited around for almost 3 hours and then won our consolation game (11th out of 16). Showered real quick, commentated the women's finals (which the Mainz women lost, but only barely) and then hit the road. It was snowing hard again, slow going at some parts but Kevin eventually dropped me off in Schlangenbad so I didn't have to wait around for the bus. Overall the weekend was a lot of fun, though frustrating at times because our team wasn't playing up to what I felt our potential was. I think I played well, at least on offense--some throwing turnovers and one drop aside, I was one of the more conservative players and had a good completion percentage. I got some blocks, but had trouble at times taking away downfield cutters. I'm still not sure how to deal with a team that connects on a lot of overheads and blades, hopefully I'll get to work on that more in the States. But considering my goal for the weekend was to be a better role-player on O with fewer turnovers, I think I was successful.
I come home in a little more than two weeks. Compared to the plan I set out for myself when I came to Germany, I know I didn't work out as much as I intended to. On the other hand, I got to play a lot more disc than I expected to. I haven't let myself go and I'm not fat, though I certainly ate well. I think over the next two weeks I'll mostly be doing yoga and recovery stuff, with maybe a few runs and DoC workouts thrown in. I'd like to step up my ability to do consecutive pushups before going back, and overall my goal is (as it has been) to be ready to hit winter conditioning hard. I'll be planning the next phase, too, and I'm really looking forward to having the resources at Rutgers again--dudes to work out with not the least. In the meantime...
1 comment:
Re defending a team w/ good overhead throws:
I don't think there's anything new required of you here.
But if you're looking for more detail, I could sum up suggestions like this:
Man: it's extra important to keep an eye (or hand) on your guy at all times. The team that likes its overheads will probably also like throwing to your guy as soon as you turn your back, turn your head away, get off balance, whatever.
Man/Zone: How do you like your closing speed? Are you faster than a hammer, and from how far away? How about your first step? Will it get you to the disc first, from a standstill?
Team D in general: Pinpoint overhead throws don't have to challenge team defense either. Ideally you and your team would have good sense, after a few points, which throws to focus on stopping as a team. Your individual decision making (see previous 2 paragraphs) will be much simplified by a team strategy that either anticipates or forces those overhead throws.
Sound good? Like I said... these are all questions you could conceivably ask yourself in any situation. Alternatively: work on knowing your play well enough to answer these questions without even thinking about them!
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