Jim P has been talking about rosters and efficiency, and, as 6TM is just finishing up with the final touches on our roster, I thought I'd add some thoughts on roster size. 6TM had 13 men and 8 women last year. It was generally agreed upon when we reviewed last year that we were not quite deep enough at Nationjals. We also made a few errors in our subbing over the course of that tournament (Jay, for example, played 16 points in our first game against Uncivil Union). So, in discussing the roster for this year, we decided that we would need to use our bench more fully this year, plus add a few folks (4 men and 2 women) to make us just that much deeper.
Now, I am not getting any younger, so I am quite pleased with this change, even though I am somewhere down around the middle of pack in terms of PT. I told Marshall that he would never hear a complaint from me about PT, and this was true. After a few years of "starting" on teams that finished 9th at Nationals, I realized that for me to go further, I would need to play on a team that I would see limited PT on. I was very happy with my role (2nd string O) last year, and Marshall mentioned that he was happy that I was able to come off the bench strong. This is a skill that has taken some years to develop, and I am not sure how I fit into Jim's graphs.
We took a large roster to the Boston Invite, and with the heat and humidity, I was glad we did so. It actually felt, even though it was a 2 day tournament, that the heat challenged our bench in a similar way to Nationals, and I think the size and depth of our bench contributed greatly to our win.
Saturday, July 09, 2005
Big Rosters
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
Seattle/Potlatch Trip
My family just returned from a week in Seattle. We went there to visit Ruth's cousins, and I was going to play at Potlatch for the first time. We landed at 5:30pm last night, and no one could go to bed before 11pm. We had breakfast at 10:30am this morning, so the time adjustment still needs some work.
We landed in Seattle around 11am past. Apparently, Seatac has a terrible reputation for getting the baggage to the baggage claim, and our case was no different, as it took 90 minutes to get our baggage. The plus side of this was hanging out with Dave Hill and his sister, and, as she lives in Seattle, was able to give us many handy tips for the tourist portion of the trip. We decided to proceed directly to the Seattle Zoo as we knew we had to be out and about for as long as possible. I must say that Frances (8 years old) was a real trooper and managed the time change with grace. The zoo is very nice, and, with partaking in the local obsession with caffeine, we kept a reasonable energy level throughout. The gorilla exhibit was great. The silverback was huge and the baby was very active.
We made our way to Ruth's cousins house and had dinner out with Roger. He is a physician at UW. Roger and Fernne opened their home to us for week. They are very relaxed and don't impart a sense of needing to entertain upon the proceedings.
On Weds, we drove up the coast to Whidby Island. We crossed over Desolation Pass and made our way to Coupeville. The pass offered some spectacular views, and the weather was warm and sunny. The island was quaint, and we had a nice lunch. We made our way to South Whidby State Park to spend some time on the beach. The water was too cold for swimming, but Frances found a clay deposit nestled in a fresh water stream. She and 2 other kids spent the next several hours painting themselves with clay and making primitive bowls. We struck up a conversation with the mother of Frances' new friends and ended up having dinner with them before getting on the ferry to go home. So it was a very full day.
Thurs was Seattle day, so we went downtown to be tourists. We spent the morning at the Aquarium after walking through Pike's Place Market. The market is fun, but I can't help feeling like I am in tourist land, kind of like Faneuil Hall in Boston. We enjoyed the otters and the octopus at the aquarium. It is not a large aquarium, but the exhibits were well thought out and focused. After lunch, we went to visit Ruth's cousin Ben, who works at an art gallery in the center of town. Very fun work displayed there. Eli, Ruth's other cousin, made us all a wonderful dinner of halibut that evening.
On Friday, we rented a canoe and went out on Lake Washington. We went through the arboretum, and saw Great Blue Herons, many ducks, a raccoon, and a woodchuck. We went to the University district for lunch, and had a so-so meal at a teriakyi joint. Ruth and I went to see Eli's salsa band that evening, and they are very good. Eli has a good voice and the band lays down great grooves.
Saturday morning comes, and our trips go in different ways. Ruth and Frances drive to Roger and Fernne's cabin in the Ockanogan region. They bought 500 acres and built themselves a very nice place to relax. Ruth said they met interesting folks up there. Many folks living off the grid and homeschooling.
This day began my first time to Potlatch. I played with the Northeast Neighborhood Bullies (Josh McCarthy, Sangwha, Fun Boy, Skipper, Adam Goff, Jay Clyne, Megahn from San Fran, Evan, Joe, Paul, Frannie, Abby, Dave Wu, and Lisa G). Sat morning was a bit rainy and our first game was against Beer Run, a "real" Mixed team from the Bay Area. We knew some folks on the team, and they played, according to them, "horribly" and we won 15-6, roughly. Personally, I played terribly, and this continued through the day, making it one of the more useless days of my Ultimate career. We then played Sleeveless in Seattle (Fury/Wisconsin/Jam). We lost 15-13. They ended up making it to A pool semi's...so they must have started to play better than they played against us. For our last game of the day, we played Joy Ride (Vancouver). We played badly and lost 15-14, but based on point diff still finished 2nd in the pool. I then settled in to watch Team USA play Canada in an entertaining game. USA won 16-15. Jay's parents played host to Dave, Lisa, and me that evening and made us an incredible dinner.
Sunday. We played two pretty mediocre teams to start. Won both by large margins. I decided to break up my routines/superstitions as yesterday was terrible. I shaved, had coffee not espresso, and it really paid off...I guess. I felt much better. Active and much more confident. Our last was against DTL from Colorado. 6TM played them at Nationals last year and beat them 15-8. The fun wrinkle is that they won an fundraising auction item to help with Team USA's costs of going to Germany. Their prize was having Ted Munter coach them during a game at Potlatch, and it turned out to be their game against us. So this was fun, they played well, and beat us 14-11. I spoke with Ted after, and he said he suggested that they move away from their spread stack that they love to run. It will be interesting to see if they make changes come fall. Went to the party after....with very low expectations, which proved to be prudent. It was nice to chat, but the paltry servings of salmon left much to be desired.
After much political negotiating, Josh got his wish. We got the B pool, and our first round was against Suckwagon (Harvard). I came out strong, but injured my hamstring in the 4th point. We went down 4-1, before Josh (who said that we CANNOT lose the game) literally took over and we won 15-11. We then played a local team, Bizerkerpiggy. We played well and won 15-6. Jay had to leave, so we were down to about 6 guys. We were tired and lost in semis to UBC to end out tournament.
I was grateful to be invited on the team, and it was a fun tournament. I felt my additional mission of scouting out Mixed teams (Hang Time, Shazaam, Brass Monkey, DTL) was successful. I also really enjoyed watching Team USA and watching them play.
Ruth and Frances met me at the fields, and we went to a 4th of July party on the lake. Very nice fireworks and food.
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
The Stones
The Boston Herald proclaimed that tickets for the Stones at Feway Pahk are going for $3500.00. I saw the Stones in 1981 for $16.00, AND it included George Thorogood and Journey. The latter's performance was extra special as most of the crowd gave them the finger for their entire show. I was a huge Stones fan then, and also a Beatles fan. I have no time for the "which were better" arguments, and even less time for the "Ringo was a bad drummer" discussions. As if our petty little opinions matter. One only needs to listen to the entire Let It Bleed record to get that Keith Richard was a force in 1969. He played all the guitar parts on the record, and the bass on several.
I think the only shows that I might pay $3500.00 for would involve time travel. Pink Floyd's Animals, Dark Side, and Wish You Were Here tours. Led Zep around the Song Remains the Same period. I think that is about it. Probably the Stones 69 tour and a Beatles show as well.
The Stones were actually not that great in 1981, although I loved that they played "Let It Bleed".
All the news
Work:
Slammed this week. I have a Fidelity Investments meeting for most of the week. 6am calls...harsh. I just learned that my Live Sound class was cancelled for the summer. That is kind of a bummer, but a bit of relief.
Disc:
Finished up my season with Wellesley this past weekend. We ended on a high note by beating the Alums in the annual match-up. My captains were delighted.
Things are starting to ramp up for the June tournaments. I had a good work out week last week, so I am starting to feel like I am getting in shape. I am looking at the the list of folks interested in trying out for 6TM during Mixed Easterns. Weirs...barely any folks there from last year.
Family:
Frances and I stayed up and watched the Survivor Finale last night.
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
BUDA Youth Program: Spring 2005
I have been working as BUDA’s Youth Educator since May of 2002. My job is to go into middle and high schools and teach clinics in the PE classes. The clinics have a simple agenda: teach the students backhand and forehand throws, review the basic rules of the game, and then play. I also provide the teachers with a Teaching Kit, which includes 10 discs, 8 cones, a skills and drills manual and curriculum for teaching Ultimate, other BUDA literature, and UPA rulebooks. Our hope is to teach the teachers how to be confident in teaching the sport. The clinics and Teaching Kit are provided free of charge!
This spring I am running, for the third time, clinics at Newton North High School and Lincoln-Sudbury High School. I consider these schools to be my flagship programs as all the pieces have come together in a very positive way. First, both of these schools have enthusiastic faculty. At NNHS, Bill McAndrews and his staff have set up a program in which I teach Ultimate to their entire first year class. They are welcoming to me, and have specifically stated that the clinics have made them more confident in teaching the sport. At LSHS, Chris Belmont has been integrating Ultimate into his curriculum to the point at which the agenda for this spring will be advanced tactics, and opportunities for a lifetime of Ultimate. Wow. Second, both these schools have robust club Ultimate teams. The teams have, on occasion, served as assistant teachers during the clinics. I love this. It legitimizes what I do as it is easier for the students to buy into something that their peers are passionate about. It also provides recruiting opportunities for the club teams.
I have just completed three days and 15 classes at Newton North, and I will be at LSHS on May 23-24. Here are some observations about teaching the sport in the PE setting:
1) The skills of the sport are hard- Throwing and catching provide an impediment to understanding and enjoying the sport. Obvious statement. I spend about 25 minutes teaching backhands and forehands and having the kids throw in pairs. My main goal is to show them the range of skills needed to be successful. The lack of throwing skills makes jumping into games difficult, and I sometimes worry that the quality of play is too low for enjoying the sport. I check in with the teachers, however, and most of the time they feel that the “look” of the sport is similar to other field sports that they teach.
2) Inertia- Many of the kids literally do not want to move. I tried some drills in my first few clinics. Bad idea. There is no context for understanding why a drill is useful. Sometimes I think a highlight video would be useful so the kids could at least see the sport.
3) Some classes are just not into it- I have to have a pretty thick skin sometimes. I notice that the classes later in the day are especially hard. The kids lack focus and interest. Regardless of the time period, many classes disintegrate into the boys running around and the girls standing around in a clump in the middle of the field. We work on that.
On the other hand, I had a great class the other day. Six on six, indoors in a field house, and, as I had a volunteer, each team had an experienced player. It worked great. Every kid got a lot of touches, and there was lots of running and good play. I set my expectations pretty low. My goal is to have a couple of kids each day really get it.
4) Self-officiating is met with skepticism- I make sure the kids are clearly aware of self-officiating and Spirit of the Game. I think that these aspects of the sport can provide an opportunity for responsibility and accountability that is positive for kids at this age. The kids are skeptical, and rightly so. I do not spend much time digging into how self-officiating works, as I feel it would bog down the class, but I do provide them with a few examples (stall count, marking fouls, etc) that can at least provide a framework for understanding that self-officiating does not mean chaos.
5) The flight of the disc is appealing- I try to find a kid or two that are willing and interested in doing some running. It is pretty easy to tell with a quick survey of the field as the kids are practicing their throws. I might jump in and throw a bit, and as I do, start to make the throws such that the kid has to run for it a bit. This quickly moves to the kid running long for a big throw. A lot of kids just love this (I did when I was that age). I am certain that they flight of the disc and running it down is appealing to us. I find it a great way to hook the kids on the sport.
Saturday, May 07, 2005
Mother's Day: Menu for my Wife
I enjoy cooking. I recently received Ming Tsai's latest cook book, and the real unique thing is that it is organized around the featured sauces and marinades. So, for example, I am going to prepare steak tips with a garlic peppercorn sauce. This sauce can be used with lobster (recipe is in the book), and when I sampled that dish at Ming's restaurant, Blue Ginger, it was wonderful. I will also use the garlic peppercorn sauce with sauted bok choi and portabella mushrooms. Rice and steamed beet greens will round out the meal.
My grandmother gave us some wonderful mocha fudge sauce, so we will have that over ice cream.
My wife does not make that big a deal out of Mother's Day. In past year's, I have frequently gone to tournaments on this weekend. Ruth did not seem perturbed by that, but it will be nice to be around for the day...for once.
Tuesday, May 03, 2005
Lyrics to "Stick That Butt Up Your Ass"
Link:
http://www.icompositions.com/auditorium/showphoto.php?photo=12899
Here are the full lyrics:
So we're driving in my truck
its a really nice Prius
on my way to Chris' house
cause he really wants to see us
I'm moving through the traffic
like a real pro, but at the red light
I ease up to a Hummer, what a bummer, whoa
its blocks out the sun
and it says I don't give a s***
but that's good
cause it makes me feel good about myself
and what do you know
down comes the tinted
like a door to the sanctum
like a church
like the Sistene Chapel
and god's arm, she's poised, curved and ready, comes out and meets the sun
then in slo-mo, I see a little flick
the butt arcs in the light like a comet and it lands on the hood of my hippy love
the light turns green and I'm eating her dust
and I just burn.
Please...Please...Please.
I really can't fathom such casual arrogance
and disregard for others when you toss
that butt. I'm walking in the building through a pack
of dogs. I'm looking at the ground.
I'm looking in the trash. I'm looking at
the little turds on the ground. Hey, why stop there?
Just hike up the skirt, drop your trou. Take a crap in the
street, take a dump on the sidewalk.
Who gives a f*&^?
We won't be around when this place goes down.
Please...Please...Please.
