Ultimate

This year Victoria was host to the Canadian Ultimate Championships. Four days of intense Ultimate competition at four different venues. Teams from across Canada were there in many different age brackets. I heard that it was something like 72 teams comprised of around 1500 competitors. Very impressive.

Yesterday I headed out to the Lansdowne field yesterday to take in some of the action. I think there was 7 or 8 fields in play at any given time. In the sidelines there were lots of teams warming up too. I wandered around a while taking it all in and taking some pictures. Loads of action too. Flying D moves, dives for points, great catches, and all around good playing.

Below are a few of my pictures, but all of them are in a gallery here.

Well, the Ulti season is done once again. The final game was a doozy too. We played hard, yet still lost.

I started off the game on a hot streak. I was throwing well, catching well, and getting free from my check well. I threw for points, I caught a point or two, and made some good defensive blocks too.

Then I started to run out of steam. Too hard too quick. I lost it for a few points and couldn't catch my breath. I was overheating too. I doused my head and tried to get back in the game.

I started making mistakes and costing points. I got counted out once when I froze and couldn't make the dump pass. I got foot blocked too, though I have to admit that it was a perfectly placed foot.

I regrouped and made a second effort to try and turn my game around. It started to work a little. I was sticking to my check fairly well, though I was giving him the short passes and cutting off the longer throws. On one point my check managed to catch the disc for a point, even though I had a finger on the disc and was tipping it away. Great catch by him.

For the final point, which was a very, very long one, the other team kept trying the long bomb, and we kept shutting it down. They managed to march the disc 2/3 of the way up the field, then one guy broke to the corner and the game was over. We lost and the season was done.

Now to think about playing intramurals again. My last experience wasn't all that great, but if I was on a better team, maybe it would be different.

I was planing to go for a ride tonight after dinner. There was no Ulti tonight, and I wanted to get some exercise. I sent an email out about riding, but noone was able to make it.

Then last night happened. Around 12 Amy called me to her room because she had thrown up. We got her cleaned up and situated back in her crib, and a few minutes later she called again. Eventually Sue sent me downstairs so I could sleep, and so Amy could sleep in our bed.

In the morning Elliot threw up, meaning neither child was going to daycare. Sue couldn't take the day off, so I had the kids all day.

With the lack of sleep, I really had no energy. I bailed on riding, and decided to go for a swim instead.

After dinner was done and the kitchen cleaned, I headed down to the pool for some lengths.

It went pretty well. I had the lane to myself, which is a bonus to swimming in the summer I guess. I knocked off 550m, but didn't exactly feel all that smooth. I kept making mistakes with my stroke, and occasionally taking on water. It was good to get some exercise though.

Ulti tonight was a little weird. We had a double header and with sox still being away I decided top hire a sitter for the kids.

At the fields I knew something was up when game time rolled around and we only had 5 healthy players. We picked up 1 woman, and had 1 more guy join us who couldn't run due to injury. Great, no subs.

I played hard this game, and felt like ip made a good contribution. I was never called as a handler tonight which suited me fine. More running for me. The tone of the game was off too. The other team accused us of taking too long and asked us if we were going to take a timeout. There were a few calls on the field that got a little heated too.

In the end, with time running out, we were tied up. Universe point. We played hard, and managed to score. This then lead to a couple players getting into an argument about the game and some of the calls on the field. Ugh, crapy way to end the game. In the end we decided to forfeit the game giving the win to the other team.

The second game we agreed to only play to 5. We picked up one of their players and had a great exhibition game. I played harder in this game than in the first since I knew I didn't have to leave anything in reserve, and I knew it was going to be a short game.

I laid out for one point. I'm still not sure if the disk was catchable, but I made a good bid, and a solid lay out. I actually slid too which helped me avoid any injury. I threw for a couple points which was good. One of them my teammate had just made a huge diving D block to cause a turnover. I saw him streaking to the far corner and put it out in front of him. It was a little too far though,which made him lay out for it. I even got a good interception at one point which is a good thing in any game. 

Nearing the end of the second game I sat off. My feet were done. Blisters on both big toes. I really need to by some new cleats soon.

Ulti was a blast tonight. Unlike last week, I felt like I made a difference. Sure I had a couple bad drops, but for the most part I felt like I made a positive difference.

I was a handler for most of the night which was pretty fun. I was throwing well, and I was very careful with my catches. The other team threw on the zone a lot, and we picked it apart. Lots of throws, lots of movement, lots of swing passes. When we saw a good up field throw, we broke the zone wide open and made for the end zone. 

It was a tight game though. The score was tied, or close to tied the whole night. Right at the end we scored a couple extra to take the lead and win the game. It felt good. We played well as a team.