Ultimate

Last night's Ulti was a double header.

The first game the other team had no subs, and only 2 women. They ran out asses off. Holy smokes did they ever work hard. It threw us off our game for a while. The breeze was slight last night which made throwing pretty easy, but the other team thew on the zone quite a bit. I chose to play a handling role for the first game and quote enjoyed it. Their cup was doing a good job, but then we started working them hard. On one particular point their pull was perfect enough to put us in the back corner of our end zone. The pull was so good though that the cup almost made it to me by the time the disc landed. I made a quick swing pass, then there was a forward pass. The three handlers, and a couple of our mids then marched up the field with the disc. Dump, swing, look for a mid, dump swing, forward. We got to their end zone line pretty easily and their cup was getting worked hard. We got that point and we made it look good too.

They played zone a few more points, but we worked them so hard they reverted to man coverage. Once they went man, they actually shut us down pretty well. Some of the points were pretty long and both teams were feeling it. On one point the disc was tossed to the end zone and my mark and I were chasing it down. I was trying to grab it or block it and he was trying to score a point. I looked over my left shoulder and spotted the disc going right. As I swung my head around I got a little disoriented, and ended up tripping over my own feet. As I stumbled I tried to stay vertical but that was to no avail. Down I went onto the hard ground, and off my mark raced to catch the disc for a point. He was only 5 feet away from me, and if I hadn't tripped I know I could have prevented the point.

Nearing the end of the time slot the captains called a cap and we had two more points to play. We ended up splitting those and instead of settling for the tie, we played a universe point. We lost It was a fun, hard fought game and I did enjoy it.

The second was vastly different. The other team didn't have enough people and forfeited. We split up the people and played a game for fun. It wasn't all that fun. Many people weren't playing hard since the game didn't matter. I felt like the team I was on was looking me off for passes quite a bit. I felt like I barely touched the disc at all.

To top it off I had a crappy interaction with one of my team members who was on the other team, let's call him D. For two plays D was handling close to my end zone and was looking to score. For both those plays my check broke away from me and was open for a short pass when the stall count was above 5. Both times D looked him off, and instead tried to score. His flick was bad and he ended up throwing it high, resulting in a blade that nobody could catch. I brought it up with him and mentioned that next time it would be a good idea for the short, safe pass to reset the count. I was trying to be helpful.

Instead he got all pissed off, and got in my face. He yelled "Are you criticizing my play?". I was taken aback at how quick his demeanor changed and replied that I was trying to be helpful. That incident put a damper on the rest of the game. At the end of the night I was tired and sore, and none too happy. Not how I like Ulti nights to end.

Last night was our first double header of summer league. The first game got going late, and was actually a bit of a let down. Noone was running very hard. Nobody showed any energy. The points came pretty easily, and we ended up winning. The game was just weird though and I didn't enjoy it at all.

The second game was totally different. We played against the top team who was undefeated. They had many excellent players including a husband/wife combo who are both national level players. The rest of their team was just damn good. This game would be a challenge to us.

Sure enough they got off to a great start. They were up 6-1 and it wasn't looking so good for us. Then we changed our luck and started playing better. We scored a couple points and started to get a little momentum. The teams went back and forth for a while experimenting with zone and man coverage on a perfect ulti night (a slight breeze, sunshine, and warmth).

I managed to catch a couple points on the night and felt my throwing was pretty decent. I screwed up a couple times, but overall I was happy with how I felt. On defence I made a few blocks to be proud of. In all my game was going pretty well.

Ulti tonight was a blast. I had such a great time, and played really well. I had some wheels tonight, and felt strong the entire game. It was a close one too.

It was slightly windy which meant a lot of zone coverage. The team is doing very good with the zone and that makes playing so much more enjoyable. I played all over the field on defence too. I was in the cup for a while, I was mid mid, and I was even deep quite a bit. There was one player on the other team who was really good. For many points we simply had one person follow him around trying to shut him down a little. I was that rabbit for a couple points and that was rather tiring.

Also on defence I made some excellent reads on the disc. Since it was windy, sometimes it would float way up there, and sometimes it would dive for the ground. The other team liked to huck and zone, and I made quite a few d-blocks that stopped points. The only thing that wasn't so nice was that a couple of them were on women, but it was to prevent a point so I don't feel that bad. I even made a diving block that almost worked. I got a couple fingers on the disc, but wasn't able to catch it, and the receiver still got the disc.

On offence I was throwing well which was great since I was handling a fair amount. I was very pleased with my throwing, and managed not to throw it away.

One point that still brings a smile to my face was a set play. It was a downhill point, and we called a huck and zone. I let the hucker know where to throw it and he agreed he could get it there. At the pull I ran downfield fairly fast and watched the handler set up for our play. I cut left, got behind my check, then cut hard right for the sideline as the handler hucked. It was a little far away from me though so I had to push it pretty hard. I saw a teammate attempting to catch the disc, but it was over her head. I was getting close to the sideline in a full sprint, and the disc was starting to dive for the ground. My only option was to dive. This resulted in a spectacular one handed grab, just inside the sideline, and a full body slide. That put a smile on my face for quite a while.

Nearing 8:15 the score was 10-9 for the other team, we stepped up and scored the points needed to win the game 13-11. That was one of the most fun games I have played in a long time. Strong opponents, my team played well, the weather was a little unpredictable, and it wasn't a blowout.

Tonight's ulti game was awesome. It was a super windy night, but at least it was sunny. The wind was gusty too which made passing very interesting.

Our team played quite well and we had a lot of fun. There was lots of zoning which we did quite well with. I was proud of the team in how we played.

I was very happy with how I felt the entire game too. I felt strong and fast the entire game and could have played longer. I was playing all sorts of positions too. On defence for some points I was in the cup, some points a mid, some points a long. On offense I was a handler, a mid, and a striker. All around I played every position out there.

On defence I read the disc well, and many times ended up in the right place at the right time to stop the other team from catching it.

On O I threw fairly well despite the wind. I had a couple stupid passes that I regretted instantly. I also caught a couple points. One I called for the team to stack up, then when it was my turn sprinted to the open area, blowing by my check to catch the disc inches from the sideline.

Ulti is such a fun game, and tonight I had a blast. My team played quite well and we had a lot of fun at it. We got to practice a bunch of things, even throwing on the zone as well as being zoned.

I was still a little concerned about my leg so I took it easy the whole night. I only did a couple full sprints and that was enough for me. I felt a couple small twinges, but nothing major. It should be fine for next week's game.

One of my sprints I was chasing down a disc that had been hucked to the endzone. The disc was hanging in the air against an opponent and I managed to swat the disc without any foul. The other person was standing still in the endzone waiting for the disc and I came flying in from the side. After I hit it, the disc actually made forward progress toward a second opponent. I followed the disc and knocked it down again. I would have rather caught it, but the situation prevented that.

This season I am really enjoying not being typecast into a handling role. I don't mind doing it once in a while, but I really want to get out and run. Hopefully I can get my cardio level back up to where it needs to be.