6.26.2008
6.22.2008
all about me (in shanghai)
for once, this tournament was more frisbee than food. i think 60-70% of the stuff i ate this weekend was bought from a convenience store (yum! chinese yogurt and tea leave eggs!).
i had one of my better defensive tournaments and one of my crappier offensive tournaments. in our first game against beijing, i got 2 d's on boys cutting deep. one of them i just managed to get in the way and fluster him, the other one, i actually jumped and knocked the disc away (yay!). on offense, i got run thru d'd twice (one might've been a foul/strip, but i didn't call it)--my excuse on the clean one is that i thought i had successfully bodied her out, but she has really really long arms (weak excuse, i know).
in our second game against ringers (of fire), i got a point block on my girl (who is a handler), but it was caught anyways (not by the intended reciever, so i think my point block counts since it significantly changed the path of the disc).
and then in the game against korea, i dropped a pull in our own endzone. otherwise, i don't think i did too much in this game, but jon had a standout lay out d on a poach.
in prequarters, we played gaizabang, who played a trapping zone going both ways (despite the lack of wind). i'm pretty proud of myself for figuring out that they played man d on the middle handler (usually me), so if i stood upfield, behind one of the cup ppl, the far handler could pinch in for an easy dump. i also managed to "catch" the game winning goal...i was looking for a loopy flick to the back cone (my girl was standing on the front cone even tho i was in the middle of the endzone), the throw goes up, hangs a bit, i see some guy coming to poach it, so i jump for it. i'm touching the disc on both hands (so arms raised) when the guy hits me hard in the ribs (shoudler? body? i have no idea), and the disc spins out of my hands. i'm somewhat winded and call the foul. the guy doesn't contest. apparently, by the 11th edition, this is a goal?! i wish the guy had contested...it wasn't a close game, but still, that's a crappy way to win. oh, and then they gave me the mvp award, one of their jerseys, despite the fact that i got beaten deep twice...i had a bid on one, but i didn't take it, b/c i'm bad at bidding on d...i'm also not so good at the running and jumping thing...i can either run or jump, but if i have to do both, i'm screwed. (they might've chosen me b/c i'm roughly the same size as the average japanese man--the shirt is a medium and it fits me perfectly).
in the quarters, we got thoroughly schooled by the phillippines allstar team. unlike all the other country teams, the phillippino team is actually local kids (not expats), so it's AWESOME that they are SO GOOD. they had us at 7-0 before we posted our first point, which i will boldly take credit for. i called a 3 female handler set, with 3 guys standing really deep in the endzone, and 1 guy as the german. the german's job was to stay out of the way. the three of us worked it to about midfield, when someone passed it to the german, who promptly threw it away to one of the deep guys (BOO MEN!). we got the turn near our own endzone, and we worked it up again, and this time it worked (YAY LADIES!). anyways, really fun, really intense game. the phillippines went on to lose in the finals to shanghai, after beating them the day before in pool play and being up 9-7 after half (i hear the game was tied 12-12 but shanghai took the next 3 points to win. i'm very impressed with shanghai's mental fortitude as a team. time and again, they play really close games and manage to come from behind to win in the finals/semis/whatever, which is even more impressive given they don't ever sub their men on sunday).
we won our consolation match handily against singapore. they played a fm zone d. during one point, i was winging, and half heartedly cutting for a pass (b/c a 200 lb guy was covering me), but i guess my handler had a lot of confidence in my abilities, b/c she threw it, and i caught it, and then the 200 lb guy barreled into me (not making any effort to stop/change directions/soften my landing). he managed to wrench my knee and knock me all the way out of bounds. i held onto the disc, but called an injury sub. i'm having some trouble bending my knee today (i've got an appointment with the physio tomorrow). BOO MEN!
between semi's and finals, we had the first ever women's exhibition game. it was sloppy, sloppy ultimate, but at least it happened. and i played it with my iffy knee, and it felt ok (running feels better than walking, incidentally, but i don't get why b/c stairs are AWFUL).
all in all, a very fun time (probably my favorite tournament that i've played with junk). props to dara, jesse, and eileen for being solid pickups, props to terry for making the upgrade. oh, and guess who else was there? TIM TUTTLE!
i had one of my better defensive tournaments and one of my crappier offensive tournaments. in our first game against beijing, i got 2 d's on boys cutting deep. one of them i just managed to get in the way and fluster him, the other one, i actually jumped and knocked the disc away (yay!). on offense, i got run thru d'd twice (one might've been a foul/strip, but i didn't call it)--my excuse on the clean one is that i thought i had successfully bodied her out, but she has really really long arms (weak excuse, i know).
in our second game against ringers (of fire), i got a point block on my girl (who is a handler), but it was caught anyways (not by the intended reciever, so i think my point block counts since it significantly changed the path of the disc).
and then in the game against korea, i dropped a pull in our own endzone. otherwise, i don't think i did too much in this game, but jon had a standout lay out d on a poach.
in prequarters, we played gaizabang, who played a trapping zone going both ways (despite the lack of wind). i'm pretty proud of myself for figuring out that they played man d on the middle handler (usually me), so if i stood upfield, behind one of the cup ppl, the far handler could pinch in for an easy dump. i also managed to "catch" the game winning goal...i was looking for a loopy flick to the back cone (my girl was standing on the front cone even tho i was in the middle of the endzone), the throw goes up, hangs a bit, i see some guy coming to poach it, so i jump for it. i'm touching the disc on both hands (so arms raised) when the guy hits me hard in the ribs (shoudler? body? i have no idea), and the disc spins out of my hands. i'm somewhat winded and call the foul. the guy doesn't contest. apparently, by the 11th edition, this is a goal?! i wish the guy had contested...it wasn't a close game, but still, that's a crappy way to win. oh, and then they gave me the mvp award, one of their jerseys, despite the fact that i got beaten deep twice...i had a bid on one, but i didn't take it, b/c i'm bad at bidding on d...i'm also not so good at the running and jumping thing...i can either run or jump, but if i have to do both, i'm screwed. (they might've chosen me b/c i'm roughly the same size as the average japanese man--the shirt is a medium and it fits me perfectly).
in the quarters, we got thoroughly schooled by the phillippines allstar team. unlike all the other country teams, the phillippino team is actually local kids (not expats), so it's AWESOME that they are SO GOOD. they had us at 7-0 before we posted our first point, which i will boldly take credit for. i called a 3 female handler set, with 3 guys standing really deep in the endzone, and 1 guy as the german. the german's job was to stay out of the way. the three of us worked it to about midfield, when someone passed it to the german, who promptly threw it away to one of the deep guys (BOO MEN!). we got the turn near our own endzone, and we worked it up again, and this time it worked (YAY LADIES!). anyways, really fun, really intense game. the phillippines went on to lose in the finals to shanghai, after beating them the day before in pool play and being up 9-7 after half (i hear the game was tied 12-12 but shanghai took the next 3 points to win. i'm very impressed with shanghai's mental fortitude as a team. time and again, they play really close games and manage to come from behind to win in the finals/semis/whatever, which is even more impressive given they don't ever sub their men on sunday).
we won our consolation match handily against singapore. they played a fm zone d. during one point, i was winging, and half heartedly cutting for a pass (b/c a 200 lb guy was covering me), but i guess my handler had a lot of confidence in my abilities, b/c she threw it, and i caught it, and then the 200 lb guy barreled into me (not making any effort to stop/change directions/soften my landing). he managed to wrench my knee and knock me all the way out of bounds. i held onto the disc, but called an injury sub. i'm having some trouble bending my knee today (i've got an appointment with the physio tomorrow). BOO MEN!
between semi's and finals, we had the first ever women's exhibition game. it was sloppy, sloppy ultimate, but at least it happened. and i played it with my iffy knee, and it felt ok (running feels better than walking, incidentally, but i don't get why b/c stairs are AWFUL).
all in all, a very fun time (probably my favorite tournament that i've played with junk). props to dara, jesse, and eileen for being solid pickups, props to terry for making the upgrade. oh, and guess who else was there? TIM TUTTLE!
6.04.2008
chained to a rock
i feel a bit like prometheus. every week, my thumb heals, and every weekend, i go to bang it against the side of a boat again. wrapping it helps with the blisters but not the bruises. last weekend, i accidentally wrapped the wrong thumb. three more races before the season ends. i will miss it.
and then, the wakeboarding will begin again.
and then, the wakeboarding will begin again.
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