San Diego Night Beach Pickup

Mondays and Wednesdays. 8:30-11:00pm. Under the bright flood lamps of the Capri Hotel at the end of Missouri St.

Soft sand, good friends, high level of play, beautiful weather even at night.

Really looking forward to Lei Out this year.

Goaltimate League

Tuesday night Mens Goaltimate League in San Deigo. A bunch of  SD Streetgang guys, a bunch of Masters guys, the cream of the pickup-game crop and a bunch of the guys who invented this game 15 years back. A bunch of Goaltimate professionals (the first couple big Goalti tournaments had cash prizes)!

It feels pretty good to be the newb. To be the rookie. To be the willing listener and learner.

The obvious thought that comes after playing 3 times is that EVERY ultimate player needs to play Goalti a few times as cross-training for ultimate. The cuts are quick and short and the throws are different so you can't translate too much of that stuff over, but one touches the disc 10 times as much as in Ultimate and everything happens faster. That reaction time training, the confidence that comes from catching zippy bades, can and should be an addition to everyone's disc related arsenal.

The real insight I *think* I've had about this game is that teams actually need to be aggressive, they have to take percentage looks. In Ultimate, I always got the distinct impression that offense should score every single time without nary a turnover or stoppage. The fact that we didn't was a big fault of the offense. In Goaltimate however, you are not going to win vs a good team if you look to play the the possession offense. Even the best shooters cant be 100%. Shoot 70% in the NBA and you are a star, likewise in this game.


I wonder how many other cities have organized Goaltimate. I have heard of Seattle and Atlanta and Boston and SF. Someone said something about someplace in Texas. But where else? What is the cross over from the best Ultimate players? What percentage of the dudes at Club Nationals have wicked scoobers and blades that they only unleash in the offseason through the big PVC hoop?

Loving it for right now (though, like Ultimate, this sport could really benefit from some impartial arbitration.)

The Shubbard Workout: SDHPs, K2Es, PPs

The SHubbard Workout of the Week 26Nov2010 S.D.H.Ps from Stephen Hubbard on Vimeo.
Stephen does
3 rounds for time:

7 Sumo Deadlift High Pulls (110#)
7 Knees to Elbows
14 Push Presses (65#)

Time : 5:03


Went too heavy on the SDHPs, too light on the presses. Probably should have been 4 rounds, but i'm a wimp.

The Shubbard Workout of the Week #6

Check It:

The SHubbard Workout of the Week 7/11/10 from Stephen Hubbard on Vimeo.
Stephen does a 3 round circuit of

5 Deadlifts (175lb)
5 Pullups
10 Push Press (90lb)
10 Box Jumps
20 Anchored situps

Final time : 6:48


I am loving the effect at the end. Comment with any questions and remember to post your time.

The (Incomplete) Definitive List of Ultimate Tournaments I Want to Play In

Competitive:
USA Ultimate College Nationals
USA Ultimate Club Nationals
USA Ultimate Open
Club Worlds
World Games
Co-ed Worlds

Fun:
Potlatch
Poultry Days
Fools Fest West
Fools Fest East
Gender Blender
Kiamna Klassic

Sand:
Lei Out
Chicago San Blast
Wildwood
Paganello
Sand Worlds


What have I forgotten? Post links if you've got them.

Vote for Pumba for USA Ultimate Board of Directors

Only a few more hours to vote!

https://members.usaultimate.org/members/vote.php

Voting ends today at 5pm M.S.T.

Here is a quick review of my campaign platform:

Professionalism

-          The USAU must, at all times, be a professionally presented organization .

-          All high level tournaments should receive monetary and logistical support from the USAU to make the event as professional as possible (Lined, quality fields with 5 meter spectator lines. Scoreboards. Official game discs. Early and often TD communication with teams. Publicity to the outside world. Ect…) We pay so much to travel to these events, paying as little as $10s more per person to ensure true professional production is worth it.

Observers

-          Observers should be used more often than Nationals. This requires the training and retention of many more of them. Quality observers make the game more fast paced, more fun, and more fair.

-          Pay Observers for their work, even if it is a token amount like $15 a game. The pay is not what keeps me refereeing soccer at a regional level, but that incentive did help me get into it when I was younger. Reward Observers who are professional and obviously good at their job.

-          Observers should make active travel and up-down calls. Even Observing at the fast paced Club Nationals, I felt confident that I was in position to make those calls as good as, or better than players.

Youth Growth

-          More than being supportive to youth teams and providing quality opportunities to play, the USAU should be actively searching out high school aged players from camps, summer leagues and PE programs and actively help them start and grow a team at their school.

-          Schools who are attending their first USAU Sanctioned Tournament should have their bid fee waived or subsidized by the USAU.

-          Make USAU Coaching Certification classes free and available during the evenings of large college and club tournaments so that dedicated players can advance toward high school coaches.

-          Make Regionals a premier showcase event. The drama of the Game-to-Go is more than enough encouragement to get a bunch of high school friends to want to start a team.

Cultural Change the USAU Must Take the Lead On

-          Take Sideline safety seriously.  Continue to set the example that putting chairs and bags within 1 meter of the sideline is just not ok.

-          20 second hardcap on all on field discussions. We all know that “Foul, your arm hit mine. Contest, we were vying for the same unoccupied space” is a lot more fun to watch and to play with than 2 minute pointless yelling matches

-          Better rules knowledge.  It is unacceptable in a self-refereed sport to not have a firm grasp of the rules. There should be rules test for teams at Regionals and for players at Nationals.

-          “Spirit of the Game” can be nebulous and should be reserved for the Big Picture. In as many places as possible, it needs to be replaced with the word “Sportsmanship” which can be more clearly defined as respect for one’s opponent and for the rules of the game.

-          More clearly differentiate between Ultimate as hyper-competitive, spectator worthy competition and fun-oriented events. Of course there is not a line in the sand – Club Nationals is one of the most fun tournaments I’ve played in, but by acknowledging two distinct goals we can better promote both.

SOTG

Spirit of the Game is Sportsmanship which is Respect for Opponents and for the Game.

The SHubbard Workout of the Week # 5 Heavy Lifts: Crossfit Total

The SHubbard Workout of the Week 10/18 CFT from Stephen Hubbard on Vimeo.
Stephen tests his Crossfit Total

Shoulder press: 125 (new PR)
Back Squat: 260 (new PR)
Deadlift: 340 (new PR)

Total: 725

Thanks to Choppa for filming


What do you think you could Max on these lifts?  Well, go out and do it then!

The Shubbard Workout of the Week # 3 C&Js

The SHubbard Workout of the Week 10/3/10 30 C&Js from Stephen Hubbard on Vimeo.
Stephen does "Grace" which is a workout consisting simply of 30 Clean and Jerks for time.

He chose 90lb and got 3:15 so that was probably too light.

The SHubbard Workout of the Week # 4

The SHubbard Workout of the Week 10/12/10 Pullup/Frontsquat Ladder from Stephen Hubbard on Vimeo.
Do 1 Pull Up and 1 Front Squat the first minute, do 2 of each the second minute, 3 in the third and so on...

You get to rest between the last front squat of a round and the beginning of the next minute.

Post your weight squatted and your score.

(Stephen used 90lbs and got through 11 Rounds + 8 Pull Ups.)





Now this was a hard workout! My arms and back are still sore 2 days latter.

The SHubbard Workout of the Week #2

The SHubbard Workout of the Week 9/30 from Stephen Hubbard on Vimeo.

4 Rounds for time:
8 GHD Situps
8 GHD Back Extensions
8 Burpees
8 Pull Ups

My Time: 7:24



Whata you think guys? I think I am getting the hang of this video editing thing. Also, Im a big fan of this new Kid Cudi song.



Post your time to the comments.

Ways To Get Good Cleats On The Cheap

There are lots of ways to get great cleats cheap.

1. Ross and Marshall... selection changes week to week but some times you get lucky like my teammate who go 3 pairs of Vapor4.2s for $12 each

2. Eastbay. Prices aren't great when the cleats are new, but as soon as they run out of 1 size, the price gets cut bigtime. Also be on the lookout for good online coupons. A google search will help with that.

3. Ebay. Ive gotten many brand new $100 cleats for $35 from college football team equipment managers who have extra.


The key is to have your cleat needs in the back of your mind instead of waiting till your single pair blow out and you need some new ones ASAP. Having a few pairs that you rotate will help you never be in dire need like this.

In the end though, you should probably accept paying $15 more than you want to pay. I know we are in college, but you dont really have many expenses. Good cleats that fit correctly are totally worth it if you are invested in Ultimate enough to be reading about it on the internet .

The SHubbard Workout of the Week #1

The SHubbard Workout of the Week September 21 2010 from Stephen Hubbard on Vimeo.

Stephen does:



5 Rounds of:

5 Deadlifts (150lb)

5 Push Jerks (90lb)

5 Pull Ups

5 Box Jumps (24inch box)



My time: 5:06

Post your time to the comments section.

Whata you think blogosphere? Do the workout and post your times.

SoCal Club Sectionals In Review

A tournament with perfect weather is always fun. A little misty in the mornings, but the dew burned off by halftime of the first game making for a great weekend.

Streetgang rolled through all of our games on Saturday and our O-line scrimmaged or D-line between games. I am happy to report that the O continued its dominance over the D ;) Three and out, SG's morning started early and ended early.

The team of note for the tourney was OYU (Old and Young United) a team of mostly highschoolers from Burbank with a few old guys as player/coaches. Yeah we beat them 13-1, but I really enjoyed seeing these younins play against great players. I wish I had started that young and chatted with a few of them and told them such. Being exposed to high level Ultimate while still in high school is going to make those kids great in college. Heres hoping they stick with it.

Day two had Streegang playing the Beyondors (the Master's team from Santa Barbara). This was my first time playing against Greg 'Hollywood' Husak of Condors fame who was part of the part of the amazing Condor's 95-01dyNASTY. That guy can ball. Closest game of the tourney. I like that older players can make the game simple: if you cover me deep I get the free in. If you cover me in, I get the deep. Easy as that.



Next was a team from San Diego who i played for 3 years ago - Beefcake. Not really a challenge - just a good time with some old friends. Point of fact: I had THE worst pull of my competitive career in this game leading to them taking the disc at midfield. This was followed by my mediocre deep D, throwing an almost-Callahan turnover on our goal line and then getting beat to the open-side for the score. Oops.



The finals were supposed to be after a bye but got moved up for some reason. Santa Barbara Condors vs San Diego Streetgang. In general, we scored with few throws and our Ds really flustered them. They kept it even at first but the wheels feel off when one of their popper got covered trying to get into the cup. We took half very confidently and kept rolling after it.

Much to everyone's dismay, 2 of our players had their shoulders dislocated on close bids. One was captured on tape and highlights an excellent defensive bid by the Condor's Jacob Baumer. Absolutely not a foul, sometimes players just get hurt - not Jake's fault at all. We continue to press (I get really close to a layout D in the cup) and they continue to have a very hard time scoring. I talked with some of the condors afterwords and they mused that they were not quite sure who their zone handlers were going to be. Either way, i think this game speaks well of the pressure our defense puts on other teams.


Final score: 13-7 . Over all, I was happy with how we played and given the acrimonious nature of past San Diego/ Santa Barbara games, I was happy with the amiable relations between the teams.



While i did enjoy the tournament overall, the flaws should be pointed out so we can have better tournaments next time.

• The front of the enzones should be double coned and the cone placement should be spray painted. I know that fully lining the field probably wasnt possible, but the fact that the 2 best teams in all of Southern California played the finals on a field with unknowable boundaries is disheartening. 
• There were no scoreboards even though I offered to bring all the ones I had built for Presidents Day
• There was lots of room in between fields (props to the TDs) but players and spectators still put all their stuff haphazardly 1 meter away from the sidelines. Sideline safety must be a cultural shift.
• The format was screwy. Pool play straight to placement? Streetgang played 6 games in a row - 5 pool play and then the finals. The team that I coach, the BAGS, got there at 8 both days and left at 5 both days with 8 games and 5 byes total. (yes, I know a 13 team tournament is hard to work with). It might have been ok if people had known the schedule ahead of time but people were learning of their games an hour before hand. (Again, I know how hard it is to TD. It sucks that your fields got taken away last minute)
• I only saw a few non-player spectators at the finals even though we were in Long Beach, a city filled with Ultimate players. We all need to do a better job to get our beach-pickup buddies to attend the finals of big time tourneys. 
• Getting water was a pain, only 1 station very fair away from most of the fields.
• We started at 8am even though everything was done by 5. Give me 1 more hour of sleep and Ill be way happier even if it means I get home a hour later.

All in all, good tourney. It feels great to be sectional champions as San Diego Open has not won Sectionals in 15 years.

Review of SoCal Club Sectionals

A tournament with perfect weather is always fun. A little misty in the mornings, but the dew burned off by halftime of the first game making for a great weekend.

Streetgang rolled through all of our games on Saturday and our O-line scrimmaged or D-line between games. I am happy to report that the O continued its dominance over the D ;) Three and out, SG's morning started early and ended early.

The team off note for our Saturday was OYU (Old and Young United) a team of mostly highschoolers from Burbank with a few old guys as player/coaches. Yeah we beat them 13-1, but I really enjoyed seeing these younins play against great players. I wish I had started that young and chatted with a few of them and told them such. Being exposed to high level Ultimate while still in high school is going to make those kids great in college. Heres hoping they stick with it.

Day two had Streegang playing the Beyondors (the Master's team from Santa Barbara). This was my first time playing against Greg 'Hollywood' Husak of Condors fame who was part of the part of the amazing Condor's 95-01dyNASTY. That guy can ball. Closest game of the tourney. I like that older players can make the game simple: if you cover me deep I get the free in. If you cover me in, I get the deep. Easy as that.


Next was a team from San Diego who i played for 3 years ago - Beefcake. Not really a challenge - just a good time with some old friends. Point of fact: I had THE worst pull of my competitive career in this game leading to them taking the disc at midfield. This was followed by my mediocre deep D, throwing an almost-Callahan turnover on our goal line and then getting beat to the open-side for the score. Oops.


The finals were supposed to be after a bye but got moved up for some reason. Santa Barbara Condors vs San Diego Streetgang. In general, we scored with few throws and our Ds really flustered them. They kept it even at first but the wheels feel off when one of their popper got covered trying to get into the cup. We took half very confidently and kept rolling after it.

Much to everyone's dismay, 2 of our players had their shoulders dislocated on close bids. One was captured on tape and highlights an excellent defensive bid by the Condor's Jacob Baumer. Absolutely not a foul, sometimes players just get hurt - not Jake's fault at all. We continue to press (I get really close to a layout D in the cup) and they continue to have a very hard time scoring. I talked with some of the condors afterwords and they mused that they were not quite sure who their zone handlers were going to be. Either way, i think this game speaks well of the pressure our defense puts on other teams.

Final score: 13-7 . Over all, I was happy with how we played and given the acrimonious nature of past San Diego/ Santa Barbara games, I was happy with the amiable relations between the teams.


While i did enjoy the tournament overall, the flaws should be pointed out so we can have better tournaments next time.

• The front of the enzones should be double coned and the cone placement should be spray painted. I know that fully lining the field probably wasnt possible, but the fact that the 2 best teams in all of Southern California played the finals on a field with unknowable boundaries is disheartening. 
• There were no scoreboards even though I offered to bring all the ones I had built for Presidents Day
• There was lots of room in between fields (props to the TDs) but players and spectators still put all their stuff haphazardly 1 meter away from the sidelines. Sideline safety must be a cultural shift.
• The format was screwy. Pool play straight to placement? Streetgang played 6 games in a row - 5 pool play and then the finals. The team that I coach, the BAGS, got there at 8 both days and left at 5 both days with 8 games and 5 byes total. (yes, I know a 13 team tournament is hard to work with). It might have been ok if people had known the schedule ahead of time but people were learning of their games an hour before hand. (Again, I know how hard it is to TD. It sucks that your fields got taken away last minute)
• I only saw a few non-player spectators at the finals even though we were in Long Beach, a city filled with Ultimate players. We all need to do a better job to get our beach-pickup buddies to attend the finals of big time tourneys. 
• Getting water was a pain, only 1 station very fair away from most of the fields.
• We started at 8am even though everything was done by 5. Give me 1 more hour of sleep and Ill be way happier even if it means I get home a hour later.

All in all, good tourney. It feels great to be sectional champions as San Diego Open has not won Sectionals in 15 years.

Audio Interviews for the USA Ultimate Board of Directors

Check out my audio interview for the USAU Board of Directors. The Election is Oct 1st - Nov 2nd http://bit.ly/StephenHubbard4USAUaudio

 

How do my answers stack up to the other candidates?

The Lover of Learning

      There are two types of love regarding learning. The first is the love of pure learning. This is the absolute thirst for coming to know things that one didn’t before. This love is derived from the immense pleasure that comes from figuring out what a factorial is, finally being told what MSG is, learning about the actual anatomy of the human shoulder, seeing the elegance of the periodic table, and finally having grammar concepts make sense. This love could be called the love of knowledge. It shows itself in everyday life – the spark of passion that is alive when one comprehends the factoid that will allow a person to ace a test is the same spark that is ignited by a conversation about something out of the blue with a stranger on a bus. I see this love expressed as a disposition; those who do indeed possess it act a certain way – they are inquisitive, obviously, but more precisely, they are interested in everything. This love is not bounded by an academic subject or aim. To a person that loves in this way, the world is a fantastic place, full of wonder, intrigue, and enchantment at every juncture.

      The second type of love is the love of a subject. By this, I mean love for math or writing or history or anatomy or soccer or computer games or ultimate frisbee or herb gardening or whatever! The specific subject is not important – the critical factor in this love is one’s approach to a subject. These lovers devour the knowledge contained in their field of study. They MUST learn more and more – they have an insatiable hunger to learn everything they can about the thing in which they are interested. The level of understanding in their subject is not necessarily important: the highschooler who cannot get enough of his AP Biology textbook displays the same love as the PhD who spends 70 hours/week in his laboratory – they differ not in kind but in degree, and only really in degrees that matter little: maturity and market value. While love of knowledge is a disposition, this love for a subject is akin to a quest. This type of lover is on a journey to find more of the magical world of study he finds himself in. He travels with deliberate pace. While the world comes to the lover of learning, the lover of subjects goes to it – he hunts it down. This second love grows from, and is sustained by, a recognition and appreciation for the true, innate beauty that lies within their subject of study. It is this beauty that drives their quest forward: the sublime is a powerful motivator if only it can be comprehended. This love manifests itself quit visibly - if you could access the sublime and the beautiful inside a textbook or Wikipedia site or seminar wouldn’t you act a little crazy about that fact too? These loves for the subject are certainly not mutually exclusive; one may have as many passions as they like.

     Not everyone who is interested in a subject is a lover of that subject. In fact, someone could spend many many hours participating in something and not love it as a subject of learning. The computer gamer who spends the majority of the day online doesn’t necessarily want to learn about their game of choice. The lover of the computer game as subject wants to know about who made the game, what the best players in the world are like, how he can contribute to the online community. He probably has a blog about his gaming experience.

I will expound on these two types of people in future posts. The preceding have been some initial thoughts that came to me very clearly one morning.

Helpful Things to Say to Players on the Field

There is a short list of words and phrases that can be said by a sideline teammate that are actually helpful to the player on the field.

While on O

• Toe (as in Toe the line)
• Go to (Because your defender is going to make a bid on the disc)
• Milk (Milk the disc for a little bit before catching it (in the endzone)
• Greatest ( you must perform a Greatest to keep the disc alive)
• Man on (You thought you were poached and now you are not)
• You've got time (on a high disc, you don't need to jump just yet - wait to make a play)
• See**Someone's name** (when someone is ridiculously poached )
• See **Some throw** (when some option is obviously the right one but the thrower is not seeing it - examples: Hammer, Swing) (This mostly goes for DOffense players with the disc. If you need to tell your O-line players how to move the disc and what options to see, you need to reconsider the composition of your O-line.)

While on D

• Inside (shift your mark inside)
• Around (shift around)
• No huck (no huck mark)
• No Dump (shift all the way around to prevent all throws to the backfield)
• Strike (Jump over to the open side for a count)
• Team D or No foul (Back your mark up so the thrower can't draw a foul or an And-1 throw)
• Drop (you need to book it deep to prevent a huck score)
• Now you are in (your guy is only viable to cut in)
• Aggressive/conservative (for in zones that shift between aggressive cups/containment cups)
• You're last back (you should be aware to help deep)
• Bid (make a play on the disc)
• Up (a throw has gone up, often used for hucks)
• Right Shoulder (a huck/dump pass has gone up and you should turn right to find it/ D it)
• Left Shoulder (a huck/dump pass has gone up and you should turn left to find it/ D it)
• Guy on your right/left/behind (telling defenders in zone were the threats are)
• You've got two (telling defenders in a zone that 2 threats are in his zone)
• Looking, Looking (telling face-guarding defenders that the thrower wants to hit your guy)
• *Describing noticed tendencies of someone's defensive assignment: "He likes the lefty backhand
• Peel (leave your guy to defend the open guy in the endzone. Often happens after your guy catches a huck just outside the endzone)
  

Am I missing any?


Conclusions: if you are saying anything else from the sideline like "Nice cut Mike!", your on-field players are tuning you out at best, but probably distracted from the task at hand. Celebrate after the point is over, not before.


Joke of the Day:
The early bird might get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.

Highlight Vid of the Day: Wisco Women Whomping at PresDay Weekend

Game of Last Week: Cal vs Oregon NW Regional Finals 2010. Damn Ego looks good. Its all solid fundamentals... give-go, high speed of play, touch on every throw... 8:16 isn't fundamentals though, that's just straight-up Jedi.

Nail-Bitter/Barnburner Game of the Day: CUT vs Pitt, Qrts, Nationals 09

NW Club Regionals

Revolver, Sockeye, Furious George, ECU, Rhino, Wolf

Damn, it is going to be one exciting October.


PS- Don't count out Pizzahuttacobell. They are young and fast. Very darkhorse right now.

Get Your Bags Off the Sideline

 

At the Labor Day Championships in Santa Cruz this weekend (maybe the best field site in Ultimate), the TDs set up the field so that there was at least 10 yards between fields and most times more. Where there were 4 fields last year, now there were 3 full sized ones totally clear of any fixed hazards (rocks, light poles, asphalt). While the TD’s forethought was praiseworthy, players and fans still put their bags, chairs, and tents within 2 yards of the sideline.

Even during the finals WHEN NO OTHER GAMES WERE GOING ON there were obstacles  very close to the line. While I am sure those girls were excited to get so close to their heart-throb, the fact that Mac Taylor nearly clobbered them on a great full speed catch near the sideline is indicative of a big problem in the Ultimate community. We all need to respect sideline safety much more.

While change can and needs to happen from the top down (2010 USAU College Championships in Madison are a great example of progress) there needs to be a cultural shift – a shift away from the sidelines. Your view of that great play is just as good if you are 3 yards further back.  Be that guy on your team that stubbornly insists that everyone puts their bags further back, we all will be better for it.

For Your Viewing Pleasure

2006 Rhino vs Justice League  Can you spot the coolest swing continuation of this decade by a one Seth Wiggins?


I am very very jealous of these kids: USAU Junior Team Camp


THE new game to play when you are not playing Ultimate: GritZ


Its ok rookie, the pros make mistakes too.

Truths About Ultimate

Every turnover is a thrower error.


You need to pass the disc to your teammates when THEY want you to, not when you want to.


If you are not actively pursuing a comprehensive strength and conditioning program, it is very likely that you are going to get injuried.


It is way better for the D to set up than for the O to set up.


The best way for a novice thrower to improve is for them to watch the body mechanics of great throwers and attempt to emulate what they see. Precise instruction does not work as way as careful and watchful plagiarism of total body form.


Thinking is bad. Allowing your body to do what it has been trained for is the way to unleash peak performance.


If you want to get a freshman out to practice, throw with them for 5 minutes and then give them the disc.


Drills lasting more than 10 minutes bore people.


Practices need to be hard.




If you forget why or how you love this sport so much, choose a practice or a tournament and try to be the very last person to leave the fields. Think for a bit about the way you feel out on that grass. Is that shop you are sitting on the same spot you got your last layout D?

Beating a Lower Level Team

The classy way to beat a far worse team is to open up the rotation but remain serious. This may be the first time your rookies get any PT - teach those rookies to play well, to play hard, whenever they step on the field. Also, it feels shitty to get stomped on by a bunch of goofs; if the teams were reversed would you want your opposition to be letting the thumbers fly at 12-5? No, you'd want to be taken seriously.

If you can't use a blowout to improve yourself, you need better coaching.

Get Some Football Cleats

The large majority of players on good, high level teams wear football cleats. The majority of players on low level teams wear soccer cleats. You do the math.

Think about it: a lot of soccer cleat R&D goes into making a good kicking surface - something we don't need at all. I played soccer in high school so I word what I had been wearing  untill my sophomore year of college when I tried on some Speed TDs and never went back.

Defense

Defense must turn the playing field into a battle field – an inhospitable place for offense to tread. They must make the offense uncomfortable. They must make the offense not want to be there – anywhere but on that line waiting for the pull and the ensuing onslaught. Make them worry; hem and haw. Make them be thankful to lady luck every time they score. Force them to huddle with each other and argue about how to crack the zone you are throwing. Make them pray that their team’s D line stays on the field so they don’t have to go back out there. Defense must parch the offense’s lips and empty their lungs and enlarge the lump in their mouth and fill their hands with the perspiration of desperation.

If you are not doing that when your team plays defense you are failing. If the O players look comfortable or in a groove you are just not doing your job.  Even if they are turning over the disc it’s very possible you are still failing. If you look closely, you can tell if they are flubbing it up or if you are actually earning it. Be very wary of the former: wins that you didn’t actually earn with pain and sweat don’t help build your team. Additionally, there is the ever present temptation to not analyze your performance simply because the result is a W.

Ask yourself: are we dictating to the other team or are we merely reacting?

Making the thrower uncomfortable

Congradulations to team USA

Junior Worlds Champions!!


# 25  Eli Kerns
(Catches the greatest)


I taught him almost none of what he knows!



Check out YouTube for some really quality video of WJUC10


Lucky kids....

Ultimate on ESPN

 If you haven't already seen this sweet catch by Andrew Fleming of Seattle Sockeye from the World Ultimate Club Championships 2010 in Prague, do yourself a favor and watch it in HD (be sure to full-screen it).

Now, go watch it again and marvel at what website you are watching it on. That's right baby, this was the NUMBER ONE play on Tuesday's SportCenter Top 10.

Sweet huh? Personally, I would like more general acceptance of Ultimate in the mainstream and stuff like this can only help the cause. Long throw, huge layout, great crowd noise, intense spike and pretty pan-out shot to see a packed stadium. Perfect!

One of the real problems with Ultimate in the mainstream is its watchability. The highlights, like this Fleming one or this And-1 Mix Tape or this one, are great, but whole games are hard to watch if you are not a lover of the sport.

But imagine ESPN going to the USAU and saying, 

"We want to show a game of Ultimate but we have seen whole games before and we don't like players arguing between each other about calls, less stoppages, no players wandering the entire sideline, less time between pulls, and it must be in a stadium. Do that, and we've put it on in its entirety"

This is not inconceivable considering the response the Fleming video has garnered. The USAU would jump at this chance and the finals of Labor Day or E.C.C. would be filmed exactly to ESPN's specifications.For as much as people talk about how to get this sport on TV, all we really need is a ESPN producer to tell the USAU what it want and we'd be good to go.




One last thing, it could be me on the Top10 next - Ultivillage is going to be at Colorado Cup, ECC and Labor Day, all of which Streetgang is attending. I'm excited for this upcoming club season!

History Repeats Itself

LA Strike Slip > SD Streetgang @  Club Sectionals09 
:
LA Strike Slip << SD Streetgang @ Club Regionals09
::
UCLA Smaug > UCSD Air Squids on Sunday Morning of College Regionals10
:
UCLA Smaug << UCSD Air Squids on Sunday Afternoon of College Regionals10

Rules with Definitions

Check out the way the online 11th Edition Rules of Ultimate now have scroll-over definitions.

Hopefully this will help people learn the rules better. Like this new USAU Rules Clarifications FAQ, anything to help players know the rules is a good thing.

Rules Regarding the State of the Disc, PreStall and Delay of Game

There is some confusion and disagreement at practice about what the 11th Edition Rules of Ultimate actually say about when you can stall and when you can't. I'd like to clarify.


The first place to start is the State of the Disc (II.R). The disc, at all times during the game, is one of these:

• 1. A disc is in play when play may proceed without the defense's acknowledgment. An in-bounds disc on the playing field is in play. The disc is subject to a turnover. To put the disc into play at a particular spot on the field means to establish a pivot at that spot.
• 2. A disc is live when players are allowed to move and the disc is subject to a turnover, but the thrower cannot make a legal pass (e.g., walking the disc to the spot where it is to be put into play). For a live disc to be put into play, the thrower must establish a pivot at the appropriate spot on the field, touch the disc to the ground, and put it into play.
• 3. A disc is dead when play has stopped and can continue only with a check. The disc is not subject to a turnover.

Am in play disc is when the disc comes to a rest on the playing field after a turnover or during active play.

A live disc is when the thrower is walking it to a spot to put it in play. After a Bricked Pull or after a out-of-bounds huck are two examples. A less obvious example is when a receiver catches a pass and his momentum carries him out-of-bounds: he must bring the disc back to the sideline to put it into play and thus he must touch the live disc to the ground before throwing. This is called a "ground-tap"; it is not a "check".

Finally, a dead disc is after any stoppage of play. If the rule book says "and play stops", then the disc is dead. Picks, fouls, injuries, travels, violations - these calls stop play and require a check to restart play.


So now onto stalling and delaying. Most of the relevant rules are contained within XIII.The Thrower.
XIII.A.3 says that if the disc comes to rest on the field, the offense has 10 seconds to put it into play (because there is no walking with the disc involved, this is an in play disc). Without Observers, the defender must count the 10-second "prestall" (they may choose not to). In an Observed game, Orange ALWAYS counts the prestall with a horizontal chop of the forearm. After ten seconds elapse, a defensive player within three meters of the disc may announce disc in, and then initiate and continue the stall count.
XIII.A.4 says that if he disc comes to rest someplace other than the field (out of bounds or in the endzone) the prestall is 20 seconds. A defender within 3 meters of where the disc is supposed to be put into play may start the stall count.

XIII.A.5 talks about delay of game. It references XIX.B which says: "It is the responsibility of all players to avoid any delay when starting, restarting, or continuing play. This includes standing over the disc or taking more time than reasonably necessary to put the disc into play." I see this as another unfortunate instance where subjective wording invades the rule book. What amount of time is reasonably necessary to put the disc into play? XIII.A.5 says that if a defender finds the offense to be unnecessarily delaying putting the disc into play, he may announce a Delay of Game warning by saying "delay of game" give 2 seconds, and then start and continue the stall count regardless of the actions of the offense.

Delay of game normally happens on a dead disc after a pick, foul, or travel call. Sometimes, after the down field players have returned to their positions, the thrower will spend lots of time calling a complicated play and/or communicating with his receivers and sideline. The classless and foolish thing to do in this instance is for the mark to reach around the thrower to try to check the disc held behind the thrower's back - an ugly, mini wrestling match born from the lack of rules knowledge. The informed defender issues a 2 second "delay of game" warning and then says "disc in".




My personal thoughts: like I said, I really don't like the subjective wording in the delay of game rules. Even the more objective clause in XIX.B ("...standing over the disc") is faulty: what is "standing over the disc"? 1 foot, 2 feet 5 feet away? Is there really a difference? In contrast, I really like how the prestall is well defined. The only real reason for the existence of this loose wording is that it takes a variable amount of time for cutters to reset their positions after a violation call. I say fuck it, put some objective time limits on ALL intervals in the game besides active play.



As a matter of principle, I think teams should always do the prestall in practice - its gonna happen at every game that matters this season.


Let me know if you have questions about these or if there are other rules you'd like me to try to clarify.


-Pumba

The Most Annoying New Trend In West Coast Ultimate

When you play this game for a a while, you see trends develop. You see fads come and go.

2 examples: Shorts have gotten longer, and the "swagger" thrower have become more common. (see Eli Janin for examples of both)

I am interested to see these trends and for the most part they are positive: bagel-cutter machines, cream cheese, and Nutella at the food tent are very good additions to tournaments.


BUT, I would like to tell you what I see to be The Most Annoying New Trend In West Coast Ultimate. That trend is this:
The advent of players utilizing rule XVI.C.2.B.2 when picks happen NEVER used to happen and somehow it exploded this college season. Its horrible.

For those of you who are too lazy to look at the link and figure it out, I'll explain:

When a pick occurs and the picked-defender's guy gets the disc the disc should go back to the thrower and offender returns to where he was when the pick occurred and then the defender catches up to his relative position at the time of the pick.

This is the way that it has happened with little trouble for the first 4 years of my ultimate career, but players have been invoking XVI.C.2.B.2 which says that if there is an offensive violation during a throwing attempt or during the flight of the disc, and the violation DID NOT EFFECT THE RESULT OF THE PLAY, then the result of the play stands and play stops. This rule is good in the case when there is a pick on the left side of the field and then someone totally different gets the disc on the right side of the field.

The new trend is for a defender to get picked, his guy gets the disc, pick is called, and the player with the disc then says:

Did you have a play on the disc?

The offense's argument is that even though the defender was picked, he was trailing the incut or was to far away to make a play on the disc anyway. In rule speak: the violation did not effect the result of the play. The defender catches up his original relative position - 5 feet away - and play starts with an offensive self-check

And I guess it could be a valid argument, if the defender is merely tripped up while he is already 8 feet behind on a quick 10 yard pass, he will probably not have any play on the disc. But I just hate this occurrence so much because there is always a SUBJECTIVE argument about the defender's ability to make a play. Normally the defender agrees that he couldn't have, but i hat this in every instance: we should try to remove as much subjective judgments from the players hands as possible. Who knows, what if the defender's footsteps sounded a foot, an inch!, closer the offensive player? What if 5 feet and 4 feet make the difference in the thrower's mind in his decision to pass the disc or not? I say that if the picked playeris guarding the person who gets the disc, it MUST go back to the original thrower. Take subjectivity out of the equation as much as possible.

Like I said, this NEVER happened 2 seasons ago and now I see it twice a game. Im happy that people are reading the rules, but this is a shitty interpretation and I hope it goes the way of the T-shirt jerseys of the 90.

Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I Was 16

Some people are going to make you mad because of how wrong they are - wrong about the facts, wrong about how to handle a situation, wrong about what is the right thing to do. Don't ignore this person as all your instincts tell you to do, but watch them closely and identify the specific things you don't like. Us that individual and their faults to learn about the person you don't want to be. Its easy to learn from the people you love, but harder - yet very beneficial - to learn from the people you despise.


Playing defense is hard. Its very hard. It is tiring and painful and very hard. If you want to play good D, you have to be more than smart, you must exert yourself - push yourself physically to the limit. That's just the way it is. Never think you are good enough at O that you can get by without balls to the wall D.


You will learn the same lesson many many times through your life. Try not to get mad at yourself for not getting it the first time.


No matter what, you will always look back and wish you partied more.


You must flirt with Exhaustion and Fatigue in your workouts so that when they start a conversation with you on the field, you know what to do.


You never know where your joy is going to come from. Sometimes it surprises you. Try to have multiple ways for happiness to find you - some will never pay out, but you will be able to forget those if you are cashing in on others.


You got to battle with the army that you have, not the army you wish you had.


Don't be surprised by your emotions. When you cry, you cry. When you yell, you yell. When you hate, you hate. When you love, you love. Let them be - experience them for what they are. Don't measure them against what you think they should be.


You are a guy. You will probably have a hard time expressing how you feel. On average, your life will be a constant struggle to be more honest with the people around you and yourself. More honesty, less white lies.


Breaking stuff is one of the most satisfying actions you can participate in. Especially so when drunk. Try to do this with things that aren't very valuable.


Say that you are sorry. Not "I'm sorry that this happened to you". Just "I'm sorry." The words don't really matter, so don't get hung up on their meaning or what you commit to by saying them.


You are going to feel very very lost sometimes. That sucks, I'm sorry. Just try to think about all the times you have felt very at home. They tend to balance out.


While making fun of something or someone seems like an easy joke or an easy way to fit in, being positive and supportive is what will make other people respect you and make you feel good about your actions. Take the high road.


People need to learn their own lessons. The best you can do with advice is to make someone think about a subject in a way they haven't before. No matter your experiences, no matter how intense they were, no matter how good a story teller/teacher/coach you are, and no matter how convinced they look while listening, you cannot make up someone's mind about anything with your words.

Its ok to be a different person day to day, year to year. The charge of "Hypocrite" and "FlipFlopper" ain't so bad; if it means that you are able to change what you think based on new experiences and changing situations, then they are complements.


Be a good teammate. Be a good friend. Be a good listener. Be a good host. You will be remembered for the things you did for others, not the things you did for yourself.


Things aren't just what they are. They also are what others take them to be. Picaso's art ain't that special by itself, but the cuture, the fandom, the theory, the story IS unique and worth respect and appreciation.


Don't let anyone tell you that you are not an artist because you are not paid for your art. The idea of a "professional" artist prevents "regular" people from expressing themselfs or making beautiful things. What a shame.


The first step to healing is admitting to yourself that you are injured.


Its ok to want what you want, to feel what you feel, to be who you are.


Remember it. Write it down. One of the greatest joys of all humanhood is looking back fondly.

The Ultimate Thesis Project

I think it appropriate for me to write a thesis about Ultimate - what did Jerry Maguire call it? A Mission Statement, a Memo? Haha. Through my last 5 years of college, I have studied Ultimate as much as I have studied the subjects in my classes. I think about Ultimate a lot: for all the times I've said that my blogs will be about lots of things, 90% of the content is Ultimate. Sometimes its hard to be honest about this, but i'll just put it out there: Ultimate has been my life for the last 5 years.


So that's why I think I should write a thesis. A thesis about Ultimate.

I promise you, this will not be hard because of a lack of things to say - if you have read any of my blogs or talked to me on the field, you know that I could fill a book. The challenge of actually being concise is what really intrigues me about this project.

So far, I imagine a "Thesis" about Ultimate could be about a couple different things:

• The Unique, Strange, and Challenging Existence of Spirt Of The Game in our sport
• Ultimate Offense and Defense strategy
• The Unique Community of Ultimate players
• How Ultimate is viewed by its Players and by Outsiders
• Why People Play Ultimate
• The Unique Niche of "College" Sport
• Sports Psychology through Ultimate
• The Rules (and their Ramifications) of Ultimate
• Build a Winning Ultimate Team
• The Mental Game in Ultimate
• The Differences from the Top Level to Pickup in Ultimate

I'm sure that many of the sub-topics appropriate within each topic would find their way into the others and I am sure that some of these are way too general (especially the Strategy one). AND i'm sure I am missing something that I have thought about before.

So I would like to ask you, reader, what would YOU be interested in reading a thesis about? And secondly, if you were tasked with writing something long about Ultimate, what would your title be?

Looking for a Personal Trainer?

Hello Loyal Readers,

I am looking for people who would be interested in doing some gym workouts under my training. I have always thought about trying to be a personal trainer and I guess this would be like a first trial run. Ideally, I would have 3-5 people in a group and the session would last between 30 minutes to an hour.

My philosophy on physical conditioning is that the best results in power, strength, and overall athleticism come from constantly varied functional movements, executed at high intensity. Functional movements are defined as those that can move large loads, long distances, quickly; examples of these are pull-ups, cleans, jerks and squats. I also see it as critically important that results are measurable quantitatively.

A sample workout of mine might consist of:

4 rounds for time:

-9 20inch Box Jumps

-7 75lb Clean and Jerks

-5 Pull Ups

-3 165lb Deadlifts

You can see that if you first complete the workout in 12 minutes, and then complete the same workout 3 weeks later in 9 minutes you are obviously in better shape, you are more powerful. Quantitatively Measurable Results.



I am in town all summer and am generally flexible time-wise, so I’ll certainly try to work out a schedule when a couple people are able to get together. I would hope to have 2 sessions a week but I don’t want to scare anyone away with requests for commitment. These sessions would be free. The only payment I ask for is for you to be honest with me about how I can improve as a trainer.

One last thing: You should know that I believe strongly that people need to LEARN how to work out – they actually need coaching on how to do the movements that will help them become a better athlete. I am not looking to coach so can I sit next to you and encourage you to finish those last leg curls, I see coaching in the gym as the teaching of the movements. If you have ever entered the gym without knowledge of what to do, and so you settled on seated calf presses, you especially should take me up on my offer.

I guarantee you will see results during the first session in that my teaching will show you a new side of the weight room and my workouts will put you on your ass like nothing you have ever done in the gym before.

If you are interested, even a little bit, please email me back (StephenGHubbard@gmail.com) or respond here and we'll work something out.

Quality Hucks and Sideline Talk

I posted two really good IOTDs today and yesterday that are more appropriate, length wise, for this blog. I seem to get more diverse Ultimate-related viewers on this blog so I wanted to forward you the links.

What to Say to Your On-Field Teammates

Quality Hucks Follow the Rule of Thirds





Madison in 7 days! If you are going to be there, come say hi!

Also exciting: the UPA is FINALLY going to open their new website in 4 days!

Good Morning

The Squids are having 6am practice today - the last one we will have before Regionals.

Its a beautiful day.

Peace.

Canadian Ultimate Mag

I am absolutely blown away by how cool this is. I like Canada 15% more just because of this.

My Contribution to the San Diego Ultimate Community

I have brought 4 things to the San Diego Ultimate community (maybe more, but of these I am sure) . I am not saying that these are original ideas, but I do want to take full credit for their existence here. Yeah, I guess its an ego thing.

#1.
The 4-line warm up. We never did it, they I recommended it and people were against it for no reason than that we'd never done it before. Then we started doing it after I continued to push for it, then we started to do it as a warm up before games but not at practice (in my conversation with my coach, his reason for not doing it at practice was, I kid you not, "If we do it too much, people will learn how to "game" this drill just like they "game" the breakmark drill." I don't understand what he was saying, Ill i heard was "We don't do it that much, even though it is a good warmup, because we never did it in the past." Then we started doing it at Squid and Streetgang practices and I think there are 3 reasons:

• Empirical - 75% of all the good club and college team have started to do this drill.
• Philosophical - the point of a warm up should be to touch the disc and run a whole lot which is not achieved by any drill where you are only using 1 or 2 discs.
• Empirical - People actually do run more and touch the disc more in this warm up than in any other warm up. People's throws are better after doing lots of them, people are actually sweating after this drill.

#2.
When putting a live disc is put into play at any spot on the field besides where it comes to rest, you must tap it to the ground after establishing your pivot at the right spot. Often, when the new offense is walking the disc to the goal line, side line, or brick mark the thrower will offer the disc for a check. I could just tap the disc like everyone else, but I make a point of telling them that its a ground tap. Cons: I lose 2-3 seconds of the stall count. Pro: I teach people the actual rules of our sport. Minor pro: I don't feel bad about calling a travel when they throw without a ground tap. Im not saying that everyone knows this rule now, but I would estimate that there were, AT MOST, 3 other players in San Diego that knew when a ground tap vs a defensive check was required before I started my crusade to teach people the rules.

#3.
Lefty backhands. I can't take full credit for this one; I was majorly influenced by the first player in SD that I really looked up to: Christopher "Phelps" D'arrouzet-Nardi. His last year was my first and he threw a lot of lefties. His reasoning was simple: you could get a lot more spin on short throws. There certainly are situations where the off-hand backhand is useful - short breaks, dumps, dish passes - and it seems that the big restriction on them is just people's own mental limitations of seeing what is possible. I don't know if other SDers are adding lefty backhands - I think some are - but people are figuring out that you actually can cut to areas that previously were off limits because people didn't have that throw.



Joke of the Day: Did you hear the joke about hydration? OF COURSE YOU DIDN'T, BECAUSE HYDRATION IS NOT A JOKE!!! (#4. )

Idea of the Day

I'm sorry that I haven't posted on this blog for a while. I have started a new project recently: The Shubbard Idea of the Day - a more varied mix of ideas that are running through my head. Worry not, there are plenty ideas about fitness, weight training, Ultimate, and sports in general. I hope to write in this blog soon, but I have a lot of other stuff on my mind right now.

Props

To UCLA

Flops to the algorithim that gave the Great Lakes 3 and the Northwest only 2. But hey, I'm biased.


Here's to an exciting few weeks. Playoffs Baby!!!






PS- UCLA is money on the Woman's side too. Could this be the year that the Squids and Psychos both make it to the Show? That would be so sweet!

San Diego StreetGang Tryouts Today

Time to go earn a spot. I love tryouts.

Tragedy

It is with a heavy heart that I must tell you the bad news. Tragedy has befallen the UCSD Air Squids.



Long considered one of the most important parts of the team and a dear friend to me personally, this old pal will not be with us this year.





I am talking about the Squid tradition to not shave one's facial hair the month before Centex. For some reason or another, the captains never made a point of telling all the the youngins that it is tradition to let the your scragly-ass facial hair run wild for Febuary and March. To quote '07 Captain Chucky,

"I dont care if you have a girlfriend, if you are meeting your parents for dinner, or if you have a job interview. Let that shit grow!"

I have always had ugly facial hair but it was kinda fun to do each year (Mine was so puny that freshman year I went the entire week with Just For Men on my face). Don't worry, I have been growing it for a while and there are a awesome few who have been growing it since before the start of the school year, but part of the fun was making everyone do it.



Alas, some traditions die if we do not breath life into them each year. Next year's Squids, I recommend you make a point of this.

P&BS

Empirically,


President's Day Invite 2010 from Tim Gilligan on Vimeo.


its obviously the best song for a



highlight video.


Anyone can throw together some clips with this song; its practically made for a highlight video.

Using a song you'd never think of; now that is art:











More sweet work (and high quality music choice) from Shy and the Brains:

Success

Sometimes I don't really know what I am doing in my life. Sometimes I'm lost.

But tonight I ran a 5:26 mile at the track. Not a PR, but an improvement from earlier this season. Then we had a ton more exercises... broken 400's, 200's, 40s, 25, and stadiums...
It hurt so bad but I kept pushing myself. I pushed so hard that I puked after the last stadium.

Thats the point really, to push yourself to your current physiological and psychological limit so as to move those limits a little further away. Yakking isn't strictly necessary, but it obviously shows that I did get close to those boundaries. It was a nice little moment bent over those flowers, a nice vivid reminder of my dedication to the team.

I "got it right" tonight. I won track practice, I did it correctly. At least one thing is my life is going according to plan.

Dogma

Fake and pivot a lot, be spastic, but don't do any 360 spins.
Ultimate is like football.
Run a lot of 400's.
Throw to height mismatchs.
Cut from the back of the stack.
Open side.
Hi release= bad.
Stay on your man, no poaching, no switching.
Pivot upfield. If nothing is open, then look dump.
Movement is thrower initiated.
You get 1 fake to get open.
When marking, put your balls on his hip.

Ugh

I have been feeling really sluggish for the last week. I hurt, especially in my stomach. I have been trying to completely ignore this and this weekend I tried to put it out of my mind but I am not confident it is going away....

I am in the weird situation in which I have ignored dis-ease before to positive results. How am I to know now whether my lack-luster performance at Stanford Open and at Monday and Tuesday's track practice and field practice are the result of being ill or being wimpy?

I know that the frequent pain in my stomach is not normal, but I don't know what it could be or how that could translate to not being able to run fast at the track.

Do I know my body enough to figure this out? Should I go to the doctor? What could they even do? Yuck.

Normally, when I am not feeling well, I go to the weight room and that makes me feel better, but thinking about a barbell just makes me feel weak right now.

Have I been overtraining? What is going on?


The worst part is not knowing what to do.


On the bright side, I recently found the Radio Lab Podcast and its awesome. If you like This American Life (and you should), you will really like Radio Lab.

Track.

At 6pm this time of year our track is only illuminated by the moon and the diffuse light of the nearby buildings. The darkness helps with the introspection.

The Squids run track practices every Monday night . We start in October and we go until the end of the season. Our coach, Angry Kevin, programs the entire thing - we do not know what we are going to do until he tells us during the practice.The workouts change but in general, the intensity builds. Every A team member comes and we typically have 3 to 5 B teamers.

The elements throughout the year are:
3 mile hilly campus loop, 1 mile, 800s, 400s, 200s, 100s, 40s, 25s, Stadiums (50m height) (big steps, little steps, big step hops), hill sprints (about 100m), standing jumps, and agility latter drills. All of these have numerous modification potential. Everything is times, that it, if we do 400s they will start every X minutes until we are done and each of are times for each 400 are announced.

Yesterday's workout was :

• 800 warmup
• Stretch
• 3x Build 100s
• Stretch
• 6x400s on 3 minutes
• 1x Broken 400 (Run a 50 & turn around, run a 50 & turn around x4)
• rest
• 5x200s on 2 minutes
• rest
• 10x 40s on 1 minute
• rest
• 10x 25s on 45 seconds
• 8 staduims with 10 standing jumps at the top
• Cool down 400
• Stretch

Sometimes I cannot wait to get there, sometimes I dread it. Sometimes I run great, sometimes I feel like shit. Some times I come joyful and leave destroyed, sometimes i'll be having a horrible day and leave on top of the world. No matter what though, I always go.


So why do I write about this now?
Last night I had this really awesome experience: I just killed the 200s; pushed myself hard on each one. When I was finally able to think again, it hit me:

"I feel invincible. I can do anything, I can beat anyone."

At 6pm, our track is only illuminated by the moon and the diffuse light of the nearby buildings. The darkness helps with the introspection and I was overpowered with this realization.



Colorado, I'm coming for you.

Pres Day 2010

The UCSD Air Squids win Pres Day 2010 in a great final against Cal, 15-13. For sure one of the top 3 games I've ever played.

We take a 1 break lead at half, they tie it up at 10-10 and then advance to 13-11 Cal before we score out O point and then rattle off 3 straight breaks to win! Great plays by every player on each roster. The sportsmanship was very high and the observers, full fields, scoreboards, and perfect weather combined to make an absolutely great game.

Thank you to the many many people that helped make Pres Day happen.

Obviously, more to come.

In The Zone

"In the Zone"...is heightened awareness...is meditation......is Flow...is "Blink"ing...

It can be attained during all of these things...

• playing sports
• rock climbing
• weight lifting
• having sex
• drinking coffee
• drinking alcohol
• listening to music
• being at a concert or dance
• playing music
• cooking
• gardening
• making art
• doing hard homework
• watching tv
• reading a book
• hiking
• running
• people watching
• blog writing
• driving
• teaching
• writing code
• sudoku
• prayer
• running a gel, titrating a buffer, western blotting
  
• just sitting

Or you could totally miss the opportunity... its really just up to you. Just pay attention and try a little bit; its worth it. To get "in the zone" you must focus on the moment, you must figure out how to get the past and future out of your head. You must pay attention to the task at hand. Sometimes we think we are paying attention when really we are thinking about something else. You'll be in the middle of a lecture class and suddenly you'll realize you are thinking about what you are having for dinner; you be guarding a cutter and you'll tune out for a second and think about the last miss break opportunity. The key is to be good at realizing these lapses in focus and be able to return to your intended focus.