Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Knox Preview

This weekend brings our first tournament of the greatest semester ISU Ultimate has ever had, and I couldn't be more excited. Although we aren't playing with our teams for the spring yet, this will still be a great opportunity to shake off those winter cobwebs and get used to playing with the Gnomes again.

With 3 pool play games per team, everyone should be fresh for the whole tournament save the elimination rounds where the more conditioned teams should see a slight advantage. The lack of wind inside the T. Fleming Fieldhouse which allows for even the rookies to make sweet full-field hucks makes every team a threat to go all the way, and demands that we not look past any team, especially given our history of coming out sluggish during our first game (don't worry, I won't let that happen this year).

  • Pool A should be very interesting to watch. Saturday starts off with Knox A vs Bradley which should be a highly contested match up, given the similarity of those two programs. My guess is that this game will be decided based on the play from the women on both sides. Get your seats early for this one, the gym mats will go quick.
  • Next up is ISU D vs Knox Alum who has a strong history of rolling everyone at this tournament. Luckily they're all a year older, so maybe that'll slow them down, but probably not. ISU D will have to play smart to edge out a win against these wily vets, but I believe that they can do it given the level of experience they're bringing. Luckily they also have a wily vet of their own, a Mr. Kevin Rogers, 9th year senior (don't forget about those nets, Kroger).
  • Round 3 pits ISU D against Bradley. ISU D should be warmed up for this game and playing smart after being beaten by the no-look behind the back backhand once or twice by Knox alum. Another great game to watch as Pool A continues to stump me as far as predictions go.
  • The Knox A vs Knox Alum game should be comical, highly contested, and probably the game to watch all weekend as it always is. The alumni will make silly throws for the first half, the benches will clear after every point scored, and the Galesburg crew will make some inside jokes that they find hilarious. The second half will end up getting crazy intense and the Alum will edge them out in the end. I'd expect to see at leat 3 or 4 thumber scores, and Baker to get a rookie mark to run down the field while still has the disc.
  • The final game, Knox A vs ISU D will be a tough one for ISU D. Knox never seems to have a lack of talented handlers who can put the disc wherever they want it outdoors, making the indoor game look like a piece of cake. If ISU D can mark well during this game, it has the potential to be very close.

Predicted Standings*:
1-Knox Alum
2-Knox A
3-ISU D
4-Bradley

  • Pool B appears to have slightly less parity than Pool A, but there should be some good games in this one as well. The first round promises to be a good game as WIU and ISU challenge each other with the closest thing to their full-strength squads as has been possible this year. This game should be the highlight of Pool B given the intensity and skill that both of these teams are able to bring. This game will be decided by patience on O and mental toughness. Intensity and intelligence on D are a given from both teams.
  • Sasquatch vs Lake Forest: If I'm correct, which is about 50/50 right now, Sasquatch is UMich-Stout. I had the opportunity to play these guys at Hucktoberfest this past fall and remember them as a very friendly, spirited team. They're a newer program, but everyone on their team seemed to have a lot of passion from the game, so I'd expect them to be much improved since the fall. I haven't seen Lake Forest play in over a year and a half, so I can't comment much on the outcome of this game.
  • WIU vs Sasquatch: Again, I'm not sure who Sasquatch is, so I'll give the nod to WIU in this game.
  • ISU vs Lake Forest: Another 1 sided game (as related to my knowledge of the teams). ISU gets the win because of Willy's sweet shorts and because I'm very biased.
  • WIU vs Lake Forest: Western wins on Universe, in order to make this post more exciting.
  • WIU vs Sasquatch: See above
  • ISU vs Sasquatch: Tornado! (I wish I knew more about these teams, please comment if you do...)
Predicted Standings*:
1-ISU (come on, what did you think I was gonna say?)
2-WIU
3-Lake Forest
4-Chewbacca

Pool C will probably be dominated by this weekend's version of the Brett Porter Super Team, which we've all grown accustomed to losing to. I'd imagine that Knox B will be mostly rookies who will end up learning a lot from playing this weekend, and I don't know what to expect from Northern. NIU without Jorge and Glenn is like cake without frosting, like movies without popcorn, and like me without Glenn and Jorge - something's just missing. Hopefully these alums will show up and show us all a good time while simultaneously significantly increasing Northern's stock who made the finals last year with them. Last I heard EIU was hurting for ladies, so hopefully they've found some.

Predicted Standings con Jorge y Glenn*:
1-ChiAss
2-NIU
3-EIU
4-Knox B

Predicted Standings sin Jorge y Glenn*:
1-ChiAss
2-EIU
3-NIU
4-Knox B

Final prediction: Stanley makes min. 15 new friends, gets his nut rubbed, and ISU chases multiple teams around the track trying to get him back, and seriously pissing off the guy in the green crocs.

*I debated actually predicting the standings after pool play for a while, but in the end I felt like I needed to after putting all the work into analyzing each game individually. I think we'd all agree that this weekend is more about seeing old/making new friends, playing ultimate after a few months of Midwest winter, and having fun than winning.

Inspiration

Today I checked the blog and saw T-Dig's comment on my last post. What followed was a series of events that included fantasizing about this spring, watching last year's sectionals highlights (nearly a daily routine nowadays), and getting so excited about this weekend at Knox that I fear I'll never get to sleep tonight. To answer his request, I've posted a new survey on the right side of the page, cast your vote. And for his question, the 2nd round is still coming. Here's the link again if you want to check it on your own, but I'll write a post when we're up again. Coming soon will be a Knox preview, so keep your eyes peeled.

p.s. yea, yea, yea, get dat d**k!

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Back in the high life again

Although I wasn't able to make it through the entire practice tonight (running stairs and knee injuries don't go together well), it felt awesome to be able to workout with my team again. So as an update to those of you who care out in the blogosphere, Dr. Iforgethisname says that I have Patellar Tendinitis and that if I wear this magic ring that I'll be able to play with minimal pain. I'll be attempting to play at the Knox Indoor next weekend, but for now I'll be stopping at the first pain I feel. It's late and I'm tired of being on computers all night, so I'll just finish by saying that it's good to be back

Monday, January 19, 2009

Today I missed practice for the 3rd time due to my knee injury, and it's beginning to get old. I had been replacing the team track workouts with lap swimming, but when I got to the Metcalf pool tonight at 7:30 (when they're supposed to be opening), they actually closing. I went home and tried to think of something to do to get some cardio in without using my right knee, but I couldn't think of anything. After a few minutes of frustration, I happened upon Zip's Tips, which is something I used to often when bored. I replaced the cardio I was missing with his tip from December 20th. It felt good to do something, but I'm still hoping to be able to run before the Knox Indoor (2 weeks...doesn't look good). The point is, if you've forgotten about Zip's Tips, revisit them. They're great.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Swimming for Exercise?


With my knee in bad shape, it's not very possible for me to offer the weekly run workouts that I promised you. However, Willy and I went to Metcalf tonight to swim laps and I plan on doing that a lot while my knee is heeling. I'm new at this, so don't expect me to know anything about swimming for exercise, or to race you, or even to know how to do a backstroke, because I don't. If you'd like for me to let you know when I go, post a comment on this post, preferably not anonymously.

My Knee


For those of you that don't know, I'm currently unable to run due to a knee injury. I'm not sure what's wrong with my knee, I just know that it hurts. I took a break from ultimate for about a month hoping it would heal, but I seem to have reinjured it over break when I played in an indoor ultimate tourney in Naperville. I'm looking for an orthopaedist in the Bloomington Normal area, so I'll give another update once I know more.

Friday, January 2, 2009

Get Excited

With the holidays behind us and classes starting in under two weeks, it's time to start thinking about springtime ultimate. Here's what to get excited about:
  • Touching a disc again, although probably not until Knox Indoor (Jan 31-Feb 1)
  • Life as a gnome again
  • Freakin' ULTIMATE!!!
  • Wizard staff at apt 14
Here's what to expect, briefly:
  • Twice weekly required track workouts at Horton Fieldhouse
  • At least once weekly additional run/workout (Optional but highly recommended if you want to be a part of our success this spring)
  • A tryout process consisting of a few skills practices along with intra-team scrimmages and a possible tryout tournament/intercollegiate scrimmage. Invitations to the A team will be given on a rolling basis
  • 1 Co-ed tournament (Knox Indoor)
  • 3-4 Men's tournaments before the series (We're looking at probably Chicago Invite, Huck Finn, possibly Big Tens and maybe one more which will be decided once all of the tournament dates are announced)
  • Sectionals (Usually 1st or 2nd weekend in April
  • Regionals (1-2 weekends after sectionals)
With that out of the way, it's time to start getting serious about getting into shape for the spring season before it creeps up on us and we've all got beer guts. There are exactly 4 weeks from today to our first tournament, and only 8 opportunities to workout with your team, none of them with a disc in hand. Do you want to play in a tournament with only 8 workouts under your belt? I hope not, and I know I don't, so here's what I expect from everyone every player on the men's team, and what I recommend to every player at ISU:
  • Get out for a short run (2-5 miles) at least twice a week either by yourself or during one of the optional runs mentioned above
  • Do some calisthenics every day on your own to help strengthen your core, such as push-ups/crunches/pull-ups/leg lifts. I won't lay this out for your specifically, but if you don't already something like this in your daily routine, here's what I recommend: [Do 21 push-ups, then immediately flip over on your back and do 21 crunches, the flip over again and do 14 push-ups, then 14 crunches, then 7 push-ups, then 7 crunches. On the last set (the 7's), do as many of each as you can and once you get past 21, begin the entire workout at 28].
  • Touch a disc everyday. And no, I don't mean slapping the disc on your wall when you leave for class in the morning and quietly whispering to yourself "Play Like a Champion Today". I mean get a disc, get a friend, and go outside (or inside) and throw for at least 10 minutes. When you're throwing with a partner, as always, try not to mix up your throws. Throw at least 10 of the same throw (a high release backhand is a different throw from a low-release backhand), and then move on to another throw. This gives your muscle memory a chance to develop and also allows you to work out the kinks in a particular throw as opposed to throwing it imperfectly once and forgetting about it.

How many pointless commas did I use in the last post?

Are you a Space Panda?

Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?

New Cu1timate format

Should we go back to High Tide next year?

Who will get into the most trouble in GA or on the way?

Quickest dude:

Which tournament would you rather attend this spring?

How many beers have you had this weekend?

Which offense is the most effective in the college game?

How often do you read RSD?

Which tournament can't we miss this spring?

How would you like to see our last week of indoor practice time used?

Which is better, UPA or NCUA/Cultimate