Lion-Shark: An Ultimate Blog

What being a Gnome means

2010-05-09T21:37:00.000-07:00

[Contributed by Sam #6]

What does being a Gnome mean? What does it mean? According to urban dictionary a gnome is an Evil alliance race in World of Warcraft (best MMO ever) that are too hard to click and therefore... suck. I think we can all agree that is not what a Gnome is. Not even Effing GD close. Now we might agree on the exact definition, but now you have to hang in there while I get sentimental and explain what being a Gnome has meant to me.

Now I've been on sports teams before, baseball, and track, and other ultimate teams, and each of these teams have been great. Sports teams create camaraderie and brotherhood and lifelong friends. None of this is new. But the Gnomes I have come to look towards my teammates as family. There is no limit to what I would do for this family. There are several of our teammates that can attest to that. Through tough times, both on the field and off, being a Gnome has become part of me.

As some of you know, I have had an up and down couple of years since I've gone to college. The summer before college my brother unexpectedly passed away, giving my family and I an insurmountable challenge to overcome. I came to ISU for my sophomore year, and was accepted by a great group of people, who happened to be ultimate players, and Gnomes. In the three years since I have been able to count on this group for whatever I need, no matter the circumstances. I have been struggling to overcome depression and some of the negative effects of losing a family in my time here, and I can honestly say I would not be in the place that I am today without the family I have found at ISU. I can look back at the last year, and the last semester in particular, and say that it has been far better and happier than I could have asked for a year ago. For this Gnomes, I want to say thank you. You have helped me through challenging times without prompt. I can honestly say that college would have been much duller and far more difficult for me without the incredible friendships I have created within the Gnomes community.

While we might not be as storied or successful as many other ultimate teams, I firmly believe that the Gnomes are as close as any team in the country. While we are young, we are well on our ways to creating an ultimate program. Year in, our numbers will continue to grow, but none of us will stop being Gnomes. I would just like to say that I could not be more excited about this coming season. I look forward to making memories playing ultimate, and partying, running sprints till I puke, and shot-gunning beers off of even higher buildings. I look forward to finally making the jump and getting to regionals, and kicking some ass when we actually get there.

Thanks for a really awesome year, and I look forward to an even better one in 2010-11!

Gnomes for Life.

CP Secitonal

2010-04-22T09:49:00.000-07:00

[Contributed by Sam #6]

I just wanna start out by saying this is the most proud I have been of the ISU Gnomes to date. We came together and put out such an impressive effort, I have never been so excited about the future of our program.

Saturday

Saturday started with two tough fought games against Wheaton and Indiana, the 1 and 2 seeds in our pool. We had to win one of these games to get to the championship bracket. We came out slow in the first game, against Wheaton, and went down 5-1. We started to get things together and pulled to 6-4 by half. We held till 10-7, and an unfortunate turn on a dump by yours truly gave them an easy score to take the game. Our next game, IU, we came out read to play, and battled like crazy in the first half. We hung in, only down one at half, 6-5, by great play and sheer toughness. Our man D kept us in the game, for a change, and we really shocked Indiana, who thought they would have a walk of a game. Indiana tightened up their game after half, and came out really strong, getting a couple of breaks, and eventually winning 11-7. Two great games that showed we can hang with the good teams out there, but that we still have some work to do. The rest of the day we played strong and beat the teams we were seeded to beat, UofI Chicago, Depaul, and Northern.

Sunday

Placing third in our pool required that we win out on Sunday, to achieve our regional goal. Our first game was against the familiar Southern. We played a good, competitive game against them, but our desire to win the four games that we had to play today, and make our first appearance at regionals helped us carry this first game without too much trouble. We won this game 15-10, Game 1 done. In our second game we were matched against the Lost Boys of North Park. We came out strong in the first half, taking a couple of breaks to get up 7-5, but after a well-placed timeout, the Lost Boys made their own run, tying it at 7's. The point from hell ensued. The point to take half lasted about 20 minutes, with some of our highlights being multiple layout under D's, tight marks, and a general toughness to our D that had been lacking all season. However, our O was also hectic and rushed, and for every great D we got, our O gave the disc back, seemingly forgetting that we were throwing in the wind. However, 20 minutes later, our O converts and takes half 8-7. Coming out of halftime, we let give up another break, tying it at 8's. And then another. A few points later, it is 11-9 NP, and we are getting pressed to score goals, as North Park is not giving us as many chances to score as they were early in the game. The game is soft-capped at 14, and NP has GP with a score of 13-11. ISU misses the chance to score downwind, and NP takes the disc all the way up the field, and calls a timeout on the goal line. We come out of the timeout pumped to D up, but NP gets a breakmark score to secure the win. NP 14 ISU 11. Bummer. We play a half assed game against Chicago, but can't summon a good effort with our goal missed, and a lot of our studs hurting from the rough weekend.

All in a all this has to be the best an ISU ultimate team has played. I could not be more proud of the effort, toughness and camaraderie, and I have to say, I am effing pumped for next season. Regionals 2011 Gnomes. Lets get after it.

Chi Invite Recap

2010-03-23T09:24:00.000-07:00

[Contributed by Sam #6]

Going into the weekend, we had a well established goal of winning our pool and playing into the championship bracket come Sunday. Goal = Success, even if we didn't get to play it out on Sunday. Despite being ranked 3rd in our pool, congrats on fighting it out and winning the pool Gnomes. Great tournament despite the awful weather. Snow, tons of wind, and freezing cold made for a great tournament.

Game 1: Dayton

The 1st seed in our pool, we had to win this game to have a chance to play into the Champ Bracket. We won the flip, and started with the disc going downwind. An unfortunate drop on a swing gave Ghetto a short field, and an easy upwind break score, giving us a whole to fight out of. We converted every downwind for the rest of the game, no matter how many tries it took. Our Zone dominated their offense, and gave our shaky D-line O all the chances it needed. We went down at half 7-5. After their first downwind after half, 8-5, we had to get going. In the next 7 points, we scored two upwinds, with contribution from everybody. Great handler movement from David and Crack especially, and a sweet point block on the goal to give us another chance at an upwind score. After the horn blew, we scored a downwind to tie it at 10. DGP with the Gnomes going upwind and needing to D up first. Hero line gets a turn and works it up the field, Don catches a goal, Gnomes 11 Ghetto 10.

Game 2: Minnesota State Mankato

We lost the flip in this game, but came out and battled for the first upwind, and after a super long, cold, brutal point, we put in the break. Our zone fought through the developing mud pit for the rest of the game to keep their O at bay, and our upwind O got close a couple of times but couldn't quite connect on another break. The rest of the game we held serve to end up winning 10-7. Killer Whale Shark Whales are born.

Game 3: Hope College

This was our biggest win of the day. Our zone held their O at bay, getting ample downwind chances at scores, and our upwind O put in two breaks, and got close on several more. Highlight of the game was Rob killing their spirit with a layout Callahan. Gnomes win 11-7.

Game 4: St Louis

This game was for our play in to the Champ Bracket. St Louis lost their games in the power pool, and we came into this game riding the momentum of three straight wins, despite mother nature's attempt to ruin the day. We lost the flip for the third straight time, their score the downwind, and our zone gets beat all the way up the field. Down 2-0. Its do or die time, and we load a line to go upwind, which scores at will, plus the downwind, its all tied up again. We put the same line back in, and score another break up wind, and hold back downwind, ISU 4-2. We trade points till its 6-5, with SLU going upwind. This was the closest we got to giving up an upwind point without actually conceding. This point drags on for about 15 minutes, and SLU gets the disc to the goal line and calls timeout. After TO, ISU buckles down in zone and forces a turn. SLU gets to the goal line again, and we play great man, and force a high stall turn. We eventually hold the point and score downwind. ISU takes half 7-5. We come out of half to take our downwind with our O-line and the horn blows. ISU wins 8-5.

Despite Sunday getting cancelled, ISU ultimate plays one of its best tournaments ever. We showed resolve and guts, and never gave up on a point. Active sidelines and great intensity helped us to these wins. Keep working gnomes and we will have days like this come sectionals. Keys to success will be converting on O after our D-line gets turns, and maintaining possession as an O-line. Great tournament Gnomes, now lets go after Huck Finn.

Goals for Huck Finn

2010-03-22T18:12:00.000-07:00

[Contributed by Sam #6]

Just a quick lil something before I get the recap from Chi Inv done... Anybody who reads this, and is a current Gnome, toss up a comment about your goals for the next two weeks, and what you would like to accomplish before we play at Huck Finn. If you are not a current Gnome, feel free to comment at your own discretion.

Another aside, if you live in the Chicago Area, there is a Combine Tryout on May 15th that all Gnomes should attend, if only for the experience. Mark your calendars.

Practice Attendance

2010-03-04T08:58:00.000-08:00

[Contributed by Sam #6]

I would like to start by saying that I think this post is completely unnecessary and should go without saying.

We have about a month of practice once we get back from break before sectionals. We have made it a team goal to make regionals, for which we will need a very strong showing at sectionals. IN ORDER TO DO THAT WE HAVE TO HAVE EVERYONE AT PRACTICE!!!!!!!!!!!!

This should not be an issue. We should have 17 (or however many of us there are on the A team) at every single practice. If you are not dedicated enough to do that, say so, so you can play on the B team. Playing is a commitment, plan around it. Assignments don't appear out of nowhere, you know about tests months in advance, you shouldn't have to skip practice for them. Our showing throughout the winter has been discouraging, so lets stop that trend. I have never read another team's blog calling its players out for not coming to practice. So just come to practice if you want to play on the team. Pretty simple.

Sweet. I wanna play ultimate. First outdoors practice today! Fuck the snow, fuck Horton, lets ball.

Gamma Nu

Slumber Party: Midnight Edition

2010-02-28T20:55:00.000-08:00

[Contributed by Sam #6]

This past weekend, a group of ninjas, or some of the Gnome Vets, ventured north through a blizzard. Slumber Party was held in some soccerplex in Milwaukee, and team PJ's and BJ's pretty much owned. With games not starting till midnight, it was one of those tournaments.

Game 1:

Our first game was against NOISE, a team from Milwaukee and Madison, a pretty competitive mixed team that qualified for regionals this past club season. They came out ready to play, and we didn't. I blame Doug. It was pretty much just his fault we lost this game. Everyone else was perfect. Might have been a closer game, if not for some goal thievery at the end of the first half. Them 10 Us 7

Game 2:

This game was against sLumber Jacks. This game involved great play from everyone, even Doug. Smarter decisions were made, and we had our biggest win of the night (morning). Guest Kevin "Almost as good as Jeff Afryl" Kelly kinda sucked.

Game 3:

Against Dream Team. AKA the Hodags. AKA actual NBA players. A team of college players from around Wisconsin, including some standouts from UWMadison and UWMil. We started slow, even going down 6 to 4 at half after some great play by Andrew Bogut, LBJ, J Rich, and Chuck, but some tightening screws and general awesomeness allowed for a bitchin comeback, P/Bj's 10 dags 7. Second half highlights include numerous skies by T stain and Willtastic, Sam and Steve bitchin up hodag rook Steve Nash, and lisa decking sam into the boards on a layout block. J's FTW

Game 4:

Having trouble remembering anything, got really tired by this point. We played a game here, and I think we lost. Thats all I can come up with. Doug played well this game. I think this team had a fast girl that scored 95% of their goals. If only we had Jeff Afryl, we might have won. Oh yea, and Doug had a stupid layout block, that popped up into a girls hands.

Game 5: Postseason

This was our closest game, against a bunch of Madison Club players. By this time it was 5 or 6 in the morning, and everyone was ass-tired. This game was a battle the whole way, Madison was ahead the whole time, but never by more than two points. This close game was mostly atributed to AssButt being redonk, with a couple of great plays, including a sick layout bid. We got it to 8-7 as the buzzer sounded, but couldn't get the D on the last point of the game, so Madison Club etched out a 9-7 win over team J's. So we missed a chance to play for the finals, and went home to Momma Fish's homemade breakfast.

End result Tie for 3rd and lots of fun.

PS. Kevin Jumped over Dwight Howard.

You are Invited to Chicago in 1 Month

2010-02-21T17:08:00.000-08:00

[Contributed by Sam #6]

Yo Gnomes, the spring tournament season starts in exactly one month!!!!

Go to practice so we can get in shape (DOUG)!!! Also Doug needs to do dishes!!!

Shane you also missed a sweet hockey game. We watched in your room.

Steve: Doug wants to rail your hot ass; also go to Leadership 101 so you can behave similarly to a captain this season, for a change (more like this guy).

And Steph Curry looks like Elian Gonzalez.

Sam, you really need to take care of that zazu problem.

Spring '09:

The Season is right around the corner, so everyone really needs to be taking care of business and be getting in killin shape. Conditioning workouts are great, but everyone needs to be sure that they are putting in the extra work on their own.

High tide 20ten is right around the corner, that should be a hella good time. Everybody who isn't coming is a sucker.

Tournaments for this spring, so everybody has them on your calendar:

Chicago Invite, Naperville Polo Grounds, March 20-21

Huck Finn, somewhere in St. Louis, April 3-4

Central Plains Sectionals, Naperville Polo Grounds, April 17-18

And when we qualify:

Great Lakes Regional, Bloomington, IN, May 1-2

Also have the Spring Fever 5k on your calendar, April 10. Everyone who has done it in the past is very awesome.

And in other news... Some predictions for this coming season.

Steph Huizenga: Crack his kneecap, keep playing, get a layout calahan to win a game at Huck Finn. Will fail to fill RSK's giant footsteps, yet will still be our best captain. Looses his voice singing sabotage at live band karaoke in Georgia.

Doug Dob: Will not play at sectionals, hasn't actually attended a class at ISU in five semesters. Hates Al Bowman cuz he is...... whack. Will only catch 15% of the passes thrown to him.

Will Fantastic: Probably will not return from Georgia. Gonna try to shotgun a beer underwater and drowns.

Shane Crap: Leads the B/D team all season with his motto "Get your Effing heads in the G.D. game!!!!"

Dave Johnson: Gets confused at sectionals and plays most of Saturday with Illinois, not Illinois State, and can't figure out why his blue doesn't match theirs. Slaps Muffin's face with a rulebook.

Sam Pooch: Knee injury. Gets in a fight over a travel call. Makes nationals cuz he's better then everyone else.

Jeff Afryl: The only one better than Sam. Invented nationals. No one wakes him up for High Tide and he stays home and cries.

Cole Lucas: Shitbrick

Brett, KT, Tom and Venus: quit the team, because of excessive sophomoreitis. Manage to complain about it still.

Pat Lott: Breaks his other collar bone on a reckless layout (playing Madden). Comes to practice now and then to sky Trevor. Finds a duffel bag for his stuff, and still skips a tournament.

Crack: UPA implements random drug testing, fails to show up for sectionals after failing to find someone else's clean urine.

Trevor: brings beautiful life into the world, willy and steve fight over godfather status, and trevor throws a and gives it to... DOUG?!?!?!

Rob Gross: Gets asked to stop playing ultimate after injuring Loyola's entire roster.

Brian Earhart: Is a teddy bear?

Knox Recap

2010-02-09T08:57:00.000-08:00

[Contributed by Sam #6]

Great job at Knox this past weekend Gnomes!!!!

Game 1: Knox A

We came out running a vert in this game, and we never really got it going. While we took half, we never built a substantial lead, and knox had a couple of athletes that really kept them in the game. They got out and got some easy points on hucks, and easy points are the key to indoor ultimate. But in the end of the game we played solid D and kept them in check, ISU 9 Knox 7.

Game 2: Bradley

This game we kept with vert, and our offense remained a little stagnant. We gutted through the first half, and took half, but our play remained pretty sloppy. The second half was more of the same, our offense just wasn't clicking, but we played good enough defense to make up for it. ISU 10 Bradley 9

Game 3: Knox Old people

We came out this game and switched things up, running with a Ho we really got the disk moving and came into our comfort zone on offense. Our D kept up and we took half pretty easily for a change. Our progress kept up through the end of the game, and we continued to move the disc and make the right plays. ISU 11 Knox Alum 8

Game 4: Western ILL

This was our big game for the day, and we started it out with great intensity, just like we needed to. Our disc movement kept up, and we kept Western's offense on their toes with great pressure from our D, we took half with a few point lead, 7 - 3 (or 4, or some variation of scores, depending who you ask). Our play stayed consistent through the second half, largely in part to Jeff Afryl being a super hero. ISU 11 Western 8

Lesson for the day: Intensity is the key for our team. We need to get fired up for the start of games, and keep it going. When we play intense and aggressive we are a great team, but when we don't we play down to a lesser level and allow ourselves to get beat. So lets remember this going into tournaments this spring; Intensity will win us games!!!!!

Sunday

Game 1: Peoria Parrots

Our first Elimination game pitted us against the Parrots, after we got to sleep in. They played a clammy sorta zone, which gave us some trouble in the first half, as we tried to force throws against it and got in some trouble. As a result our D lost a little of its edge and we got discouraged. Parrots take half 7 - 6. Huddle at half, Mega-Captain Stuart Huizinger gets the troops fired up and ready to reek havoc with a zone. We come out of half excited and playing hot, tear up the zone and play great D. Huge turnaround after half. ISU 12 Parrots 8.

Game 2: Semis vs. Eastern ILL

The game starts with a couple of traded points, both teams lookin pretty good. ISU then makes a couple of mistakes and the intensity is gone, poor D is played, and turnovers en masse follow. Reaper takes half 7 - 2. Second half is just more of the same, ISU only improves a little. We stopped playing to our strengths and let the game get away from us. Eastern 13 ISU 7

Weekend lesson: We need to play excited and energetic if we are gonna win. This can't stop with a couple of bad points. For fear of sounding like a broken record - INTENSITY WILL WIN US GAMES!!!!!!!! Great weekend Gnomes, lookin forward to a ballin spring.

* All scores are arbitrary and mean nothing. *

Knoxxx Winter Whiteout: ULTIMATE!!!!!!!

2010-02-04T09:22:00.000-08:00

[Contributed by Sam #6]

Its Super Bowl weekend, and that can only mean one thing: Indoor Ultimate at Knox, and some early season domination for Gnomes. This year should be no different, except, knock on wood, no injuries, sorry Hollywood. We are going into it this year with the disappointment of finishing second last year, and hope to put this tournament win under our belts and get this spring off to a good start. This should be a good chance for us to start out with some good fun, and a great opportunity to get some early wins. Not to mention we have put in some great work already this winter, and this will really let us see how our legs are coming.

The schedule at Knox kind of drags by, as they only have one game running at a time, but we still get a full day on saturday with four games.

Game 1: vs. Knox A

This game should be a great chance for us to get going against a pretty decent team that we can beat. Knox has some very solid players, with very good fundamentals, but we should really be able to out run them, and get a lot of easy scores with our athleticism and legs. This should allow us to start out our season on a good note.

Game 2: vs. Bradley

This is another game we should be able to control pretty easily, not to mention I would still like to avenge a sectionals loss to Bradley from last spring. With a combination of smart play and athleticism, we should be able to handle this game too.

Game 3: vs. Knox Alum

The host's alumni are going to be like the Knox A, but with better fundamentals, albeit a little bit older and slower. To have success in this game, we have to get after the disc, and want it more. They will be able to control the game, but we have to use our legs to create opportunities, and really play up our advantages.

Game 4: vs. Western IL

This game is fittingly last, against a team that ISU has played hotly contested matches against since.... I guess the dawn of time. The epic battle of Robots and Gnomes has never failed to disappoint, with countless games coming down to nail-biting finishes. For this game it is super important that we come out intense with our game faces on, and play at a high level from the start. With such short rounds, it is important to get out to a good start in every game, but this one for sure.

With some success on Saturday, we will get to sleep in on Sunday, and get ready for some more domination through the tournament, and a repeat appearance in the finals. Who needs the Super Bowl when the Gnomes are out Bustin' Nuts.

Winter Work

2009-12-01T12:35:00.000-08:00

[Contributed by Sam #6]

The fall is over. We did some really good work this fall, taking steps towards our goals for the spring. We progressed through several tournaments, even shaking a rough start at Glory Days to throw down and crush our sunday competition. But here is the catch: Everything we have done in the Fall is now irrelevant. Now that we're heading into our Winter Break from school, its time to start thinking about spring ultimate and the College Series. The college series is our goal as a team, the time when we want to peak and perform at our best, hopefully making the step to REGIONALS this year. It is going to take us a lot of work to become a great team, and the break away from school is a great time to start putting in that work on an individual level. Ultimate is one of the most demanding sports I have ever played, combining sprinting, changing direction, jumping and laying out throughout a point, and repeated through seven or eight games for a whole weekend tournament. This intense sport requires a good deal of work to be played at that level, and the more work we put in as individuals over break will result in a higher starting point as a team when we meet up in January again. If you talk to any good team, they will tell you that the basis for their spring success is work, all winter, they work their asses off to get in shape. So lets make it our goal this winter to work more often, and harder then we have worked so far in ISU Ultimate history.

I have looked at other team's winter workout programs, and here is a a sample of the work done by many regionally, and nationally competitive teams:

Workouts of some sort up to five days a week
Snertz (hurl)
Track workouts: 12x200 repeats, 8x400 repeats, Ladders from 100 to 500, etc.
Leg circuits (like we did in practice on Monday)
Stair workouts
Team runs
Workout groups (every elite team I know of has groups that go to the gym and lift together at least 3 days a week, up to 6!)

Notice any themes? Teams work. Hard. If we wanna make the next step as a team, we need to work hard too! Wisconsin won three college national championships on the premise that their legs would win them games, not their skill. If they can win national championships by outrunning and outworking their opponents, we can certainly learn some lessons from that.

It also wouldn't be a bad idea to read up on ultimate and watch some games online while you have some time off from school. There are tons of good sites, like The Huddle, that offer tons of knowledge on ultimate. There are also videos of the resent club championships on the UPA's website.

So use this upcoming break to get your legs under you, get strong and healthy, and get ready to train us some energy legs! If you have any questions or comments, shoot them to me or Steve. Need some ideas to get your ass in shape, ask me or Steve. Whether you have access to a gym, or just stuff you can do around the house, there is a way for you to get into shape going into the winter. Lets start putting in the work now and make some noise this spring.

A few other notes, we will be getting jerseys shortly, so keep your ears open for info on such. Also it is time to decide about High Tide, so get me your money if you want to be included in our plans for this sweet trip. I need money, or at the least commitment before we go on break.

Thats about it for this post, everybody have a Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, and a great New Year. Have a great break.

Bust a nut, GnoMEN!

How to be more like Crack

2009-12-01T12:26:00.001-08:00

[Contributed by Kyle #27]

A lil something from Crack on basic Crackhood.

Hey guys this is Crack, and I’m sending this out to give you guys a starting block. As most if not all of you guys know I love to work out and love intensity, and that is critical to being competitive in any sport (Feel free to disagree…but you will short yourself).
To start out I’m getting into nutrition and supplements: Having good eating habits will make or eliminate progress, it is that simple. A lot of you younger guys live in the dorms, and have big meal plans…get your money’s worth!!! I’m not saying that every time you go in there that you need to eat like a fat kid (I do that too often), but you should go in there knowing 2 major food groups. The first is fruits/veggies. I probably sound like mom and dad, but it is so important to get them. The fruits are easy, and most of you probably get enough. The big on I’m looking at is Veggies. Most people don’t like them a lot, myself included, but having 2 salads a day is a really good start. This is where you are going to get a lot of the vitamins and minerals that you need…and that Ice berg lettuce doesn’t count. The other big reason to eat more of these is the hydration factor. Most fruits are 70-90% water. The other food group is Protein. It’s not that you should go overboard with it, but just a fact that you need to make sure you get enough. If you are doing nothing I would recommend you consume at least 75% of your weight in pounds, in grams of protein (you weigh 150lbs, you should eat 112.5g protein). That is the lower end of what you should consume. It is really easy to find protein charts online. On the high end 185% of your lbs, in grams of protein is all your Kidneys can safely handle. I usually try to get 150-200 grams a day.http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/whattoeat/a/highproteinfood.htm
Now to supplements. These are an easy and fast way to usually get nutrients and other calories for your body, but they are only for the added purpose of getting enough. If your diet is crap, then you are boosting your body to a state of good crap….thus you still have crap. So first are the diet, and then your supplements can really help. Of all the supplements on the market I recommend having some kind of protein powder (they are a lot cheaper than the premixed shakes), and some kind of multivitamin. These are the basic two I would look at. Multivit’s are good, and most of the sports multivitamins have to take 2-3 for a full serving. I LIKE THAT! B/c you can then go through and spread out the goodness. And you can decide to not take the full amount. My multi is a take 3 a day, I take one with breakfast, and one at lunch, and then they will last longer not to mention that I don’t need 300% of some things. Whey proteins are the super common, and if your lactose in tolerant, that’s fine you shouldn’t have a problem. If by some chance you do, then get an iso-whey. But if you know that you have some other major weakness (Sam and I have bad knees) Read up a little bit, I am on glucosamine, chondroitin, MSM, mix (Sam is taking something similar….I think). There are a lot of other supplements out there, and I have used a few of them, and a lot of different brands with really similar products. Feel free to ask me if you have questions. You body is your temple, have the best looking and functioning temple you can.

Glory Days 2009

2009-10-22T21:13:00.000-07:00

Dear Gnomes,
I can't be there this weekend. Make sure to bitch up some teams for me. Thanks.
-RSK

Western This Weekend

2009-10-01T12:43:00.000-07:00

[Contributed by Sam #6]

This weekend we head to our first tournament of the fall as the ISU Men's Ultimate Team. Kind of a big deal. Really. In the past, a preview might have been written for each team, talking about the teams we are gonna face, and how we might stack up against them. But I am gonna spare talks of match-ups and opponents, thats all here in the pools. And besides, at this point in the fall it is guess work to assume I would know which teams have which new good freshman, and who has graduated their star players from last year. Instead there are a few things I want to stress heading into this weekend.

First of all, this weekend, and all fall for that matter, is about playing ULTIMATE. Who cares what else happens. We will play, get experience, and have time being on a sweet-ass ultimate team. Use this weekend to learn, and get to know both the game, and your team. Go into this weekend with goals, specific things you would like to improve upon. Maybe working on your dumps, or your cuts, or work on that IO forehand huck that is so elusive. Everyone should know what you need to work on, and if you don't, ask Steve or Douglas for advice. For many of you this is your first tournament as a Gnome, and hopefully in a few years you will be playing in hundredth tournament like Steve.

Now there are two things I want everyone to do, one, right now after you finish reading this, and the second should be done this weekend on the fields.

Once you finish, read through this huddle issue. These are some elite level players talking about what Spirit of the Game means to each of them. Read through these players thoughts on spirt, and think about what it means to you.
Second, this weekend, stay involved on the sidelines. One thing that all elite teams have in common, both club and college, is active, loud, involved sidelines. Since we have no home-field advantage, our teammates on the sideline have the potential to be that game-breaking difference. It is not an exaggeration, games can be won or lost based on sideline involvement and energy level. So sidelines, GET LIVE!!!!

Now all thats left to do for this weekend is get pumped and play some sweet ultimate.

And remember... Bust a Nut GnoMEN

Water Up - A Guide To Being Awesome

2009-09-24T23:05:00.000-07:00

This is something we've all heard far too many times to take it seriously: "Make sure you drink lots of water before the tourney this weekend, guys." I've said it a lot, and I've been told it a lot over my ultimate career, and really I've only begun to take it seriously this season, but I'm now a habitual H2O drinker, and a firm believer in its power. I began trying to keep myself hydrated in late June when I started having hamstring problems. I was doing everything I could to try to be able to play again, so I started adding in an extended warm-up routine along with keeping myself hydrated. Here's a rundown of what I do to keep my body in good enough condition to contribute to my team for a full season, and more specifically for a tourney weekend.

Begin watering up Thursday night - I try to have as much water as I can Thursday night, which usually amounts to about a gallon or so.
Get some good sleep Thursday night - this is usually the toughest part of my routine, since this is usually the night when I start getting excited for the tournament.
Begin mentally preparing Friday during the day - begin going over what you're going to do to help your team succeed over the weekend in your head. Think about your strengths and weaknesses as a player, and how you'll use your strengths and hide your weaknesses on and off the field. Since I nearly always handle on team I play for, I like to go over every possible situation I could be in on offense, i.e. cutting for a dump, clearing out when my cut is shut down, how I will follow a throw to an in-cut, etc. Defensively, I think about how I can best use my athleticism and then start to get psyched about coming up with a big D at the right moment. If this doesn't get you excited for the weekend, you're in the wrong sport.
Continue watering up all day Friday - It's important not to have too much water, but for most of us the main issue is in not having enough. Here's a resource if you're worried about drinking too much.
Friday night: Bromance Time - The best thing to do on a Friday night before a tournament, in my opinion, is hangout with your teammates. It doesn't matter what you do. Play some Xbox, go to the BBC, try to build a life size replica of Rocky Balboa in your living room out of Busch Light cans, whatever. Just get some of your team together and hangout. Share with each other your excitement and concerns for the weekend. This will assure that any of your teammates that weren't already psyched for the weekend are now in the right frame of mind. Don't forget to sleep.
Saturday Morning: Get there too early - Seriously, I guarantee you won't get to the fields so early that it'll hurt your game. 1.5 hours is a decent amt of time for a good warm-up and time to go over plans for the day with your team. Being at the fields cleated up and throwing, or better yet, jogging, when your opponent gets there is a big mental edge. At this point you may as well have just scored the first goal. Only 14 more.
Sip of water after each point - this one is big. At ISU I played nearly every point for most of the 3 years I was there, and so watering up was tough. Usually I'd try to drink some between games, but even if I drank til I felt like I was going to puke it wasn't enough. When you're exercising you can only drink so much water at once. It's much more effective to just drink a little bit after each time you sub. This will go a long way especially on hot days. Same goes for food. Try to space it out during games. Half a bagel here, and a banana (gross) there rather than gorging during your bye.
Warm-up jog (at least) before every game - You'll thank me Monday, when you're not as tight as you usually are and you haven't pulled anything. You'll also thank me when you're actually prepared for the first 3 points of rounds 2-5.
MORE WATER! Saturday night, make your pee clear.
Light exercise early Monday - by early, I mean before the afternoon is over. Early morning is even better. Do something to help get your muscles moving and the soreness out. Racquetball was a favorite of mine for this, some people like to go for a jog, and I've heard that swimming is the best option.

Follow these 10 steps and you'll be handblocking Douglas Daube in no time (fact). Seriously though, these are easy ways to keep yourself performing at your peak ability and, arguably more importantly, not let down your teammates by getting injured.

p.s. Saturday night, have as many cups of water as you do beer. If you feel like you can't drink anymore water without puking, you've had enough beers.

p.p.s. I spell-checked this in word, and apparently I write at a 7th grade level. Only 1 more year to high school!

p.p.p.s. This is Ryan, not Sam

Goals Goals and Goals!!!!!

2009-09-22T21:04:00.000-07:00

[Contributed by Sam #6]

ITS FALL NOW!!! Which means its time to start heading to tournaments and really get into ultimate. This means its time to start thinking about your goals for the upcoming season of ultimate, and the spring. As a team, we have had a goal for the last couple of seasons: Make Regionals. As we start our season, its also time for each of us to make our individual goals as well. For some of us that goal might be as simple as come to practice and improve at every practice, and some people might not even aspire that, but just want to play ultimate.

Now the question comes up, do any of your goals include making regionals this spring, or helping to build this team into a highly competitive team? If you are in this boat, and many of us claim to be, lets ask if your goals line up? Are your goals and actions this fall gonna help us make regionals? Now this brings up actions; they are entirely different than goals. Until you put action behind goals, they are just words, and words are not going to help us make regionals, or we would have by now. The work to make regionals needs to start this fall. If we wait until February or March to start buckling down and really putting forth an effort, it will be too late. The work to make our team into a competitive regional team needs to start in the fall.

So this is where I make my own suggestions to what you can do to improve and prevent another gnomes free regionals this year:

"Optional Workouts" with your teammates. Results from those who have done these have been noticeable already, with only two or three workouts worth. So try and make Saturday afternoon workouts, and encourage people to come with you.
Lift. Its simple. Its easy. Go to the dorms or the Rec. Lifting will help in so many ways. It'll help you get more power in your throws. Help get your body through tough weekends of tournaments and prevent injuries. Plus it'll help you get the ladies and look more like this guy.
Throw a disc EVERYDAY.
Learn the game in any way you can. Watch it on Youtube or Ultivillage, Read about it on blogs and websites, talk about it with your friends, ask questions (there are a bunch of very knowledgeable ultimate players on the team), and play play play as much as you can.
Cuddle with Douglas. You'll be better at ultimate and life for it.
And remember, come party time, don't be like the girl on the right, actually shotgun your beers.
Also, get psyched for a beer mile. Where real winners are separated from the rest.

Now with these thoughts, go out and get better at ultimate and lets make regionals come series time. Get some work done, get some knowledge, and never, and I mean NEVER, forget.

GnoMEN go Bust a Nut!!!!

ISU Women's Ultimate Blog

2009-07-05T18:02:00.000-07:00

If you like the Lion-Shark blog, boy are you gonna love the Kryptonite blog. Emily started one for the women's team. Check it out here: http://straightuponthatkryptonite.blogspot.com/ Only one post so far, but stay tuned for more.

In other news I'll be handing the blog over to a current member of the ISU men's ultimate team soon, so unless you hear otherwise, you'll still be able to get all your Gnomes-related satirical and serious ultimate talk here for years to come!

MVPs 09

2009-05-03T19:57:00.000-07:00

Great year everybody. Here are the winners of this year's awards as announced at the team BBQ this afternoon for all 3 teams:

Most Spirited - RSK, Serena, Colleen
Offensive MVP - Cracker Barrel, Bernacki, Brooklyn
Defensive MVP - Stefense <-- get it?!?!, Amy K
Rookie of the Year - Afryl, Sam Dimmig
Most Improved - McMuffin
Winner of 'the game' - Corey

Sectionals Results

2009-04-19T22:20:00.000-07:00

ISU - 15th
ISU D - 3rd at Div II Sectionals
ISU Women - 9th, 1 spot away from regionals!

Good job from everyone this weekend, write-ups to come soon...

The Series Preview

2009-04-16T23:52:00.001-07:00

This year has been interesting to say the least. From the best rookie turnout we've ever seen to the best rookie retention rate we've ever seen to losing 2 of our top players to injury and another to ineligibility, it's been a rocky road to the series with lots of ups and downs. From the high of rolling the competition at Knox to the lows of losing our legs in the championship game, and seeing our teammates go down in games, it's also been probably the most emotionally taxing season of ultimate I've ever played. Although I'm sure you all know this already, I'll say it anyway--there's nothing I'd rather do this weekend than play at sectionals with the Gnomes. I'll leave it at that. Now I'll give a little preview of the weekend. Hopefully it won't be my last.

The format for this weekend is very forgiving, in my opinion. Here's the breakdown:

7 bids to regionals
2 paths to 7th or better place
1st: take 1st or 2nd in your pool, win 1st or 2nd game on Sunday, or your last 2
2nd: take 3rd or 4th in your pool, win out Sunday

Pool Play

Round 1: Gnomes vs Notre Dame
Notre Dame is the top seed in our section, and they deserve it. They have an outstanding regular season highlighted by wins against Colorado, Iowa, and Illinois - 3 teams with a pretty good shot at Natties. We'll fight for this game like we always do, but it would be a huge upset if we pulled it off. Enough about that.

Round 2: Gnomes vs Bradley
Play our game, run our systems correctly, and this game should be easily won. We haven't played Bradley yet this year, but our D team has beaten them twice (once mixed at Knox).

Round 3: Gnomes vs Western Illinois
If you weren't there for last year, you've heard about it. I won't go into detail. This game should be hard fought and, due to some of the struggles we've had this year, winnable for either team. The key here will be shutting down their 4 main players - Doc, Garrett, Hastings, and Greg Jr. and making sure we don't give them easy goals via turnovers near the goal line, lazy defense downfield. Expect to run hard downfield. Their cutters will be fighting for every disc. This game will be important in our road to 2nd in the pool.

Keys of the game for Western: Shut down our main players - Steve, Crack, Shane, Cole, Trevor, Tom, ROOKIE, Peteo, Goober, Wildo, Samsicle, Greg, Pat, JGraham, Teleport, Corey, and Afryl

Round 4: Gnomes vs Wheaton
We haven't played Wheaton once since I've been at ISU. I don't know what to expect. Wheaton is traditionally a good team and regularly qualifies for regionals although I don't know if they've ever made it past that. This game could be the difference between 2nd and 3rd in our pool.

Round 5: Gnomes vs Southern Illinois
Frenchy's out, Ktan's out, Mojo's out, Flounder's out...I feel for these guys and if we weren't playing in this tournament and I wasn't injured I'd love to give them an extra pair of legs for the weekend. God knows they probably wouldn't need it anyway though because they always seem to find a way to win games even if they're playing savage. This should be a fun game and even if we lose it we can still remind them of that one time they got naked lapped at 214 W. Willow.

Remember that with such parity after the 1st seed point differential could make a difference in placement after pool play. We'll have to finish hard. Luckily games are to 11 so we shouldn't have too much opportunity to slack off. Best of luck to everyone playing this weekend and I wish everyone a safe weekend. p.s. I've never been to Detroit...

Huck Finn Preview - courtesy of Peteo

2009-04-02T12:14:00.000-07:00

Peteo decided to be awesome last night and wrote up a preview for Huck Finn. Enjoy.

This weekend we will be playing against teams that are a step up from the teams we played at Chicago Invite. This should be a good opportunity to take what we learned from all those close games and see how good we can be. All the teams we play are beatable if we play our best , and they will help us prepare for the competition we'll see at sectionals.

SATURDAY SCHEDULE:

Round 1 - Missouri S&T

Round 2 - St. Louis

Round 3 - Kansas B

Round 4 - Truman State

SUNDAY SCHEDULE:

Round 1 - Missouri State

Round 2 - Missouri

SATURDAY

Round 1 - Missouri S&T: Miner Threat seems to be winning a lot lately, and Naji is probably getting a little cocky. I don't think I've ever actually been able to play them, but they seem to be a decent team with good spirit. They have only played a couple teams I've seen before (lost 7-13 to North Park and won 13-9 to DePaul). I think we could get comparable scores against those teams, so hopefully we can come out strong and start the weekend 1-0. Hopefully without a naked point...

Round 2 - St. Louis: I'm pretty sure this is SLUT, who we played at Glory Days. I think we won with our X team, or at least had a close game (and if I remember correctly, they were nice). Some of their recent games include beating Notre Dame B 13-2 and losing to Illinois B 6-15. If we keep our heads in the game and don't let up we should have a good chance of winning this game.

Round 3 - Kansas B: I haven't played these guys, but I saw them a little bit at Mardi Gras. Even though they are a B team we can't look past them. Kansas is a good program and there should be some decent talent and athleticism on this team. They lost to Illinois B too, 9-13 (by the way, Illinois B is a team we can beat if we play well). It would be great to start off the weekend and get some confidence by going 2-1 or 3-0, so we can bring our positive attitudes into the tougher games. yeah. be positive! the ladies love it.

Round 4 - Truman State: We played JujiTSU as an X team at Western for our first game. They were able to get a lot of deep throws on us, so we have to watch out for that. I also lost against them at Mardi Gras. These guys are pretty good, and I heard they went to regionals last year. That might just be made up though. Either way, they are pretty cool guys and at least one of them likes Gnomes. They were pretty excited when I walked by in my shorts. Anyway, they have pretty good flow and we need to disrupt that. I think they also poached a little bit and did a good job of clogging the cutting lanes, but that might have just been because we were playing on a small field. They probably aren't looking at us as their biggest threat, so let's use that as an advantage and surprise them by coming out strong and winning. and scoring more points than them.

Round 5 - BYE: I'm not sure if we're going to celebrate the bye by leaving early to shower/eat or by watching the Dnomes or by watching a "showcase" game. All of those sound fun to me!

SUNDAY

Round 1 - Missouri State: I don't know much about these guys, but they beat Northern Iowa (the team we played first on Sunday at Chicago Invite) 13-6. They did lose to Maharishi twice, which I think is that one team we lost to last year at Huck Finn. Anyway, they seem like a pretty good team. I don't think they're out of our league though, so let's come out swinging Sunday morning. Just don't hit anybody.

Round 2 - Missouri: There sure are a lot of teams from Missouri and St. Louis going to Huck Finn! UPA says their team name is the MUtants. Scary. Let's see here...they beat Vanderbilt 13-9 (I played them at Mardi Gras, we could probably beat them), lost to the Grinnellephants 11-12...beat to Indiana. Yeah, I don't know anything about this team. I would guess they are not the best team we play all weekend but not the worst either. Maybe somewhere in the middle, or towards one of the extremes. I strongly believe that we could win or lose this game. Let's try to win though.

Round 3 and beyond: I'm still a little confused about this format so I have no idea what kind of teams we'll play after this, but hopefully we'll get lucky and play one of the top 25 teams .

Take luck!

ISU D Huck Finn Preview

2009-04-01T13:29:00.000-07:00

Doug wrote a preview for Huck Finn in order to make up for missing the Chicago Invite. I won't be writing one for the 1st team because I'm too busy with schoolwork. My apologies, and now Doug and I are even. Enjoy.

So Cu1timate is trying out this new format for Huck Finn. I’m not going to comment on that because you can do that somewhere else. All I know is that the Dnomes have a very good chance at having a good record for the weekend. In the long run, it more about developing this team rather than winning, but doing both is pretty awesome. The schedule for the weekend looks like this:

Sat Rd 1 (9:00) - BYE
Rd 2 (11:00) - Wisconsin-B
Rd 3 (1:00) - Marquette
Rd 4 (3:00) - Notre Dame-B
Rd 5 (5:00) - St. Louis-B
Sun Rd 1 (8:30) - BYE
Rd 2 (10:30) - SLUH
Rd 3 (12:30) - Wash U-B

Rd 1 vs Steven Naji: I like that both days we start with a bye because I absolutely love to sleep in. Plus I’m working Friday night so I’m getting into St. Louis late so I’m not going to be getting much sleep, especially if Venus hogs all the covers again. We’ll be watching the A team take on Missouri S & T which should be a good game.

Rd 2 vs Wisconsin-B: Wisconsin has a very good program. They’ve won nationals the last two years so I pretty sure they know what they are doing. I expect for them to have a good solid B team. Wisconsin will have only played one game so they shouldn’t be too tired but I think that we will be able to beat them with hustle. We started to get very good flow at the Chicago Invite. If we can keep that going we should do well.

Rd 3 vs Marquette: I don’t know much about them. I’ve been told they are a solid program and I expect this to be the hardest game we play this weekend. As long as we play our game, we should do fine. It’s only our second game so we should still have somewhat fresh legs, and I know all about being Fresh.

Rd 4 vs Notre Dame-B: We played this team last year at Sectionals. I pretty sure we won decisively. They’ve had some time to grow and are coming from a great program so they should be better this year around. If memory serves me right, we have them on looks. This game is within our reach. If we have the desire (which I know we do) we should be able to win this game.

Rd 5 vs St. Louis-B: I’m worried about this game for one reason, we run a good cup. Why would this worry me? It sounds like a good thing right? It is, but it is also our last game. At the Chicago Invite, we ran cup almost every game the second day and got really tired. If we can keep the intensity up and keep fresh legs in, then we have a chance at winning this. It will be close no matter what.

Sun Rd 1 vs Yo Mamma: We again have a bye first thing in the morning. This will be good for the rest of the day and for cheering on the Gnomes!

Rd 2 vs SLUH: I’ll be honest for a change; I don’t know what this stands for. I think it might be St. Louis University Honors, but it could also be Spitting Loogies Under Horses. I don’t know. So I don’t have much to say on this game.

Rd 3 vs Wash U-B: This will be our last game before the BCS bowl game that we play (I don’t really know how the format works. It reminds me of college football. I just hope we don’t get the Meineke Car Care Bowl). It will be a hard fought game as we play tired. If we can stay mentally tough, we should come out on top.

I expect the team to make big improvements this tournament. It’s our second tournament as team so we should start to flow better and know where to be at the right time. As long as we give it a 100% I’m going to be happy. Remember, when you have the disc you are the quarterback of the team.

Huck Finn Schedule

2009-03-31T20:39:00.000-07:00

Below is the email I received from Cultimate about our schedule for this weekend in it's entirety.

Huck Finn is the latest addition to Cu1timate's list of premier college ultimate tournaments. Top-ranked Florida will look to continue its winning ways, but bitter rivals Wisconsin and Georgia will stand in the way. Colorado has climbed back up the rankings after its win at Centex, and Notre Dame has had great success but will see a step up in competition.

While there are many different outlets for rankings (NUMP, RRI, UPA), Cu1timate hosts top teams at several different tournaments, giving the opportunity for more informed internal rankings. Heading into the weekend, Cu1timate’s rankings are as follows, including Record, Key Wins and Losses, and Notable Finals Appearances in 2009.

#1 Florida 22-2 (AC) Champion - Trouble In Vegas, The Stanford Invite

Key Wins : Carleton, Colorado, Oregon, Cal, Wisconsin, Stanford, UCSB, Iowa, Arizona, Michigan, Texas, Brown, Duke

Losses : Georgia, Carleton

#2 Carleton 21-4 (CN) Finalist – The Stanford Invite

Key Wins : Florida, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, Cal, Wisconsin, Stanford, Pittsburgh, Michigan, Texas, Arizona, Western Washington, British Columbia, Georgia

Losses : Colorado, Florida, Harvard, NC State

#3 Colorado 18-6 (SW) Champion - Centex, Finalist – Trouble In Vegas

Key Wins : Carleton, Washington, Cal, Harvard, Wisconsin, Stanford, Western Washington, Michigan, Texas, Brown, Cornell

Losses : Carleton, Oregon, Florida, Cal, Washington, UCSB

#4 Washington 17-6 (NW) Finalist - Centex

Key Wins : Oregon, Colorado, Wisconsin, UCSD, Stanford, Iowa, Arizona, Duke

Losses : Harvard, UCSB, Carleton, Wisconsin, Michigan, Colorado

#5 Oregon 21-4 (NW)

Key Wins : Colorado, Harvard, Virginia, Cal, UCSD, Wisconsin, Stanford, Pittsburgh, Arizona, Texas, Michigan, Georgia, NC State

Losses : Florida, Washington, Carleton, Western Washington

#6 Wisconsin 20-8 (CN) Champion - Mardi Gras

Key Wins : Washington, Arizona, Western Washington, Texas, Michigan, Brown, Duke

Losses : Virginia, Florida, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, UCSB, Tennessee, Carleton

#7 Notre Dame 24-2 (GL) Champion – Whitesmoke, Tally Classic, Finalist - Queen City Tune-Up

Key Wins : Ohio State, UNC-Wilmington

Losses : Georgia, UNC-Wilmington

#8 Cal 21-8 (NW) Champion – Santa Barbara Invite, Prez Day

Key Wins : Colorado, UCSD, Stanford (2), Arizona, Iowa, Georgia

Losses : UCSB, Florida, Stanford, UCLA, Harvard, Oregon, Michigan, Carleton

#9 Pittsburgh 12-5 (ME)

Key Wins : Stanford, Harvard, UCSB

Losses : Kansas, Oregon, Carleton, Duke, Tufts

#10 Stanford 18-13 (NW)

Key Wins : Cal, UCSB, Texas, Georgia, Brown, NC State

Losses : Cal (2), Williams, Iowa, Carleton, Florida, Harvard, Pittsburgh, Virginia, British Columbia, Oregon, Washington, Colorado

#11 Harvard 11-7 (NE)

Key Wins : Carleton, Washington, Cal, Stanford, UCSD, Iowa, Arizona

Losses : Oregon, UCSB, Virginia, Colorado, Minnesota, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

#12 Virginia 22-7 (AC) Champion - ACC Championships, Finalist - Easterns, Southerns

Key Wins : Harvard, Wisconsin, Stanford, NC State, UNC

Losses : NC State, Virginia Tech, Duke, Oregon, Western Washington, Kenyon, Cornell

#13 UC-Santa Barbara 15-9 (SW)

Key Wins : Washington, Cal, Colorado, Harvard, Wisconsin, UCSD, Arizona, British Columbia

Losses : UC-Davis, Stanford, Kansas, Western Washington, Florida, Pittsburgh, Stanford, Michigan

#14 Western Washington 16-7 (NW)

Key Wins : Oregon, Virginia, UCSB, Texas, British Columbia, Iowa, NC State

Losses : Harvard, Carleton, Colorado, Wisconsin, UCSD, Arizona, Illinois

#15 Michigan 18-9 (GL) Finalist - Mardi Gras

Key Wins : Washington, Cal, UCSB, British Columbia, Texas, NC State

Losses : Ohio State, UNC, North Texas, Wisconsin, Colorado, UC-Davis, Florida, Oregon, Carleton

#16 Cornell 19-3 (ME) Champion - Southerns

Key Wins : Virginia, Brown

Losses : Middlebury, Colorado, Arizona

#17 UC-San Diego 20-8 (SW) Finalist - Prez Day

Key Wins : Arizona, Western Washington, British Columbia, Iowa, UNC

Losses : Las Positas, UCSB, Cal, Washington, Oregon, Harvard, Minnesota, Kansas

#18 Texas 9-10 (SO)

Key Wins : British Columbia

Losses : Illinois, Arkansas, Florida, Oregon, Western Washington, Carleton, Colorado, Michigan, Stanford

#19 British Columbia 8-7 (NW)

Key Wins : Stanford, Iowa, Arizona

Losses : UCSB, Carleton, Western Washington, Texas, Michigan, UCSD, LPC

#20 Middlebury 21-4 (ME) Champion - Southerns

Key Wins : Cornell, Virginia, Duke, Dartmouth

Notable Mention ::

Georgia 22-11 Champion - Queen City Tune-Up, Finalist - Warm Up: A Florida Affair

NC State 14-10 Finalist – ACC Championships

Luther 20-3 Champion - Frostbite

Ohio State 15-6 Champion - Hellfish Bonanza

Note: Italics – Not In Attendance

All schedules were made to give the opportunity for teams to not only play, but also get a chance to spectate at some of the many exciting match-ups. Below is the schedule for the Showcase Fields. Long-time rivalries renewed. Top Callahan contenders squaring off. Big Ten rivalries played out on the Frisbee field. Huck Finn will play a pivotal role in the course of the season, separating the contenders from the pretenders, and provide one of the few opportunities to be both a player and a fan.

Showcase Games ::

Saturday

Rd 1 (9:00am)

#3 Colorado vs. #7 Notre Dame

Big Ten #6 Wisconsin vs. Iowa

Rd 2 (11:00am)

#1 Florida vs. #3 Colorado

Big Ten #6 Wisconsin vs. Illinois, Michigan State vs. Northwestern

Rd 3 (1:00pm)

#6 Wisconsin vs. Georgia

Big Ten #15 Michigan vs. Purdue, Illinois vs. Iowa

Rd 4 (3:00pm)

#3 Colorado vs. Georgia

Big Ten #15 Michigan vs. Illinois, Iowa vs. Northwestern

Rd 5 (5:00pm)

#1 Florida vs. #6 Wisconsin

#7 Notre Dame vs. #15 Michigan

Big Ten Indiana vs. Northwestern, Michigan State vs. Purdue

Sunday

Rd 1 (8:30am)

Big Ten #15 Michigan vs. Iowa, Michigan State vs. Indiana

Rd 2 (10:30am)

Big Ten Northwestern vs. Purdue

Rd 3 (12:30pm)

#1 Florida vs. Georgia

Big Ten #6 Wisconsin vs. #15 Michigan, Illinois vs. Indiana

Rd 4 (2:30pm) Placement Games

Rd 5 (3pm) Huck Finn Championship Game

The Format ::

The format for Huck Finn is designed to give the highest quality games of parity across the entire weekend. Each team is scheduled for six games over Saturday and Sunday’s first three rounds. Based on Overall record in those scheduled games, teams will advance to a seventh game (including The Championship Game, played in Sunday's 5th Round, 3:00pm). The seventh and final game (played in Sunday's 4th Round, 2:30pm) will pit teams of equal success from the weekend, for final placement at the tournament.

Tiebreakers are decided as follows:

1) Head-To-Head

2) Record Against Teams with Same Record (ie, if five teams are tied with one loss, the team with the best record against those five teams will advance to the Huck Finn Championship Game)

3) Overall Point Differential (In All Games Played)

While most teams are used to playing through Pool Play and into Bracket Play, this format heightens the meaning of every game. With appropriate spacing of these games throughout the weekend, teams have the opportunity to play at their peak performance. With many teams in the field positioning itself for a run at the UPA College Championships in Columbus, all of the games will be important for seeding in the Series.

The Championship Game is expected to produce a match-up of two undefeated teams. If more or fewer than two teams are undefeated at the end of the tournament, the tiebreaking procedures will be used to determine the two teams that advance. Beyond the Centex Championship Game, rematches will be avoided where possible.

Huck Finn Championship Game :: #1 vs. #2 :: Rd 5 :: 3:00pm

ILLINOIS STATE’S SCHEDULE IS AS FOLLOWS ::

Sat Rd 1 (9:00) - Missouri S&T

Rd 2 (11:00) - St. Louis

Rd 3 (1:00) - Kansas-B

Rd 4 (3:00) - Truman State

Rd 5 (5:00) - BYE

Sun Rd 1 (8:30) - Missouri State

Rd 2 (10:30) - Missouri

Rd 3 (12:30) - BYE

ILLINOIS STATE-D’S SCHEDULE IS AS FOLLOWS ::

Sat Rd 1 (9:00) - BYE

Rd 2 (11:00) - Wisconsin-B

Rd 3 (1:00) - Marquette

Rd 4 (3:00) - Notre Dame-B

Rd 5 (5:00) - St. Louis-B

Sun Rd 1 (8:30) - BYE

Rd 2 (10:30) - SLUH

Rd 3 (12:30) - Wash U-B

Original Group Placement ::

Groupings are not Pools, as obviously not all teams within a Group play during the course of the schedule. Groups are used to for determining the seventh and final game of the tournament. As mentioned at the outset, schedules were designed to give the highest quality games of parity over the course of the weekend.

Group 1 Florida, Colorado, Georgia, Washington University, Indiana, Michigan State, Northwestern, Missouri, Missouri State, Marquette, Illinois Chicago, Kalamazoo, Southern Illinois, Western Illinois, Washington University-B, Illinois Chicago-B, Iowa-B, Northwestern-B, Notre Dame-B, SLUH

Group 2 Wisconsin, Notre Dame, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, Purdue, Kansas, Truman State, Missouri S&T, Illinois St, DePaul, Western Michigan, Loyola Chicago, St. Louis, St. Louis-B, Illinois State-D, Kansas-B, Illinois-B, Wisconsin-B, Desmet Jesuit

The Seventh and final games for those not advancing to the Centex Championship Game cross as follows ::

Rd 4 (2:30pm)

Group 1 2nd vs. Group 2 2nd (NOTE : One of these teams may advance to the Huck Finn Championship Game, and would be replaced in this game by the first team from the other Group)

Group 1 3rd vs. Group 2 3rd

Group 1 4th vs. Group 2 4th

Group 1 5th vs. Group 2 5th

Group 1 6th vs. Group 2 6th

Group 1 7th vs. Group 2 7th

Group 1 8th vs. Group 2 8th

Group 1 9th vs. Group 2 9th

Group 1 10th vs. Group 2 10th

Group 1 11th vs. Group 2 11th

Group 1 12th vs. Group 2 12th

Group 1 13th vs. Group 2 13th

Group 1 14th vs. Group 2 14th

Group 1 15th vs. Group 2 15th

Group 1 16th vs. Group 2 16th

Group 1 17th vs. Group 2 17th

Group 1 18th vs. Group 2 18th

Group 1 19th vs. Group 2 19th

Group 1 20th vs. Group 2 20th

We look forward to seeing you at Huck Finn.

Cu1timate Team

Guest recap - EIU Tourney by T-Dig

2009-03-30T11:44:00.000-07:00

ISU didn't send a team to EIU's first tournament this past weekend, but there were lots of us there playing on various pick-up teams. Trevor Scheibe wrote a recap of the weekend for us. Enjoy.

This past weekend a few of us Gnomes went to EIU to play a little ultimate (quite a little). I could post a full roster of who went, but for simalr results throw darts at a board full of rookies. Anywho, after waking up way too early for a Saturday, we arrived in a rainy Charleston around 9. And here goes the day from my perspective....

Game 1: EIU X/Y
I missed the first point of this game while on a 15 minute search for a potty that wasn't portable, but we came out pretty sluggish to a split Reaper squad. After being up 2-1, we let Reaper start coming down with every floaty disc put up. We got outhustled and outplayed to see the half slip away at 4-7. Crack and Colleen did their best to fire up the team (I'll admit to being a poor captain the first game) at half. It was upsetting to be down to a split team without James and Sasquatch (insert joke or Jack Link's commercial here), but this proves that EIU is on their way up in the ultimate community. We came out into the second half more aggressive, but time was not on our side. Final score was somewhere around 6-10 if I'm not mistaken.

Game 2: WUT?
After some gratuitious cuddling on the sidelines, ISU was ready for the second game vs. Wartburg. This team wasn't quite what we thought them to be (I later found out that they were in their first year), but they had a lot of heart. With the rain and wind picking up, play got a little sloppy. Dropped discs on both sides were a plague, and I know backwards hat guy was pissed about his slippery forehands. Still, after a half full of swilly throws and nice bids, ISU took half at 7-3. I expressed my concern about our lack of flow on the field and urged us to make better decisions with the disc. My fellow Gnomies listened and we were able to move the disc more effectively in the second half. With some excessive poaching on behalf of Crack and a successful double tabletopping of Liz and Sam on the sidelines, ISU took the game at 11-5 (or something like that). This team was fun and friendly and I hope to see them again. Side Note: My "What What in the butt?" (insert link here) count was probably somewhere near one hundred by the end of the game.

Game 3: Browning Superstars
After dismissing Cole from the fields for attrocious spirit (he wouldn't hug me), the light rain that had been falling all day got even heavier as the wind picked up some more. The Browning Superstars are your typical old balls team with many familiar faces and some new ones (traitors like Baby Herr and Jill), so we knew they would be well rounded and probably the best team we would see. After a shotgun start and Charles drinking his 2 half finished Mad Dogs, the rain proved to be a little too much for us. The old balls cup forced turns left and right and they continued to score off the turns. Half found us down 0-7. I could not let this stand. After coming to a decision to forfeit the last game with everyone's health in mind, I stressed the importance of making the last few points of the day the most important. Again, the team listened. We came out with amazing ferocity and hustle (not to mention a savage line) for the last half, and while the score may not show it, I think this was our best ultimate of the day. Letting Favre, Table and Crack handle, we were able to get the disc moving upfield for our first score of the game after an 8 ft. slide by Crack. Although we lost 1-13, I was pleased at the determination the young Gnomies showed.

Weekend notes:
-After seeing Liz and Sam cut and Colleen and Michelle handle, I'm excited about the future of the Lady Gnomes.
-It was nice having Doc around again, he provided some sneaky big plays on the rail.
-Great efforts all around for the guys, lots of bids and hard cuts all day.
-Charles can't sandwich a disc, we'll just have to accept it.
-Don't punch brick walls, you could break your hand.
-Colleen claims to have won the party, I have heard no proof.
-If you haven't seen Crack in his tighty whities, pray you keep it that way.

A break from posting

2009-03-23T17:18:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry to say that I'll be taking a break from posting to the blog for a few weeks. I recently (Saturday) broke my elbow on a layout D at Chicago invite. It is now in a splint and a sling which makes typing rather difficult. I welcome and encourage any of the ISU players who are interested to write a review of what happened this past weekend, but I don't have the time it would take me to type out a review with one hand. Sorry, and hopefully you'll hear from me in a few weeks.

Chicago Invite Preview - ISU Women

2009-03-19T12:06:00.000-07:00

I asked Emily to write up a preview for the Lady Gnomes for this weekend. Here it is, enjoy.
[Women's Score Reporter Link]

Every season seems to be a rebuilding season for the Lady Gnomes, fortunately, going into Chicago Invite we have more returning players than ever before. We have been ranked 7th overall in the women's division and are competing in a power pool with Illinois (1), Loyola (4), North Park (6), and Wisconsin B (10).

Game 1: Illinois
This will undoubtedly be our toughest game of the day. Illinois is a very solid team with experienced handlers and quick cutters. They continually rank in the UPA top 50. This is not something we should be intimidated by. All we need to do is beat them at their own game. Smart throws are going to be key in this game because Illinois knows how to capitalize on mistakes...if they don't their coach will take them out back and shoot them. Everyone should be looking forward to this game because it's rare that we get to compete against their level of play and there's a lot we can take away from this experience.

Game 2: Loyola
We have played Loyola twice as long as I've been on the team and both outcomes were very similar. The match was a close one which resulted in Loyola winning. I don't know why, but it seems that we are constantly telling ourselves that we've lost before the game has even begun. Heads up Gnomes! We can ABSOLUTELY beat this team! I believe our handlers are stronger and if we can force a lot of turnovers we could run away with a victory. Defense, defense, DEFENSE! Also, we like Loyola and this is bound to be a fun game!

Game 3: Wisconsin B
Don't be fooled by the "B". Wisconsin is one of the best teams in the nation, meaning that they're B team (atropha) is one of the best B teams in the nation. They are bound to have fairly experienced handlers, as well as a lot of newer players. We're going to have to go into this game with confidence if we want to come out on top.

Game 4: NORTH PARK

In the past couple years North Park has developed into a solid program. Every year our matches with them are very close (not counting last semester's game at Western...grr). If there are two words that can describe North park's offense they would be...red head. This chick is very fast and plays a very smart give and go game. Speedy players get ready to mark her. If we can shut her down their game will take on a completely different dynamic. I also want to try throwing a cup on them because they always seem to freak out when we do that. GET EXCITED!

Saturday's schdule will definitely be tough, but if we come to the fields with confidence, get a good warmup in and listen to "Bounce That" over and over on the way there...we could definitely make a good showing.

Chicago Invite Preview - ISU Open

2009-03-18T13:21:00.000-07:00

I've been holding off on a CI preview because the seeds were changing daily, but I think they're pretty much finalized now and if they change any more, I probably won't write another post. Currently ISU is seeded 2nd in pool G which and due to the outrageous number of teams attending this tournament, we'll need to secure either 1st or 2nd in our pool Saturday in order to advance to the Championship bracket Sunday morning. Our pool is, in order of seed:

-Western Michigan
-Illinois State
-Toledo
-Michigan B
-Rose Hulman
-Niles North (Team ILL)

I'll give a quick preview of how I think each of our pool play games should go first.

Game 1 vs Toledo: I don't know much of anything about this team except their seed at Chicago Invite. Because of this I'm glad that we get to play them first with fresh legs underneath us since that is our team's biggest strength - the ability to outrun our opponents. Be ready for a fight, but I'm sure that if we keep our intensity up and play our game we should escape the first round unharmed.

Game 2 vs Michigan-B: Again, we should never look past our opponents, especially teams from schools with a reputation for ultimate excellence like Michigan. Expect to see some rookies probably with a lot of speed and heart mixed with a few experienced players with solid throws and field sense. If we come out hard and playing our game, this game should be won without too much trouble

Game 3 vs Niles North: Niles North (Team ILL) is a high school team that our Y team played at Glory Days last fall. They were a cool group of guys from what I heard, but shouldn't be too much for us to handle. Kudos to them for playing in college tournaments as a high school team. I'm sure they've all got great ultimate careers ahead of them.

Game 4 vs Rose-Hulman: We played RHIT last year at Sectionals after our loss to Loyola. We were all a bit dejected after being knocked out of the 10th place bracket by a team named after a duck cartoon, but we found the drive to step up and play well in the second half and I believe that the score was somewhere around 13-9. Last year they were a decent team led by a core of 2-3 solid handlers with good field vision. Expect to see a similar team this weekend. Their downfield cutters weren't particularly strong so if the D line can shut down the handler motion, this game should go our way as well. RHIT was a also a very cool group of guys, and I wish them the best of luck this weekend before 2pm and after 4pm.

Game 5 vs Western Michigan: Assuming Western Michigan is able to hold their seed until the last game of the day, this very well could be the game to decide the winner of the pool. Again I don't know much about Western Michigan but I'm sure Luke gave them a top seed for a reason. Hopefully Shane and Josh's workouts this winter have done their job and we'll still have our legs beneath us in this game. I'm sure we will. The biggest challenge here will be keeping our heads and trusting each other in what will most likely be our biggest game of the semester, and our first big game as a team. If we do that all day Saturday, this pool is ours.

With those out of the way I'd like to point out the importance of taking pool G Saturday. 1st or 2nd gets us into the championship bracket, but 2nd almost definitely pits us against North Park in the 1st game Sunday. While this is a winnable game, it will be hard fought and given that we'll have 4 rounds to play on Sunday to get the cup, any way possible to make our road a little easier should be welcomed. If we take our pool Saturday we'll get to play the 2nd place finisher in Pool B, which looks like it could probably be EMU, Lewis, or Gustavus. I think they're all around the same level, but NP is definitely a step above all of the Pool B teams and should take the B pool fairly easily. After the 1st round of bracket play Sunday, the games should all be of similar difficulty, so remember to bring your 5 hours and icy hot. Good luck to all the teams going this weekend, it should be a great time.

High Tide Recap

2009-03-18T12:50:00.000-07:00

The last car of Gnomes rolled into Normal, IL around 11pm on Saturday, tired from a long week of ultimate, laying out on the beach and partying with 40 other ultimate teams. Overall the week was a smashing success. The only things that really went wrong almost all involved sunburns.

The Gnomes tied for 3rd in the mixed division, but it wasn't really about the games we won/lost. I believe that I speak for most of us when I say that I'd be just as happy with last place as long as we still had fun. It would take me hours to write up everything that happened this weekend, so here's a bulleted list of the highlights as I saw them. Feel free to add your memories in the comments section:

-The Toy Box finds a giant 'Big John' statue in Metropolis, IL. Minutes later they stumble upon a slightly smaller 'Giant Superman Statue'
-Toy Box discovers that Nashville is roughly 8924592659 times hotter than Hotlanta. Cowboy hat!
-Chris has a magic trash can
-The Gnomes enjoy the Georgia Sea Turtle museum, consider adopting a team turtle
-Amy finds a sand dollar!
-Euchre is resurrected with the new Gnomes. Did Goober ever learn how to play?
-Padula makes friends with Marquette!
-The power goes out on our block, and a midnight beach party commences.
-About 30 seconds before the power goes out Trevor, Willy and Ryan attempt to "shotgun a beer from beers" with the help of an unknown ultimate player who helps us keep our balance during the blackout
-Pete keeps it positive! (and the ladies go wild)

-Eric takes us out to a nice seafood dinner and NEVER CALLS US AGAIN!
-Balloon tips, buzz tips, strippy buzz tips in the middle
-We all met Brenton Hard, the guy who laid out for a disc in the endzone at Hucktoberfest '07, broke his arm, and held onto the disc. We gave him a Gnomes disc at that tournament, and it only took him about a half hour to realize that he was playing flippy cup in our house.
-Smashica sneaks out for a few hours. "Who am I? I'm drinking natty light!"
-Afryl Lavigne shows up to hangout on the beach with us
-The male Gnomes realize that growing mustaches is harder than it looks
-Emily turns 21, multiple Gnomes rock the live band heavy metal karoake at some bar on some other island. Emily orders a drink with eye medicine in it
-The clown nose makes its rounds

I'm sure I missed a lot, but that's what happens when you drink rum. Chicago Invite preview coming soon. Later taters.

High Tide (kind of a preview)

2009-03-05T00:43:00.000-08:00

The Gnomes (or at least some of them) are leaving this weekend for a spring break tournament in Jekyll Island, GA. I'd write a long, detailed tourney preview but it's not really about the games. We're going to have fun and if we win some games along the way, that would be nice. I'll write something up when we get back which will probably be full of good stuff but for now here's a list of who's going, and their favorite animal:

Goober - Monkey
Peteo - Bear mixed with Monkey
ROOKIE - Regular Bear
Stuart Huizengar - German Shepherd
Reynolds - Shane
Basia - Animated Penguins
Emblebee - White and Black Striped Horses
Padula - All of Them
Vicius - Rhinoceros!
Hollywood - Dog
Shane - Toytle
Amy K - Salamanders
William Joel - Yoda
T-Dig - Giraffes
Brett Favre - Sprite
Cole Lucas - Owl
Samantha - Pterodactyl
Michelle - Teddy Bear
Smashica - SOSOs (Sea Otter Shaped Objects)
Rachel - Crabs
Colleen - Koala
Ashley Betke - Monkeys (because they get rid of the bananas)
Me - LionSharks, duh (also cows and cheetahs)

p.s. I'm leaving early with a few others and stopping in Nashvegas and Hotlanta. Can't wait for all the stories that are bound to come out of this trip. Have a great break everybody, even if you're not going on the best trip ever with us.

ISU Ultimate History

2009-03-02T10:42:00.000-08:00

Attention alumni (who probably don't know this blog exists), current players, and people who quit the team because we started wearing shoes. I need your help! I'm attempting to compile a brief history of ISU Ultimate. I'll be doing it in a timeline format because I have neither the time nor motivation right now to do it any other way. So please send me whatever info you have about ISU Ultimate that you think is valuable, and the time it happened (please be as precise as possible. An actual date is preferred to "the day after me and dave drank that stolen 190-proof whiskey that chuck brought with him"). Here are some example of what I'm looking for, although feel free to send whatever you feel is relevent or funny:

-Old rosters
-Old pics
-First tournament we attended ever
-Any notable scores that you remember
-Any notable on-field wins that you remember
-Any notable off-field wins that you remember (i.e. party wins, naked lapping SIU)
-Our founder
-Our re-founder in the late 90s
-A past list of captains, and when they were captains
-Any tournaments we've won, or come close to winning
-Other major accomplishments of the club (Voting for officers, hosting a tournament, etc.)

Feel free to leave the info in the comments section or email it to the team account which is isuultimate at hotmail dot com. I hope this turns out well, I'll keep you updated on my progress. Also feel free to let me know if you're interested in helping.

Handler Defense

2009-02-26T13:57:00.000-08:00

I found this article about handler defense, and I thought it was great. You'll find a lot of similarities to how I teach handler defense, plus some great insights. Check it out and do it: http://forceflick.blogspot.com/2009/02/handler-defense.html

Winning from the sideline

2009-02-24T13:44:00.001-08:00

This post is about an aspect of every ultimate team's game that is all too often overlooked--cheering. Now I know that upon reading the word cheering that every "serious" ultimate player out there probably threw up a little in their mouth, but stay with me. I'm not talking about the clever rhymes that you make up at the end of CUSL games to tell the other team that "their bids were legit" or that " their D was all over me", what I'm really talking about is support. I'm talking about taking the support that we give our teammates 3 days a week for 2 hours at a time at practice a little further. I'm talking about winning games from the sideline.

If you've ever played a school with a program - meaning a school that competes yearly at regionals, maybe takes some shots at nationals ever once in a while, and nearly always has a solid team come spring - I'm sure you've noticed that they know what it means to win games from the sideline. It helps that those schools usually have squads of around 20-30 guys, but it's possible to do this with 8 guys, or maybe even 7? When you play these schools there's always someone from their sideline yelling something when the disc is in play and sometimes between points too. It's tough to play against a team when their whole sideline is giving "up" and "broken" and "strike" calls on every throw. It sucks to get beaten on an in-cut, but it sucks even more when all you can hear from the sideline is "nice cut" and "yeah Jimmy" as you're getting beaten in. It gets in your head no matter how good you are.

Now imagine the most intense ultimate game you've ever played in. I'm talking about that one game where you played balls out every second of every point and threw your body around like you didn't care if you lived to play in the next round. That game where you probably forgot the score because you were so focused on denying your man the disc and making hard, smart cuts straight to your throwers. Now think about what you heard during that game. I bet it was your teammates on the sideline giving you position calls and encouraging your effort on the field. Now try to imagine playing as hard as you did without the encouragement you received. I know I couldn't do it.

This, meaning winning games from the sideline, is something that our team can do very well with at times, and absolutely terribly at others. Case in point: Western game at Knox Indoor '09 vs. Chicago game at '08 Sectionals. For those of you that were there at last year's Sectionals, imagine our last game on Saturday without Lee on the opposite sideline encouraging us and making sure that we didn't give up. It wouldn't have been the same without it. It's hard to keep a sideline up through 4 or sometimes 5 rounds of play during one day at tournament, especially when you're down on the scoreboard, but in order to take the next step from being a team with a lot of potential to a team that translates their potential into wins on weekends, it's something we have to do. Lucky for us, it's doable without much effort at all. It takes some awareness from the sideline, and some passion and drive which I know this team has.

Most importantly, though, it's keeping the chatter positive and simple that really makes the difference. The 7 players on the field don't need 10 guys on the sideline telling them that they're marking wrong, or that their hands are too low. Leave that up to the captains, that's what they're there for. Simply calling your "up", "broken", "no breaks" and "strike" calls make all the difference when there's a whole team yelling them from the sideline. Let's win games from the sideline this spring.

Guest Article: Open Side Dump Cuts by Nick McDuffee

2009-02-10T08:37:00.000-08:00

I asked Nick McDuffee formerly of Illinois and currently of Machine (Chicago's elite open club team) to write a guest article for us about cutting for the dump from the open (or force) side. This is something that I've struggled with myself over the course of my ultimate career and I think that Nick did a great job explaining how to do it effectively. If you have any questions for Nick feel free to comment on the post and I'll be sure to pass your comments on to him.

Handler cutting is about timing and explosive cutting. If you cut early or late you will not get open and if you cut tentatively you will not get open. If you continually jig jag and cut back and forth you may get open, but the thrower will not know where you are going and may throw it to the wrong spot. To be a good team you need to be able to hit your dumps 95% of the time. You should be able to hit your swings 60-70% of the time. The dump cut may be the least glamorous cut in ultimate, but it may also be the most important because it allows you to reset the stall count.

Getting open on the dump starts with the guy with the disc. He has to look for his dump cut on 4. That gives him a great chance to get the dump off, and if the first dump cannot get open he still has a shot on the second dump. If he looks after 6 he is putting a lot of pressure on the dumps to get open immediately. Once the guy with the disc decides to look at his dump he has to stay with the dump. He cannot give him a one second look and turn back up field. Once you commit to the dump you need to stay with him until 8. On 8 you can look to turn and huck. When you commit to the dump, turn and look at him, so he knows you are looking for it. Back hand throws are much easier and more consistent forehands at the short distance of dump passes.

Now that the thrower has committed to the dump, the dump cutter needs to get open. The most important aspects of cutting for the dump are spacing, decisive cutting, and explosive cutting. Each of these aspects are a little different based on where you are on the field. I will try and go through each of them as we did them last year on Machine. This was the most effective system I have seen since I started playing ultimate.

Disc trapped on the sideline

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0\__________________________x

My focus for this article is on cutting to the open side, but that starts with good fundamental cutting, so I will begin with the most common scenario you will find yourself in while making dumps and swings. The cutting process starts with spacing. All too often, the dump sets up too close to the disc and does not give himself enough room to cut explosively. The dump should set up 10 to 15 yards away from the disc. This gives you the opportunity to cut explosively. Cut hard right at your defender. If you can get him on his heels you have created a huge advantage for yourself. Now you can dictate your cut rather than just taking what the defense gives you. If you can get up line you want to take this. Once you decide to cut upline you have to take it. You cannot cut it off and cut back for the dump because the second dump is filling in just in case you do not get it upline. Make one decisive cut so the thrower knows where you are going and cut upline or dump. If you catch it upline, your first look should be for somebody cutting deep and to quickly continue the flow upfield. If you catch a dump your first look is for the swing because the hardest place for an offense to work is on the sideline, so you want to get the disc back to the middle of the field.

The swing cutter or second dump sets up about 25-30 yards away from the thrower and he is about 5 yards upfield. Starting upfield allows you to gain yards on a swing or at least not lose any. Once the dump starts his cut you need to be moving at probably 75-80%. You do not want to go so fast that you impede the dump cutter, but you want to be setting up your cut. Your cut should begin by mirroring the dump cutter, but 5 yards up field. If he goes up line you should look to attack up line, but make sure you peek up field so that you do not cut off an open look. If he goes dump, your cut should look like you are trying to go up line, but then you cut it off and cut back hard where you came from. This should create enough separation that a floaty swing pass can be thrown about 20 yards to the middle of the field. And you should catch it with a wide open break look, which should be your first look.

Force side Forehand-middle of the field

x___________________________________/0

The break side handler sets up even with the thrower about 10-15 yards off. The force side handler sets up about 10-15 yards off, but 3-5 yards behind the thrower. The throwers first look should be to the break side handler who cuts hard up line. If he’s open hit him. If not look at the force side handler. He should cut straight behind the thrower. Keep 2 yards distance. As he is running past hit him with a short, tight pass. This gives him a wide open look to the break side. The thrower needs to seal off the marker really well because once they see you do this a couple of times they will jump the throw and attempt a block. If you seal the marker off he will have to foul you to block the throw. If the defender is overplaying this cut, wait until right after you pass the thrower and cut right back and you should be open. This is tough to communicate between cutter and thrower. The easiest way is often if the thrower thinks the cutter is covered he should do a fake, and that will signal the cutter to cut back.

Force side Backhand-middle of the field

__________________________________0\_____________________________ X

You set up the same way as forehand, but opposite. You do everything exactly the same except you have one extra option. If cutting from the force side, and your defender is overplaying for the cut across you can cut straight up field. Because you are starting a couple yards behind the thrower it is an easy flip pass rather than an up field throw. After receiving the pass you should have a wide open look up field.

Force side-sideline

/0________________________________________________________________X

_____________________________X

When the disc is on the sideline the dump cut wants to set up a couple yards behind the thrower and the swing cut wants to set up even. The first cutter is 10-15 yards away and the second is 25-30. The first cutter should cut straight for the sideline and receive a dump pass right at the sideline. Right after the thrower passes. He should cut towards the middle and look for an immediate throw back from the dump. Because the marker is behind the thrower he should be open every time. If the fist look does not get the pass he should clear back and around very wide and as hard as he can because he has to clear space for the next cutter.

The second cut should be cutting at about 75% as the first cut starts knowing that if the dump gets off the first look is to the guy who threw the first pass. He cannot be in the way. In this scenario stay further up field so you can cut for the swing after the second pass. If the first dump does not get the pass you need to be ready to fill in. You should mirror and go to the sideline or cut that off and go up line for a short flip pass.

Using these techniques was the most successful I have been on force side dump and swing cuts while playing at Illinois and on Machine. If you have any questions feel free to shoot me an email.

Nick McDuffee

Knox Review

2009-02-09T11:35:00.001-08:00

This past weekend at Knox was pretty awesome for both teams. Although ISU D would only leave with 2 wins (I think), they were two pretty meaningful wins. They took Bradley (not a split squad) to universe point on Saturday and won with some last minute luck and hussle, and took it to Knox B on Sunday with an impressive 11-2 win. They got a bad (or maybe fixed?) draw in bracket play though and ended up playing ISU in quarters, where they made their exit. It was awesome to bring two teams to a tournament and have both of them make it to quarters. Good job Gnomes.

Round 1: ISU vs Western Illinois
ISU couldn't have asked for a better draw on Saturday afternoon. After being eliminated from contention for a regionals bid by Western Illinois at CP Sectionals in April, the Gnomes had been anticipating this matchup for over 8 months, and it showed as they jumped out to a 2-0 lead, breaking Hysteria twice in a row to start the game. Western, to their credit, was able to bring it to to as close as 6-3 before ISU took it to half 7-3. Proud and still hungry for more, ISU took a breif half to regroup and point out some of their weaknesses before taking to the court again to finish off the game 9-5 ISU. The story of the game was all about ISU's intensity throughout. There were up calls from the sideline after every throw and no one saved anything for later. We played that game like it was our last and it showed. It seemed like the top 7 matchups were close, but ISU was able to put in 3 separate lines without a dropoff in level of play, and that's something that's hard to compete with. I could be wrong, but I think that's how the Hodags won two national championships in a row...

Round 2: ISU vs Sasquatch
Sasquatch was not who I thought they were according to my Knox Preview post. Apparently I was thinking of Yeti from UW-Stout. That said, Sasquatch appeared similar to UW-Stout in a lot of ways. They were made up of a lot of young, inexperienced players with a few fairly talented throwers. ISU came out strong against Sasquatch and jumped out to an early lead but as the lines got a little looser, Sasquatch stole a few points and brought themselves to within 3 before ISU took half at 7-3. The second half would not be so close. After a quick look at the scoreboard, and the realization that this team had scored the same amount of points as WIU (a clearly superior team) had against ISU in the first half, Doug challenged the team to bump up their game in the second half and Sasquatch wouldn't score again. 12-3 ISU.

Round 3: ISU vs Lake Forest
After going 2-0 so far in pool play, ISU needed to win this game to guarantee themselves 1st place in Pool B. Maybe it was the sun beginning to set on the T. Fleming fieldhouse, or perhaps the huge turkey dinner that our team had between rounds, but ISU came out sluggish and slow against Lake Forest in the first half. I had planned on not playing this game because of my knee injury, but after the score was knotted up at 2-2, I decided to take an O point in an attempt to calm down the team and get us to play our game. The next point we would work the disc up the court like clockwork, the cutters running hard through their cuts and the handlers making smart, crisp throws to space. After that point it seemed that ISU remembered that they were the 1 seed in Pool B, and quickly took half 7-4. During a short half ISU talked about how we were disappointed with our performance during this game and that it was our worst half of the tournament so far. After a quick break ISU proceeded to take the game at 12-6 and guarantee a 1st round bye on Sunday. On a different note, Hollywood went down with a knee injury in the second half of this game, and we've now learned that he'll be out for the season with a torn ACL. He'll be missed on the field and I'm already looking forward to playing with him after he's all healed up from his surgery and back on the field.

Sunday Elimination Play

Quarters: ISU vs ISU D
Perhaps we should start sending our split squads to different tournaments because no matter what we always seem to meet each other in bracket play. I wouldn't be surprised if we somehow end up playing our women's team in Naperville this April. Props to ISU D for coming out with fire in their eyes in the first half of this game. Although the score at half was 7-1 ISU, the game was much more highly contested than that score makes it appear. The first point was both sloppy on offense and highly contested on D. There were multiple turnovers but in the end the Circus Shorts were able to put it in to take the first lead of the game. The story of this game was experience. The athletic matchups were rarely uneven, and in some cases even favored ISU D. Erase 1 or 2 poor throws or bad offensive decisions per point on the part of ISU D and the game may have ended differently. That's an encouraging outcome for a captain, and I'm proud of the way both teams played during this game. ISU would take the game at a score of I believe 12-4.

Semis: ISU vs Western Illinois, again...
I guess the first round didn't count, because Western came back for another match against ISU in the semis. I'd love to write another elaborate paragraph about this game, but you can pretty much just scroll up to the summary of the first game and re-read that because it went almost exactly the same. ISU got pumped up and they never came down, running tight lines and playing tight O and even tighter D. Western came hard but it wasn't enough as ISU wouldn't give them the disc to do anything with and when they did, they'd just take it right back. The only real difference between the two games was that ISU scored two more points and Jeff Reed hit an 18 yard field goal at 9:50 into the 1st to take the lead. 11-5 ISU.

Finals: ISU vs Northern Illinois
The semis and finals were the first two games that ISU would play back to back all weekend, and it showed. We're about 3 weeks into our conditioning program and it's definitely helping but looking at this game from the sideline one could see that we still have a lot of work to do. Nothern received the first half pull and after 3 passes they put it in the endzone to take the lead with ease, 1-0 NIU. This was a shocker for ISU who had scored the first point in each of their games so far and never been trailing. Another quick break and Northern was up 2-0. ISU regrouped, put in a fresh line, and was able to get on their horse to eventually bring the score to 6-3 ISU. Northern took a time out at this point and showed that a time out used correctly can truly change the tide of a game. After the time out and a hell point Northern would begin a little run of their own, scoring 3 before ISU could take the half at 7-6. Two more points for NIU after the half and ISU was now playing from behind, a position that doesn't favor us. There was a clear shift in our mindset when NIU captured the third lead change of the game. It was now as if we had begun playing not to lose instead of playing to win. Our crisp, efficient offense gave way to poor clearing cuts, a crowded force side and stranded handlers. Our defense struggled to contain Northern's 2-3 stud cutters per line and Northern's women seemed to step up their game considerably, although they had been having their way most of the game anyway. All of this led to lengthened points, and, as a result, sloppy offense. We would end up getting broken twice in a row (broken as in losing our O point, and also our force), once because I couldn't get the mark on fast enough after being beaten on an in-cut, and the other because of a sloppy mark. Northern took the game 13-11. Congratulations and kudos to them on playing a great tournament and having awesome spirit throughout the finals. Also a special thanks to Jorge for finally giving me my glasses back.

...Anybody excited about Chicago Invite?

2009-02-01T23:15:00.001-08:00

Both ISU teams played well this weekend at the Knox Indoor. ISU lost to NIU in an intense finals match by a score of 11-13 and ISU D made their exit in the quarterfinals, courtesy of ISU. A full tourney write-up is coming soon, but right now I'm just gonna take a shower and pass out. It's late as hell.

Knox Preview

2009-01-27T21:18:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-27T21:04:00.001-08:00

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!

Back in the high life again

2009-01-21T23:21:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-19T18:54:00.000-08:00

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.

Swimming for Exercise?

2009-01-12T23:01:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-12T16:30:00.000-08:00

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.

Get Excited

2009-01-02T13:42:00.000-08:00

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.

Writer's slump?

2008-12-20T14:25:00.000-08:00

Dear reader(s),
It's been a while since my last post, and now that finals are over I'm back home and looking for something to do. Being that there are no tournaments or huckumentarys coming up, I'm somewhat stuck on what to write about. So, I open myself up for questions. What would you like to read about? Do you have strategical questions that you'd like answered? Would you like a guest article from someone else? If so, please provide a topic and a guest author. What else would you like to read about? Either contact me directly or post in the comments section underneath this post.

Huckumentary Predictions

2008-11-30T17:57:00.001-08:00

As most of you know Hollywood is going to premiere his documentary about the 07-08 Gnomes. I think it's fitting for me to give my preview of what we'll probably see in it.

15 minute (minimum) tribute to Eric Huber's calf muscles and bids, probably to the tune of this song
Pat Moran spending the majority of his interview gushing about the only thing he misses from the ultimate team is Dave Riley (don't hate, they're dating)
Hopefully some drunken confessions caught by the camera in the party footage which will probably carry the storyline. In particular I'm looking for Steve to admit that he really isn't a 16th black, Padula to admit that he's been applying to Missouri S&T for the past 3 semesters, and Sam to admit that he's had a threesome with Doug and Georgia at last year's Stanley Cup
I'd also imagine that all of the good footage of us playing will probably be blocked by either Don or Georgia's back.
Ashley Betke won't remember any of the premiere, so she'll have to watch it again the next day
Pete Overright and Doug will be in the running for best dressed, but I think Doug will take it with one of his zazzle creations
It'll easily shoot to the top of my favorite movies list

In short, I'm pumped and I can't wait for December 12th

Making the Team, Part III - Special Teams?

2008-11-27T01:51:00.000-08:00

Leave it to Doug to write a special teams article about ultimate. As ridiculous as it sounds, I agree wholeheartedly with a solid 77% of the points he makes in this article. Enjoy.

"There are also many intangibles to being an A-team player. These are things off the field that set you apart.

The first is spirit. Spirit is the most important rule in the game. Without it, we are just like athletes from any other sport. If you play on our A-team, you are representing the Gnomes. We’ve built a good reputation of being a fun team that plays hard and plays fair. We want you guys to want to win, we want you guys to play hard and leave it all on the field, but we want you guys to be fair. Other teams notice when teams are unspirited and it hurts our relations with them if we have players who aren’t.
The second is being named Eric Huber. This helps a lot if you want to make the A-team.
The third one is drive. Now I know that a lot of us got our licenses suspended, but that’s not what I’m talking about. I mean you have to want to win, and more importantly to be all that you can be. There are two kinds of drive: you can either say you want it or you can show you want it. Showing it means playing hard every second you’re in the game, wanting to play every point and every chance you get. It means getting someone to practice throwing with on the quad on an off day. It means going out in a -50 degree blizzard and doing sprints. Ok, maybe that last one was kinda extreme, but you get the idea. If you don’t want it, I don’t want you.
Next, and possibly the most important, you need to have or have had a Mohawk. It’s aerodynamic and makes you jump higher, run faster, and last longer ;) if you know what I mean. You must also have the ability to suck up to Ryan, Steve, and myself. I love gifts and candy. [Editor's note: Doug also likes hugs] Also, your game must look like an art form like when Steve gracefully leaps over people and gets the disc at his highest point, or when Ryan fakes a dump cut and goes up the line like a gazelle, or when Shane shaves his head and then flexes in front of the mirror. It’s not enough to play good, it must also look good.

Making the Team, Part II - Defense

2008-11-27T01:50:00.000-08:00

The defensive installment of the "Making the Team" series comes from our beloved captain Steve, with a couple minor edits from yours truly. This article goes a little deeper into expectations from a D line player past tryouts and into responsibilities especially in zone D. I'd recommend referring back to this article throughout the spring. Thanks to Steve for taking the time to write it.

Defensive Lines
First and foremost, Defense is easy. When you are on defense, the primary goal is not scoring, catching, or throwing like the O line. The goal is to not let the other team do any of those. There are a few things you have to do.

The first is BE IN POSITION! A defensive player who is out of position makes the rest of the team look bad. Everything can be going right, but one bad apple spoils the rest of the apples (or something like that).

The second is HUSTLE! I want to write speed, but hustle is close enough and I can teach hustle, but I can't teach speed. Hustle is laying out for a disc that is just far enough away, helping your teammate on a man going deep, or running down a tipped disc to make sure no one but you gets it.

Thirdly, you must be able to LISTEN! Communication is important. Tuning in and out the right voices is crucial. Listen to the experienced players on your team. [Editor's note: Along with listening to the experienced players in practice and between points, listening to the other 6 guys who are on the field with you is maybe even more important]

Before I explain what I want in a zone, things to think about while standing on the line. Good work O line, you just scored (or maybe the D line scored) and that is why we are on the line.
I want to keep playing so we're gonna get another turnover, score, and play D all over again.
When counting off a line, figure out who is best for you, what he is going to try to do, and how you are going to make him fail. Think about this every time you place your knee on that chalked line (hopefully we keep playing on lined fields).

For now, I'm gonna explain what and who I want in a Zone Defense. Read all the parts, because some positions are mentioned in multiple areas.

The Cup

0/The mark The mark should be a person who will only let throws go to the force side. NO BREAKS! This is a huge task, but a throw that goes to the break side puts lots of people out of position. Let them take that dump first and if a force side swing comes off that throw, which will happen, get over there and start all over. This person should be speedy, a great mark, and must have lungs (endurance).
1/Top o' the Cup
The top of the cup MUST LISTEN! The MM will be calling left, right, closer, further, and crashes. YOU are in charge of those crashes. Just in case this needs explaining, you may go within that 10 meters if someone crashes because you are now guarding them. When the disc is swung to the force side, watch out for a big throw through where you should be. If need be, round off that cup to keep that throw up field.

p.s. you should be laying out for any throw that goes through the middle of the cup.
2/ Wall o' the Cup
This is probably the hardest part of the cup to figure out where you need to be. The best way to think of it though is to be in position to stop the upfield throw, but still allowing them to get stuck on the sideline. Other than that, you need to have that hustle, speed, endurance, and must be able to lay out for throws through the cup.

MM/Mid Mid
This guy/gal needs to be experienced. There are so many split second decisions that I will be happy to talk to you about in person, but writing them is a whole different task. The biggest is figuring out who the most dangerous man is. There will be lots of times when you have two people in your zone and you have to decide who you are going to take. Who you take depends on several things. Usually, go with whoever is going to the force side and cutting towards the cup. That is easy to do when the disc is stopped with the cup on, but off a big swing, it can be a difficult position to find yourself in. Listen to your Monster. While you are in charge of telling the cup what to do, the monster is in charge of helping you know what to do. So BE VOCAL, but also LISTEN! We will go over this position more in practice, because a blog does not do it justice. [Editor's note: my blog is just as good as practice, if not better]

WS/Weak Side
Not to be confused with Weak Sauce. This position can be two things. One, a relaxing position where you hope the cup doesn't allow the disc to get to this side. Or two, THE MOST IMPORTANT PERSON EVER....not really, but a person who can create havoc on the field. First thing (most important thing) is you are in charge of stopping throws up the break side part of the field, along with the MM. After that, you are in charge of hammers across the field. If those things are secure (AND ONLY IF THEY ARE SECURE) use your best judgment and start creating havoc. You can:

move towards the center of the field to help the MM (if this happens MM can move over and help the SS/Strong Side.
OR, you can move forward and help take away some of the handlers far swings, (but just remember, if a handler gets the disc on your side of the field and you are out of position, well then you "screwed the pooch" (note: reread the beginning where I mention always being in position).

SS/Strong Side
You have the job of stopping throws to the throws up the force side of the field. It seems simple enough, but it can get difficult when there is a lot of room for the opposition to work with. If the disc starts way over on the break side of the field, the handlers are going to work it to your side of the field, and teams who can time their cuts will try and make you look foolish. DON'T LET THEM. You just take the most dangerous guy out of the play on your side, and if two people cut to your zone, you might have to let one of them get the disc, but you helped the team by having them move the disc to the strong side of the field, where our cup can trap them on that line.

NOTE TO ALL THE MIDS: This is a pretty hard job, so either Listen back to the monster, or before the pull, get someone on the sideline to help you out. This can be beneficial if your only job is to listen.

Monster
I'm tired of writing. DON"T LET PEOPLE GET BEHIND YOU! TALK TO THE MIDS. SKY PEOPLE! but most importantly DON'T GIVE MALONEY THE OPPORTUNITY TO SAY "Oh, I would have caught that if I was monster."

This was a lot of writing, and some of it is kind of difficult to read without being in steve's head. So if you have time, come join me in my head, or ask me what it all means. or do nothing and watch the D from the sideline while you play O. Defense is more fun. And always remember, the better the D line does, the more the D line gets to play.

im gonna go watch role models

Making the Team, Part I

2008-11-19T17:35:00.000-08:00

I apologize for the lull in posting over the past 2 weeks. It's been partially a result of me being bogged down with schoolwork and also because this post has taken so long to compose. Originally it was going to be just one post about expectations for the spring, but from there it has pretty clearly evolved into 3 separate (but equal) articles. Here's the first, written by me. Enjoy.

Given that the spring is coming quickly and the team split will happen probably in a couple months, I thought it would be a good idea to post about what Steve, Doug and I will be looking for in an A-teamer this spring.

O and D lines
We played somewhat exclusive lines last year for our last tournament of the semester and it worked well for the most part. This year we'll be doing it all spring. We'll be creating starting O and D lines and the rest of the team will be subs with an offensive or defensive focus. The main idea behind this strategy is that we'll be a better team if we're able to focus on one playing one position and play with the same 6 other players every time we're on the field. In the rest of this post I'll break down all of the positions on our O and D lines, and what we're looking for at each position. First I'll talk a little about what the O and D lines are expected to do as a whole.

Note: Ultimate players that know more than I do about the sport (easy, Padula), feel free to add some input in the comments section

O line
The O line will play all offensive points (meaning when we receive the disc) and they're expected to score every time they step on the field. Ultimate is all about break, not points. Definition of a break: If our O line gets scored on, the other team is up a break. The O line can't get broken or it puts our Defense in a "must break" situation. We've talked about it all fall (remember - last week of practices before Hucktoberfest this fall): Disc security comes first when we're on offense. Every O line player should feel comfortable with the disc and display the ability to make good decisions especially in high pressure situations (translation: learn how to dump. do it well. do it often). An O line player's priorities on the field are as follows, in order:
1. Maintain possession of the disc
2. Move the disc
3. Advance the disc

D line
The D lines job is to generate breaks, plain and simple. A D line player should bring a high level of intensity to the field every time they step out on it, and should bid for everything. In addition to being absolutely nuts on defense, they also need to know how to quickly switch over to chilly mode once a turnover is generated in order to avoid marathon points that will come back to haunt us in the form of dead legs later in any given tournament. A D line player's priorities are as follows, in order:
1. Prevent your man from being a viable option
2. Get the D
3. Put it in

O Line Handler
A player in this position is under a lot of pressure. An O line handler must have excellent field sense and decision making abilities. One throw-away at this spot could be the game. Again, disc security is first priority so an O line handler can't drop dumps, and must always get open for a dump when the time calls for it. This player must know how to handle the pressure of getting the most touches out of anyone on the field, especially in big games when the intensity and emotion is at its highest. Remember, a wise man once said: "When you have the disc, you're the quarterback of the team"

O Line Mid
I know that we don't use the terms "mid" and "long" anymore, but for the sake of this post a "mid" will be 2 & 3 in the H-stack. I'll say it again: disc security. An offensive mid will be able to get open consistently (even off of a stopped disc) and won't drop discs. The main cut we look for from our mids is the short to mid-range in-cut, so an offensive mid should be quick footed and run through every disc. I can't stress this enough. Another great attribute of an offensive mid is the ability to exploit the give n go. Your main priority is to keep the disc moving. Catch, dump, repeat.

O Line Deep
"Deep" refers to 1 & 4 in the H-stack. This is a tough position. This player should have the same mindset as the handlers and mid of maintaining possession of the disc first and foremost, but must also be able to put up the deep ball off of an open in-cut and s k y for the h u c k when the time comes. It's easy to get trapped on the line in this position so a proficiency in dumping/swinging is crucial.

In the end...
In this post I've talked almost exclusively about physical attributes and abilities that we look for in A-teamers, but by far the most important quality in an A-teamer, and any player for that matter, is commitment. I don't care if you're the best player on the team, or the most talented rookie, or even the best disc chugger--if you want to play a role on this team, you have to be committed to improving at every practice, and making your team better in any reasonable way that you can. In conclusion, show up to practice, hussle your a** off, and play hard D and you can play on my team any day.

Glory Days 2008

2008-11-16T13:44:00.000-08:00

Again, this post will be mostly about ISU X since I wasn't able to watch ISU Y at all during the weekend.

The weekend started out well for me when I got into my car Friday afternoon with Doug, Steve, Trevor, and Venus. This was truly an all-star team of roadtrippers, and I knew that I had a great weekend ahead of me. After a brief (3 hour) stop at my mom's house, we got on our way to St. John, IN and invented the best car game ever on the way. Ask anyone who was in the car for details. We arrived at Steve's house for dinner and were graciously welcomed by Steve's parents and given pizza for dinner and warm beds, a great start to any ultimate tournament.

Saturday morning started a little rushed for X as we arrived at the fields with less than a half hour to warm up. Our first opponent, DePaul, arrived even later and was confused about when the game was supposed to start. We began a little after 8:30 and the game went quickly as a combined result of good play from ISU and a lack of subs for DePaul. ISU X takes the win 13-4. DePaul would do better for the rest of the day, winning 2/3 of their remaining games.

With a quick first round and a second round bye, ISU X went over and watched our women duke it out with Kalamazoo. We weren't able to stay until the end, but left with the Lady Gnomes well in control of the game that they would eventually win 13-6. Our third round game would bring St. Louis (or S.L.U.T.) who was fresh off of an intense matchup against Northwestern B and looking for a win. Both teams came out hard and we traded points until we were able to get a couple of breaks and take the game into hard cap, 11-7. To their credit St. Louis fought hard and played well. They brough a team similar in composition to ISU X with a couple of veteran studs and a bunch of rookies. I'd give the credit to our rookies for this win as I believe it was mostly a result of ISU winning the rookie on rookie matchups. Props to the guy in the pink shorts and number 4 for playing a hell of a game and being very spirited while doing it.

Our third game of the day was against Northwestern-B. After watching some of their earlier matchup against SLUT and DePaul, I was expecting this game to be a lot closer. We played well, executing on offense and taking advantage of Nut's turnovers, although not forcing very many. The Nut guys were very friendly and one guy even let me borrow his extra cleats after I ripped open the back of mine during the game. The final score was 13-5, and ISU X was now primed to play Eastern Michigan who, despite being seeded last in our pool was undefeated going into the last round.

It's been a while since the weekend of Glory Days, but I don't believe that we ever took the lead in this game (E. Mich). EMich was led by a couple of solid handlers including one female handler who had arguably the best throws on the field during that game and one seemingly 7 foot tall monster of a cutter who chose to wear a white tennis skirt so short that it would even make Sam Fishman blush. It may have been that we were tired, or maybe just satisfied to take second in the pool, but we came out sluggish and slow and stayed that way for most of the first half. It was the first game of the weekend that we were put in a position where we would have to play from behind. The inexperience of our team showed through in this game as we made some bad decisions and physical errors. EMich played well, but at points it seemed like we were trying to give the game away. Even some of our most reliable players were putting up bad hucks and dropping in-cuts. We rallied to get within one close to the end (11-12) but couldn't get the break to tie it up and ended up losing 11-13.

ISU X would finish 2nd in the pool, breaking seed by one. After finishing up pool play we got some delicious pasta which was provided by the Glory Days staff and sat down to watch Jeffryl Tull, Teleport, and Marinara compete in the rookie game. I missed most of it since I was spending my time either talking to other teams or teaching Afryl Lavigne how to throw a biscuit, but I heard #3 was kicking ass. Watch out for him (or her?) in a couple years.

My car went back to Steve's house for another awesome meal courtesy of the Huizengers and watched Princess Bride for the first time after playing a rousing game of Racko. Now that's a party.

Sunday didn't go as well for ISU X as Saturday. In fact, it was pretty much the polar opposite. Instead of calm and sunny, the weather was cold and windy--and instead of going 3-1, we went 1-3. We did, however, beat Eastern Michigan in a game where I got the first D, no matter what Sam or Corey say. Our first game was against Western Illinois who decided to invite #20, an alumni, back to play with them at this tourney. I'm in the process of filing a complaint with the UPA. Btw Kroger, you're going to have to enroll in some classes for the spring. Western played well, as I would expect them to in the wind. We were unable to score an upwind point in this game, but we held Hysteria to 3 breaks all game, and none in the second half. We were capable of better, but I'm definitely not upset about the effort of a split squad team in this game.

After being knocked out of the championship bracket, we moved on to face our next opponent in the 5th place bracket, Undue Perversity of Purdue University. We gave up a couple of breaks early in this game mainly as a result of deciding to go man instead of zone when defending upwind. We got one of the breaks back late in the game but a shortened game due to a few injury interruptions including one where Hollywood was carted off the field by the trainer resulted in a loss in the hard cap, 10-11. Note: when the hardcap sounded we were in the midst of a 3-0 run. This is definitely a down year for Purdue (either that or they were missing some key personnel this weekend) but even so it was a good showing against a sectional rival's A team as a split squad, and a good sign of things to come this spring.

The close loss to Purdue knocked us down again into the 7th place bracket where we would meet a Hope College team which appeared to have an exclusively 6 foot plus roster. The monsters took the game over a tired and injury-laiden ISU X with one upwind break, 10-7. After being knocked out of our placement bracket once again, we found ourselves playing for 9th against EMich who we had already played. We decided to have a boatrace, a game to 7, and a game of splat with the winner of 2 of 3 would win 9th place. The boatrace was close, but Teleport showed a lot of poise by coming through as the anchor. I believe we lost the game to 7, but Kroger won Splat to claim 9th place and our only win of the day. Good work Kroger.

The Ride Home
All I wanted was one large powerade...

Fall 2008, Part 2

2008-11-04T19:34:00.000-08:00

Western Classic

For our third tournament of the semester, we once again chose to split up our team X/Y as we were committed to giving our rookies opportunities to play with and learn from the vets. This ended up being the right decision, as we saw throughout the weekend. We arrived Saturday without sufficient time to warm-up like we would have liked, but and it showed for my team (ISU X) in our first game against Truman State X (Note: Truman State only brought one team to this tournament, and as such they were by no means split-squad). Truman quickly went up 3-0 (at least) before we got our first score, skying and breaking us like nobody's business. This looked more like an A team playing a B team than two supposed split-squads. They took the game quickly 13-4, and we moved to our next field a little dejected and looking for something to lift us up and give us a shot at hanging with our next challenge, Illinois Y.

The game started off slow and sluggish from both sides as we traded points until half, 7-6. The Illinois Y squad was made up of primarily rookies with a couple vets helping out including Sean O'Brien's brother (whose name unfortunately escapes me at the moment) who played nearly every point, as did I. He showed us why Illinois is a contender for Nationals every year by putting up some great hucks and pulling down a few as well. After more point trading it came down to Universe point where there would be at least 2 turns by each team and where I came up with two layout (more like fall over) D's, showing both teams how bad I wanted the win after our embarrassing loss against TSU. Illinois would end up making the last turn as we put the upwind point in to take the game 13-12.

X's final game of pool play came against Knox College, a team who we've played many times and have a great relationship with. Knox was suffering from a short roster with only 2-3 subs which gave us the advantage in numbers. This combined with some tough defense and good decision-making (for the most part) led to a quick win for X, 13-8. Lots of credit to Knox for fighting hard the whole game, even when it must have seemed out of reach. Gotta love those guys. Also, the guy in the yellow short vs. Peteo was probably the most entertaining matchup I've seen since Eric vs. Peteo. We took 2nd in our pool.

ISU Y also took 2nd in their pool, but took a much different route. Instead of coming out sluggish in their first game they came out hard and won a nail-biter against North Park X on universe point. To be honest, I think it was that victory that spurred X on to win their second round game against Illinois Y. Good teamwork, guys. Anyway, the final game of the day turned out to be a crossover game pitting X vs. Y. Props to the captains for splitting up the teams evenly because the game went, like it always does, to universe point. Steve came down with the disc in a crowd after a 20 yard bladey huck from Hollywood. Not a great ending to the game, but I'm sure it gave those two a much needed ego boost. The victory for Y would put them in the winner's bracket and X in the loser's bracket with an opportunity to place no higher than 9th place.

I'm going to fast forward to the last game on Sunday, because writing is exhausting and I just want to get the good stuff. The placement game on Sunday placed Illinois X vs Illinois State X in the game for 9th place (winners of the loser's bracket) on field 5 and Illinois Y vs Illinois State Y in the game for 5th on field 3, which somehow ended up being next to each other. All 4 teams shared one sideline along with most of our women's team and somehow it never got crowded. I can't speak for Y, but I know that X was winded and tired from the weekend and I personally was not looking forward to playing an Illinois team since they always seem to have twice as many players as any other team. On this day it was doubled. Looking on from the opposite sideline it looked like a sea of orange with only a few white jerseys poking through. Illinois' historic cheer of 'I-L-L...I-N-I' was answered with an enthusiastic 'G-N-O...M-E-S' led by Sam and Vicius of team Y. You could cut the tension with a knife, and all 4 teams were in it to win it. I couldn't have asked for a better ending to this tournament

I'll be honest, I was not optimistic about this game. Although I knew we could win I was tired and my team was suffering from a few injuries leaving us with 3-4 subs to Illinois' 10-12. Only 2 points in there was a questionable call on the goal line and I let my emotion get the best of me when I got into an argument with the Illinois coach about the call. I let this argument get into my head and I wasn't much of an asset to my team for most of the first half as I handed over the captaining duties to Doug and only played when he called me in. Illinois took half 7-6. We played from behind the entire second half I think (I say I think because I deliberately didn't pay attention to the score in an attempt to get my head back in the game). To their credit, everyone on my team played their hearts out the second half and deserved to win this game. Again, not knowing the score, I heard the hard cap go off in the middle of a point which ended up being 10-10. Most of the point is a blur but I'll never forget the last throw. Afryl Lavigne made a hard cut to the right front cone of the endzone while I had the disc trapped on the line. Seeing that his cut was shut down I faked hard to the force side getting my mark to jump over as I pivoted to the break side and let the disc go hoping that Jeff would make the cut that I wanted him to. Sure enough, he did, curling around his man like Jerry Rice on a hitch route, and the play looked as if it had been laid out before the point. Illinois State beat Illinois on Universe point 11-10.

On the next field the story was a little different. They too heard the hard cap go off during their point, and they too scored the point, but theirs was to tie the game at 10-10. With the X vs X game being over all eyes were on this final point of the tournament. After a turn by each team Illinois Y would put it in, evening up the series at 1 each. I guess we'll have to play a tie breaker this spring...

Again, it's late, so I'll do Glory Days tomorrow

Fall 2008, Part 1

2008-11-03T22:00:00.000-08:00

I wanted to write a post to summarize all that happened this fall, but I definitely don't have that kind of time and I probably wouldn't remember it all anyway. Here's what I do remember:

First Practice

I hope it didn't show, but Steve and I were pretty nervous about running the first practice. We had a group of guys at the informational meeting that was probably double the amount from last year, and last year we had only retained (I think) 1 sophomore by the end of the school year. So, we sat down and carefully planned out a practice that would both challenge the new players and not scare them off. Shockingly, it went exactly as planned and we only lost about half of the guys that came out (Sounds like a lot, but it isn't. Ask any captain of a college program). By the end of the first day the noobies were throwing dumps and cutting better than a lot of the returners did at the end of their first semester. By the end of the first week they were starting to develop flicks and after a month they were starting to understand some of the more subtle nuances of the game such as giving solid fakes as a thrower making space for other cutters. Needless to say, this batch of rookies made me pretty excited and kinda made me want to stay around until they were seniors just to see what they'd look like then. I'd imagine they're going to be pretty sick.

Stanley Cup II (or IV)

Again things went almost completely according to plan. I think this is karma for how hard we tried last year and how Murphy's Law kicked us in the ass over and over (i.e. Western being cancelled, losing our bid to Whitewater, taking 6 months to order jerseys). We split up into 3 teams of equal strength and Doug and Emily got their first experience captaining a mixed team (and Doug his first captaining any team). They ended up getting 9th, the lowest of the ISU teams, but I think that was mainly a result of a lack of a solid handler core, forcing some of their better cutters to play the handler position for most of the weekend. I know that their game against X was hard fought, and I don't think their finish was a good representative of what they were capable of. ISU X (Squirrels/Sextacy) and ISU Y (did they even have a name?) made their way into the Championship Bracket Sunday only to be knocked out in Semis and Quarters respectively. The party went great, and I think we ran a good tournament that teams are going to want to come back to (Thanks mainly to Gamehube, he did an awesome job of being TD, and also to Reynolds and Sam who nursed their injuries at the scorers' table and helped everything run smoothly). It was a great showing for 3 teams composed of more than 50% rookies, and also a great way to start our season. Opening the season with a home tournament was great because it allowed almost all of our rookies to get some experience without having to travel far or sleep on the floor, and the level of competition was just right - no teams that were out of our league and no teams that didn't give us a good run. Hopefully it goes just as well next year, I'm sure it will.

Hucktoberfest

Wow, what can I say about this tournament? It was awesome. We got stuck in the Open (B) Division which I wasn't crazy about at first, but in the end it wasn't the worst thing that could have happened. Having originally planned on bringing an X/Y split squad to this tourney, seemingly everyone had something to do and we were forced to bring one team with the awkward roster size of 22. With such a large roster we were forced to call lines on every point, and nobody played more than 2 points in a row until the last game Saturday against St. Thomas. This game was to decide the winner of our pool and although everybody played at least a few points in that game, the lines were called much tighter than earlier in the day. Purple Reign came out hard, with excellent handler movement and cutters that wouldn't stop moving. We traded points for most of the first half until The Ultimate Player Formerly Known As Puddles came up with a huge layout D, the first of his career, allowing us to put it in and take half 7-5. The game was capped and we ended up winning 10-8.

After a great day of ultimate we hit the showers, set up our tents at the campgrounds, and headed into town for dinner. The minors went to some place that doesn't matter and the 21+ went to Fat Jack's, the host of the Tournament party. A lot of stuff happened, but all that really matters is that we got free pitchers of Long Island iced teas, a $5 pitcher of lunchbox, and some great food while we soaked in the beauty of winning our pool for what may have been the first time ever (Fact check me, Pat) in ISU history. Then we went back to the campgrounds and got over $2,000 in drinking tickets for the minors. whoops...

Sunday was a lot cooler and cloudier, with the wind picking up a little also. We stuck it to a solid Valpo squad in our first game and fell victim to shitty marks and bad throws into the wind in our Semis game against DePaul. They deserved the win, and we went home tied for 3rd in the B bracket (I'm still not sure why this game wasn't played out, and a littled bit p.o.'d too).

It's getting late, and I'm getting tired, so I'll pick this up tomorrow or later in the week and I'll end with a list of some things I liked about this fall:

-A huge freshman class that made me feel a lot more comfortable about the future of ISU Ultimate
-A combined record of 17-13 as X/Y teams
-Winning the pool at Hucktoberfest
-Free pitchers of Long Island, and a $5 pitcher of lunchbox
-Not being the only captain - It was awesome to have Doug and Steve to turn to for help/support
-1 Large Powerade

Test Post

2008-10-26T17:56:00.000-07:00

This is my first time using blogger, so I'm just experimenting with the text editor a little bit. Not too exciting...maybe I should learn HTML.

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CP Secitonal

Chi Invite Recap

Goals for Huck Finn

Practice Attendance

Slumber Party: Midnight Edition

You are Invited to Chicago in 1 Month

Knox Recap

Knoxxx Winter Whiteout: ULTIMATE!!!!!!!

Winter Work

How to be more like Crack

Glory Days 2009

Western This Weekend

Water Up - A Guide To Being Awesome

Goals Goals and Goals!!!!!

ISU Women's Ultimate Blog

MVPs 09

Sectionals Results

The Series Preview

Huck Finn Preview - courtesy of Peteo

ISU D Huck Finn Preview

Huck Finn Schedule

Guest recap - EIU Tourney by T-Dig

A break from posting

Chicago Invite Preview - ISU Women

Chicago Invite Preview - ISU Open

High Tide Recap

High Tide (kind of a preview)

ISU Ultimate History

Handler Defense

Winning from the sideline

Guest Article: Open Side Dump Cuts by Nick McDuffee

Knox Review

Knox Preview

Inspiration

Back in the high life again

Swimming for Exercise?

My Knee

Get Excited

Top Links

Writer's slump?

Huckumentary Predictions

Making the Team, Part III - Special Teams?

Making the Team, Part II - Defense

Making the Team, Part I

Glory Days 2008

Fall 2008, Part 2

Fall 2008, Part 1

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