What being a Gnome means

[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

[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

[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

[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

[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

[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

[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

[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!!!!!!!

[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

[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

[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

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

Western This Weekend

[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

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!!!!!

[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

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

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

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

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

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!