Dump D

Defense is the most exciting part of ultimate (in my opinion). I mean, offense is fun in that there are spectacular grabs, sick puts, great movement, and absolute shreddage; but the defensive aspect of the game successfully combines strategy and execution with the idea of "b*tching" the person your covering in the air, on the ground, on the mark. Throwing or catchign a score is sweet, but nothing feels better then getting a point block on game point, or a lay out bid to prevent a score, or skying some foo in the end zone. 

Time to get boring now... you've had your glory with the upfield D, but now to address defense in the "backfield" or what is more commonly known as Dump-D. Defending a handler is no easy task. Look around the game, you will seldom find a "slow" handler... except maybe from UCLA-B a couple years ago... (just kidding). Their job is to keep the offense flowing while advancing the disc to the upfield cutters. However; we all know that there's a defense covering the cutters so there are times where the defense stalls and the stall count advances. Bring in the Dump! I blogged a couple months ago about the dump, and now I'm gonna talk about shutting that dump down. 

I'm gonna break this down into two categories. Through my experience, I've found that handlers can be broken down into two major categories. Granted, there will always be exceptions to these but from playing the past 3 years, this is my observation.

1. Tall and/or Swift

examples: Steven Lowe (UCI), Matt Khosh( UCI), Keegan Uhl (LA Metro), Marcos Perez (CSULB), Kief Zangaro (SD), Amy Chang (UCSD Psychos) Daze (SDSU), Sam Swink (UC Davis), Tommy Li (Claremont), Enway Hsu (UCI), Brian Chen (UCSD), Barrs Lang (Notre Dame), Adam Simon (Johnny Bravo), Julian Dahl (Colorado). 

The key to their success is partly their size and their first step. In defending these types of handlers, they will take a quick first step back behind the disc for the easy pass, or will burn your ass up the line for the quick power position throw. These guys are usually pretty lanky with long arms/ and or will rely on their body mass and position to gain posession of the disc (not calling any of you guys fat). Their direction is pretty predictable I've found... but they still get the disc because of speed, body position (before and after the release), and their height. 

How to defend them: Your body position needs to be more advantageous than theirs. The critical part of the dump is to not allow the up line. The up-line dump is instrumental in many offenses and granting such a throw to many teams will result in a breakdown in defenses and/or the lethal huge huck. I found that for these guys that are bigger than I am, I really try to give them backfield dump. They'll get the disc on an easy dish from the mark, but they gain -3 yards and I'm right there to set the mark. The dump will most likely push up field initially, running right at you to get you on your heels before blowing by you or cutting back for the dump. This is where the body position comes in. If you allow any sort of daylight between the dump and the up line, you've lost. It is critical to use your own body to deter the upline and force the dump backwards. If they run into your body (assuming you've occupied that space already), and knock you over, it is a valid foul call. If the dump is looking for the up line regardless... sometimes the thrower will throw a high lofty up line pass where these guys can rip it down. [Insert body position again]. The "inside" is prime real estate. If your dump somehow runs on the inside track (between you and the line), the dump throw is made 20x easier. Avoid this... use your body. I find myself always thinking to myself, "Dictate." Defense is all about dictating the offense. You make them go where YOU want them to go. Don't chase. Chasing is for lazy people. Body position the crap out of these type of handlers and make them go where you want to go. Then swoop in for the mark and don't get that swing off. 

If you have the speed to beat them, use your body to your advantage. Deny the upline and if you're quick enough... go mess up their backfield dump, but be aware that they may bust up the line again. I remember getting ridiculously fooled on Dump D against SDSU because I assumed that he was going up and then back. He went up, then back then up-field again. Body position is your #1 friend in dump defense. Speed is secondary. 

2. The f***ing Squirrels  ---->    ------*juke*----*juke*-----*sprint*--->

examples: Tyler Bacon (Cal Poly SLO), Dan Smeltzer (CSULB), Scott Roeder (UCI), Ratchet and DaVinci (UCLA), Bamboo (UCSD), Iris Leung (UCI), Bob "808" Liu (LPC), Ed "Biclops" Melo (UCLA), Jen "Zip" Chen (UCLA), Allen Lai (UCI).

How to cover them: When I find myself marking up on squirrely handlers... It all comes down to what I talked about before (body position, and speed), but also requires an additional knowledge of vision, or discerning between where the squirrel wants to go and where he is pretending he is going. 

Raise your hand if you've ever been juked out of your shoes to the point where you almost or did fall over or totally found yourself completely out of position and 10 yards behind the dump. (raises hand). Yea, I've been there. It's not very fun. The difference between the Tall and/or Swift crew and the Squirrels is that the squirrels come at you THAT much faster and rely on trickery and jukes to get what they want. The disc to them is an acorn (sorry for the poor analogy) and they want the disc in their posession so they'll do crazy things for it. I've seen a dump fall down, get up, and burn his guy who slowed up thinking the guy had hurt himself or a foul was called. 

Being categorized as a "squirrel" myself, the typical dump cut starts with a quick step either back for the disc or directly up field at the dump defender. Let's just assume the defender is playing the no up line. If I cut straight up the line, I will most likely run into the defender so my options here would be to blow by the guy inside for the disc, or cut straight back for the disc. The biggest difference is the rate in which the squirrel can change direction. Many of these handlers can turn on a dime and blow by defenders. This is another importance in body positioning and vision. When guarding these speed demons, I watch their hips/legs and not their upper bodies or eyes. The direction in which their legs go will dictate their path. Many handlers will throw head fakes or shoulder fakes to cause a hesitation in the defender. Don't bite on this stuff! Watch their hips, hold your ground and use your body to knock them off their intended path. 

On the end line, many iso-plays will come from the dump-handler position. In this case, tight defense is required. This is where the squirrel is at his best. They will take quick steps to throw you on your heels and then make their move up the line while you're still trying to get back on your feet. What I tend to do is to fake hard for the backwards dump pass. I make it as real as I can and then when I see the defender bite and commit to my cut, I will change directions and blow up line for the score. See now you know how to defend me.... but even though you know it's coming, how are you going to stop it? Back to basics. Body position (don't let me up that line... backwards dump >>>>> up line dump), Speed (close the gap between you and the dump once he gets the disc to prevent the swing OR the upfield huck), and Vision (watch my hips and my feet). 

It's difficult for me to discuss this topic without any visuals, but I guess all that I write will have to suffice. Defending the squirrels is more physical than most people think it to be. Squirrels will try to just squeak by you on the inside track for the up line and will try to blow through any physical contact you try to put on them. As a defender, you need to have quick feet. Quick small steps so that you're not caught mid-stride while the squirrel changes direction. It's not an easy task, but hopefully I've shed some light on how to guard squirrels. That said... I still have a lot of difficulty defending squirrels... even though I am one myself.

This isn't a full comprehensive way to defend the dump D, but I hope that it has helped. The offensive dump will always have an advantage over the dump defender, but the goal of the defender is to narrow the advantage and deny your dump the disc. If you can prevent your dump from getting the disc, you've overachieved your job and should be commended. Remember... good teams will look to keep the disc moving; so the dump will be activated as early as stall 3 or 4, meaning you need to haul ass and work for 5 or 6 seconds. So if you get burned up the line the first couple times, adjust! Watch the handler's tactics and the way he runs his dumps. Adjust your body positioning relative to the dump and the disc, and then adjust the way you counter his cuts. With practice and experience, it'll become a normal part of the defense, but your efforts will be recognized when the handler has no one to throw to at stall 8. Nothing gets me more pumped up than frustrating an opposing handler and denying him from doing what he wants to do. 

Have a Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year everyone!

Freakin' squirrels.... ugh

-Hammie #10

Captaining my first team

Several months ago, a friend of mine whom I play pick-up with asked me if I wanted to help him captain the team in the upcoming Chino Hills Fall League. At first I was a bit apprehensive, figuring that I was comfortable with taking a back-seat role on the team and just playing and not worrying about the "captainy" aspects of Ultimate. However; as I thought about it, the more I was up for the challenge and eventually accepted the offer.

So I've been playing competitive ultimate for about 3.5 years now, and it's amazing to look back and see how far I've actually developed in terms of my field sense, disc handling, etc. One thing I didn't put an emphasis on in terms of my development as an ultimate player was leadership. Most people don't really know that I played high school volleyball at the varsity level for 4 years and captained the team my senior year. I knew what it was like to lead a team through tough situations and to encourage unity in a team oriented sport. I believe the reason that I didn't have a desire to lead an ultimate team in the years past was based on the fact that I didn't know enough to lead. Ultimate was and is still pretty novel to me and even now I am still trying to understand offensive strategies and what not. I was the wide-eyed, confused little handler who got ridiculously confused while playing and I had to learn the most out of my mistakes.

Fast forward 3 years later, and I've had that much more experience playing with teams such as UCI, LA Metro, and countless pick-up teams. I picked up as much as I could, learning from the various captains and leaders of the teams I was a part of. When asked to captain this team of pick-up players known as "rocket-sauce," I had to really think about it. This was a group of huge variety, ranging from new first-time players, to people in their 40's who have been playing ultimate for longer than I've been alive. There was a wide range of skill levels, styles of play, and mentalities on this team and I knew that the hardest part would be to get our team playing well together.

We're playing our last league game this friday for 3rd place. We put up a regular season record of 4-2 and lost in the semi-finals 12-15. We did have loose practices, with several drills putting emphasis on dump swings, breaking the mark, and end zone options but for the most part, the work was all done in-game.  The difficulty for me was in calling lines. I had never called lines before and now realize how much is needed to call the right line and the right moment. I had to think about who had which throws, who was fresh, who was playing well, who wasn't... and trying to find a good dynamic with the team. Getting everyone playing time was most important, but I still wanted to call lines that made the most sense for the moment.

Then there was dealing with the heated moments. We weren't playing well, we were dropping, throwing things away, etc. etc. I had maybe 4 or 5 other people telling me what we were doing wrong, what we needed to do... many of those ideas conflicting with each other. I remember calling time out and telling everyone to just breathe. Slow it down and we'll figure this out. 

Didn't work...

Some players were still hot-headed and getting on my case for not putting on the right match-ups, or not exploiting their weaknesses, calling the wrong lines, etc. It was a rough night for me and even though we lost that game, I don't think I would have handled it any differently. I learned a lot from that night, that I can't deal with every single person in the same manner. I'm a guy who's all for teaching through encouragement and discipline, however I realized with some people, I need to be more firey with. It's all about finding a way to get your team to buy into your system and to execute it with them knowing that it works. 

Being in the leadership role for a team isn't easy, and I'm still learning to lead by example on and off the field. I hope one day to be able to captain another group and I still have Rocketsauce this coming quarter to captain. I'll definitely be open to criticism, encouragement, and tips of the art of captaining an ultimate team. I'll keep ya'll posted. Till then, listen to your captains. Play hard, do it for your team.

-Hammie 

Best Third Jerseys in the NHL

Family

Southwest Regionals, Denver, Colorado

So it all comes down to this. I still remember the first point I played with this club team. It was weird running down the field and not seeing the familiar faces that was Irvine NightLife to my left and right. It was weird getting to know how each player played and what my role on the team was.

Five tournaments, later... I think we've come together as a team quite nicely. We're off to Colorado to fight for two spots at the UPA Club Nationals in Sarasota, Florida. We have a tough road ahead of us as we will be playing the top teams from Arizona and Colorado, not to mention very good teams from California as well. 

Whatever happens this weekend, playing with LA Metro has been full of memories. I've loved this team since day one and once the season is over, whether it be on Sunday, or at the end of the month, I am very grateful and lucky to have played for a team of this caliber. 

So wish us luck, we're off tonight. No more apologies... no more screw ups... 

This is what we've been practicing for. This is when it counts, and this is when it matters.

Get psyched Metro! 

-hammie

Labor Day Frisbee Championships: Elite Coed

LAMetro is in San Francisco!!!!


updates coming soon

Chico Wrap-up

Chico, California. A small little town with more bars/pubs than supermarkets, and home of the Sierra Nevada Brewery. LA Metro traveled up to this small town, population of a little over 100,000 for Discos Calientes V.

No pools were posted and when we got to the fields, we discovered that not only were we seeded 1st, that the scheduling dictated a 1:15pm start time on Sunday, meaning we would probably miss our 7:35 flights. So before any warmups, all the people on those flights had to call and change the flights. inconvenient... but necessary. Our first game was against the #3 team in our pool, Humboldt. Our squad of 5 girls and 10 guys (missing 3 girls and 4 guys) played sluggishly the first game, with various turns and throw-aways but we muscled it out for a what i remember was a 13-8 or 13-9 win. Of note... Jello shots afterwards =)

Game 2 = good flow + great defense = 13-0 win over the Red Hots.

The third game proved to be the most difficult of the day against BAG, a group out of Davis that included several open players from YR (yeah right). They played well and we traded points for the majority of the game. Their handler set was difficult to contain as they ran the quick give and go's. It came down to 10's with us on D. We generated the D and while we were working it up, Hard-cap blew and we scored the last point to squeak out the win 11-10. There was some mild arguing over several calls, but in all it was a clean game and showed us what we needed to work on. (Cutting + disc movement).

Game 4 of the first day was a cross-over that put us against the Chico co-ed team. In short, they didn't do too much with the disc and we won the game (forgot the score) and finished the day 4-0. Although we had went undefeated, we had many kinks and bad habits to make up for. We talked about them during the cool down and went into a night of just rest, relaxation, brewery time, and lots of food.

Day 2 started out disasterously. First game was 11:45 and by 12:00 we were already down 4-1. We were playing GNT (gin and tonic) and they simply out matched us physically and on the disc. They ran harder than us, faster than us, and consequently their throws didn't have to be spot on. Our cutters weren't running through the disc and mentally, we didn't show up. The result was a 13-5 loss in the quarters to a team we knew we could have matched up against. The lone highlight of the game (atleast from what I saw) was a huge lay-out D zippy style on the goal line to stop the score. ALthough she landed funny and KO'd the air out of her as well as gave herself whiplash... it was some sexy D. Great job zip!.

I've never seen our team so down or upset over a loss this year. True, we've lost to teams such as Mischief, but there's no crappier feeling than beating yourself. We knew what we did wrong and our captains did a GREAT job in getting us mentally prepared for the next game. We pretty much blitzed the next team and went up 5-0, throwing a 1-3-3 zone with Scott Wonderboy chasing. The ladies in the wall had some great reaction D's and what we did DIFFERENTLY this game was play psycho D and then calm it down on Offense. Although we could have been more chilly with the disc on O, we did well and cruised to a 13-6 (?) win.

It was a great win both physically and mentally. We were successful in tanking it in quarters, but what I'm more proud of was the way our weekend captain (martha) picked us up mentally and assured us that we would be fine. Although we were missing several of our best playmakers and captains, our core group of players meshed together, made adjustments when needed, and bonded more as a team. This was a really fun weekend, atleast for me and it makes me even more psyched for what this club season will bring.

If only it wasn't so gawd freaking HOT in Chico (100+ the first day, 80 the next).


Highlights and random shenanigans

- Zip lay out D
- Barrs refusing to land on his feet and rather on his face
- BREWERY
- Cheap Beer
- Cheap Mexican food
- Enway sleeping in the closet
- $5.00 chicken fried steak
- Ball peen hammer
- Ice-water misters (best idea ever!)
- Pregnant Pause
- Nicole's speed (never gets old)
- Yugo's toe
- Watering Hole
- Red Bull
- and more Barrs in more places


Until the Labor Day Ultimate Championships in San Francisco, CA.

-Hammie #10

LAmetro

currently in Chico, CA



=)

Breaking the Mark

As a handler, your job is to keep the disc in the offense's possession and to allow for upfield throws or dumps that will keep the offense flowing; all the while looking for opportune spots and openings to score.

There is no way any defense can cover the entire field so the mark is set to cut off one half of the field so that the defenders down-field only have to cover 1/2 the area as opposed to worrying about all of it. Theoretically...

As a handler, the offense flows through you and the goal is to yes move the disc, but more so to put the offense in the most advantageous position to score. We all know that the best way to do this is to throw the disc where the defenders aren't, leaving us with breaking the mark.

A couple teammates and I would constantly play "break-mark" but more often then not, we would play a little game we like to call "douche the mark." Straight up force, start at stall 5, the thrower would do anything in his arsenal to get the disc to the receiver all the while being defended by the mark. We'd see upside down throws, throws with no spin, between the legs stuff, and fakes for the ages. Now I don't condone these things in terms of a serious ultimate game, but you get the idea. Essentially, when you break the mark, you do exactly what the defense doesn't want you to

To me, there are several key points that are important in breaking the mark.

1. The Fake
For all of you who've been point blocked, this is for you. The fake is as essential a part to the break mark as the actual throw itself. If you fake the open-side throw, chances are the defender is going to find himself cheating a bit just to (hopefully) get a point block on you, but when this happens, recognize and react. A break-throw doesn't require that much space. You need only an additional amount of inches for this to happen. Fake open side, your defender will bite or even just merely shift their weight towards that side, and then you bring yourself back over to the break side, and you do your thing. Low release, high release, whatever it is... a break is a break.

Standing there just using your arm to throw fakes isn't good enough. It might be enough to look off your receiver, but a good fake requires your entire body. This involves stepping out, or pivoting your hips or your shoulders, making your fake motion as close to your actual throwing motion as possible. We have a guy on our team by the name of KG that has turned people around and even had people turn around and run upfield thinking that he released the disc. His fakes are full body commitments, not simple arm motions. A good mark isn't going to buy cheap fakes. Settle for the best. Use your legs. Pivot Pivot Pivot!

2. The Throw
Against great defenders, chances are that you won't get many opportunities to break. But there are several things you can think about and if you work on them, you'll find yourself better equipped. Low release breaks are effective, pretty as hell, but difficult to throw. What you count on is that your throw will fly past your defender several inches below their hand or foot and rise up to the receiver at a catchable height. High releases are difficult in that they are probably the most easily blocked if not done correctly. Either you quickly release it over their heads or behind their off shoulder, or you throw a hard fake and catch the defender bending at the waist for a short throw and then pop it over them.

Defenders that are riding you on the mark I've found to be the easiest to break. Given the rules w/ disc-space, most defenders will ride your pivot foot, theoretically taking away that break throw. But if they are really close, all you need to do is step through and throw through. It's very difficult for a mark to defend that kind of throw and additionally, there will most likely be contact which will result in a defensive foul and a free throw. (Keep good spirit in mind). You step through and throw through, the defender will almost always be caught off guard, adjust and move into your path, contact, foul, free throw, etc. etc. You guys get the point.

3. Respect
A really important aspect is respect from the defender. Most of the time in ultimate, you're defended by someone you don't know. You don't know how they throw, how fast they are, how good they actually are. You learn more about your opponent as you play and adjust as you go. The flip side is that they don't know anything about you either. From experience, people look at me and think, okay short, asian, gotta be a handler. I'm not that menacing I must say but one of the first things I try to do when I handle against teams is the establishment of my throws. Let them know you have them. Let them know you have that low release break throw, high release break throw. Let them know that their mark is nothing against you. Okay you break their mark 3 straight times on the backhand side. Yea they're gonna be scared whenever you have the disc and they're gonna tighten up their mark even more by taking away more of the break side. On top of that, the mark's defenders are going to be thinking, man this guy can break our marks any day, I'm gonna play tighter on D "just in case" we get broken.

Now how advantageous is that!? The defenders are worried sick about your break throws, so they have to almost cheat closer to the break side to make up for it. The result? Easier open side cuts for the offense. The offense flows better, open side throws are a since, and you score in 4 throws. But also keep in mind that you will still be able to break their force and thus causing the wonderful and sexy sight that is a dump swing for the break side cut. Demanding respect is something as important as actually having the throw. You make the defense believe that you have those break throws, or that 40 yard hammer, they're gonna expect it and although THOSE options might be taken away via tighter breakside mark or a deep watching for the hammer, it opens up a lot more and makes the game SIMPLE and BORING. Boring Ultimate is efficient and methodical. And it almost always results in a score.


Break the Mark! Try it sometime! =)

-hammie

Pleasuretown Throwdown WRAP

This will be a pretty brief post, as it is already midnight and I have a 6:00am wake up call.

LA Metro went down to San Diego for the 3rd annual P-town throw down. We came ready to tear it up and in short went 4-0 the first day. The first several points of the game were very sloppy with multiple turns from both sides but we eventually cleaned up our game and closed out the team in the 2nd half. The next several games went well and our last game of the day was against Cowabunga, the 2nd seed in the Pool. This bunch was made up of players mainly from Last Call and Safari, San Diego open and women's teams respectively. The game was close most of the way, and saw a pivotal break from Cowabunga via Callahan goal. It was a pretty sick goal with Rookie running down on the pull and laying out for the score off our first throw. We eventually capitalized on several turns and took the game 13-10. We were 4-0 at the end of the first day. woo go metro!


The second day arrived and we played the last seed in our pool winning 13-0 in about 35 minutes. Sunday also saw the arrival of our captain and he pretty much rallied the troops and we responded. The next two games were pretty close in the beginning with teams trading scores. Both ended with our team pulling away with multiple goal runs and winning handily. Wind was definitely playing a factor as we stuck down our zone and were able to generate turns.

So our team has made finals in 2 of the 3 tournaments we had played in, losing to Mischief twice in the finals. This time however; we were faced with a rematch with Cowabunga, which beat blackout in the semis. The beginning was close again with points being traded but then saw our traditional 2nd half run and we raced out to a 14-7 lead. What happened next is something that we won't forget. Cowabunga started going nuts. Before we knew it, they had rolled off a 6-0 run and we were sitting at 14-13. We were downwind and finally put an end to the game with a downwind huck from Keegan to Barrs for the winning goal.

LA Metro wins the first tournament in its short history going 8-0. We are all really excited for our next tournament up at Discos in Chico, and then Labor Day in San Francisco. It's gonna be a sick-nasty club season. =)

Watch out... we're gonna be wearing some crazy jerseys this year!

-hammie














pictures courtesy of Amy "meeko" Chang. thanks meeko!

The Adventures of Lefty S

A Brief history to what has been the most reoccurring injury in my entire life.


Number 1
Early April of '06

Bunch of friends went up to Mountain High. LAST run of the day, going down the home stretch, sun straight in my eyes, didn't see a mini-ramp. Suddenly got airborne and tried to land balanced. Landed a lot harder than I expected and my upper body crashed down but I instinctively stuck my left arm down to steady myself. The result was about 200+ pounds of force onto it and it dislocated. But I wasn't done wiping out. The pain was incredible and I ate the snow and tumbled all w/ my shoulder out. I managed to pop it back in myself (I learned how to on TV somehow), and snowboard slowly back down to the mountain for Medical Treatment.

Number 2
Regionals 2006

Made a really hard cut during the game vs. New Mexico, and my cleats gave way on the cruddy La Jolla grass, left arm down to instinctively right myself. Second pop. LOTS of pain. This was the first one caught on video. lol gross.

Number 3
Club Sectionals 2006

I made an effort to play at sectionals with the Long Beach team, but this time while playing UCLA, i laid out for a D, almost got it and landed awkwardly and thus forcing a THIRD dislocation. This was the most severe one I had, and a doctor from Faded basically had to lay me down, stick his CLEAT into my left armpit and YANK on my left arm to get it back into the socket.


Number 4
Labor Day, 2006
Playing with EBAY at this Coed tournament. Long story short, laid out 2 feet up in the air to snag a throw, landed hard... POP. Right then and there, the pain was so great I almost passed out.

Time for some Medical treatment right?

I went to the doctor a 3rd time and he recommended Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, so I went to Pro Sport Therapy for 6-7 weeks and had exercises done to strengthen my rotator, as well as massages to even out the scar tissue. Apparently I was the first injury there from Ultimate Frisbee. I should seriously ask them to put my jersey up on their wall with all the ones from the Ducks and Angels lol.

Number 5
Southwest Regionals, 2007

So the therapy helped immensely and I was back playing without the pain. However, after our first round loss to UCSD in Arizona, we were running a cup drill where I was part of the cup. We crashed and with my left arm out, and a teammate crashed right into the back of my shoulder really really hard. The force was enough to knock me down as well as dislocate my shoulder the 5th time. This one pissed me off the most because it wasn't even in a game, and it was the first one after all that work trying to rehab it. That was it... I was out the rest of the season and for the club season.

Number 6
Irvine Invite, 2008

On the mark, shot my arm out really fast to block a high release... bad idea. This dislocation was the warning light... my shoulder is a lot more jacked up than I thought. It didn't even take lay out bids, or collisions to knock it loose... It was dislocating with my own motions and force. Surgery is definitely needed in the future.

Number 7
Yesterday

My roommates and I went swimming and were doing lay-outs into the pool. I ran really hard for one, but slipped on the tile near the edge of the pool. The force of my upper body going nowhere coupled w/ my lower body slipping contorted my body and my arms went in different directions. My shoulder was already being pushed to it's limit and by hitting the water at a very awkward angle, the shoulder popped. It hurt pretty bad but what was worse was that obviously I didn't have my shirt on, so my roommates were treated to what a dislocated shoulder looks like. Pretty gross stuff.


Anyway... the plan now is to finish up this season (carefully), and plan Arthroscopic Surgery on my shoulder in the end of 2008. I want to thank all of you guys who have expressed concern for my shoulder... all the scoldings, all the encouragement. Thank you, and does anyone have any ibuprofin?

-Hammie

Get up and FLY

Five Ultimate ftw

Yesterday, Zippy, bobby, allen, steve, jerry, annie, danny, claire, thunder, enway, iris, and I all went to Huntington Beach for a day of sun, surf, ultimate, and bonfire. We played a couple games of 4 v. 4, ebay vs. metro, etc. etc., but the reason I'm writing this post is about what happened during the bonfire.

I was getting up to go get more firewood from my car and walked about 3 feet away from the fire when i realized my keys were on my chair. Allen was sitting in it so I asked him to fish my keys out of the little cup holder on the chair and toss them over to me. So basically I was standing about 5 feet away from allen when I asked him, but between him and me was the bonfire which had been burning hot for about an hour already. So as allen grabbed my keys and was about to fling them to me, the thought of my keys falling into the fire entered my head but I thought... haha no this guy made friggin' Santa Barbara Condors. If he can throw a disc with the best... what's a simple 4 foot toss?

FAIL!

My keys got caught on his sunglasses (I don't even know how), and fell into the fire. The result was everyone just staring at it in the fire going "!!!!" allen, being the awesome guy he was tried to blow the flame out and was mildly successful and managed with one swoop reach in and snag my keys out of the fire.

However the keys had already been in the fire for a good 5-10 seconds and with these pictures, you can see the damage that was done.

I have this 5 Ultimate keychain I got from Natties and it 's designed to hold a nailclipper, but the one I got was empty and it managed to fit my USB stick which originally broke off my keychain. So I had that in there, and when it fell into the fire, the keychain began to melt and warp, but it managed to keep my USB stick from sustaining any damage. My little plastic cards on the keyring got all melted and burned, but otherwise, no harm done.

It was a funny moment. Just thought I'd share. =)


PICTURES





Five Ultimate FTW

-hammie

Los Angeles Metro Coed Ultimate Schedule

July 12-13
Pleasuretown Throwdown, San Diego, CA


August 16-17
Discos Calientes V, Chico, CA


August 30-31
Labor Day Frisbee Championships, San Francisco, CA


September
UPA Club Sectionals + Regionals, Location TBA

End of College Ultimate

It's currently mid-June. I had my commencement ceremony yesterday and it really hasn't hit me yet that I've finished my academics here at Irvine and am pretty set for the working world... so I think. First off, we as college students know that we are here to study, to pursue a degree in our respective fields, to succeed, to advance in life. That was my main mentality coming to UC Irvine, picking this university over UC Davis, and UC San Diego. It's been a long 4 years of study, and at this point, I'm actively pursuing several job opportunities and hopefully I will land one very shortly.

However; a big part of my college experience was in fact playing college ultimate. This experience has not only provided me the skills to compete at the highest level of ultimate, but has also provided lifelong friendship and so much more. I did not play my freshmen year of college, even despite dorming with the men's captain. Call it laziness, lack of effort, I simply did not want to play despite already playing a bit in high school. I committed to play my second year and quite honestly, it has been one of the best decisions of my life. Whether it be playing my first tournament at UC Santa Barbara, to my last tournament at UC San Diego, it has been one hell of a ride.

The time between my first line against UCSC-B and my final line against Cal Poly- SLO, I've seen our team ranking hit as low as #238, to as high as the low 70's in the nation. I've caught and thrown one callahan, seen several greatests, played against new teams to the top ranked teamS in the nation. It's been an experience that I will never forget and I'll tell ya... if you guys ever want the definition of family, play ultimate.

So what now?

Our team is losing 6 valuable players due to graduation or loss of eligibility.

=========================================

Allen Lai, is hands down the craziest player I've been blessed to play with. This guy has the complete package. Accurate short and long throws of all varieties, upside down or break. He has the ability to run deep on the opposition's best defenders and will snag almost anything in the air or chase down anything with his crazy speed and lay outs. He's coached our team and has shown great dedication and love to all who have played here at Irvine for the past several years.

Matt Khosh has proven to everyone in the region that he cannot be covered. Like everyone knows on our team, if we need an open cutter, Khosh can be relied on to get open. Not only is he our main deep threat, he has the throws and above all the leadership and experience to get it done. His ability to calm or pick up our team is priceless and his hard work and skills will be greatly missed.



Steven Lowe is our lovable super senior. His skills although not as flashy as many others is just as meaningful and essential whether it be his hucks, break throws, or overall vision on the field, he's been a leader on and off the field. His ability to snag the huge hucks that we put up or his D's on deep hucks, Steve gets it done. His experience and willingness to sacrifice for the team will definitely be remembered. Great work Steve! You are one ultimate frisbee baller.




Jerry Yang is our token lefty. Along with Matt and Steve, he was one of the first members of UCI ultimate and over the years has shown that he is one of the main handlers and cutters on the team. His huge lefty huck was one of his signature throws, along with his ability to cut hard and get open in his shiny new not-released-yet nike cleats. His focus on the game was something I wanted and he was never hesitant to tell people what to do if it would help the team. Over the past year he has developed his deep game and the result? Freaking sky machine. Put it up to Jer-bear.. He'll chase it down and snag it over anyone.



Max Zimmerly- One of the coolest people on the team both on and off the field. His knowledge of the game, his crazy throws along with his deep ability make him one of the most valuable players on our team. His ability to calm our team down or to assure that we would be okay make him both a joy to play with as well as be around. We'll miss you Max! You are friggin' awesome!


So there you have it. My career with the NightLife of the University of California, Irvine is complete. I've played dozens of games with this team, and have learned so much about myself through this game. I'm going to miss all the members still playing on the team next year and wish nothing but the best for the team, both on and off the field. A special shout out to the Freshmen. Stiggy, Phil, and Sherlock. I've enjoyed all the time spent with you guys. You three are an awesome trio that will do nothing short of dominating the ultimate field next year. Continue to play hard, and don't be afraid to speak up if you know it will help the team. Phil... keep skying people. Sherlock... keep laying out for the D, but not gratuitously. STIG... you do whatever you have to do. You guys are awesome, and I will truly miss you guys.


I'll post more later, but these are my thoughts for right now.


I'll never forget my experiences here at Irvine. Nightlife 05-08... best 3 years ever!


take care everyone


-hammie #10

Avoid this energy drink

Avoid this drink at all costs. Although it looks harmless, it packs the worst punch I've ever felt. I drink a lot of energy drinks so my mentality was that I could handle it, but there was nothing that could have described what I was going to experience. After I had it, I did some reading online and found out that this energy drink induces fat burn but involuntarily stimulating muscle contraction (shivering). I took my resting heart rate and it was elevated up to 90... up from my normal resting of about 60 or 65. On top of that, I felt cold, then hot, then cold again and all the while, could feel my heart beating faster and my blood flowing.

AVOID THIS DRINK

It's not worth it. I can handle 2 Red bulls at one time... but one small 8 fl. oz bottle of this stuff and it almost sent me to the hospital. Please avoid this drink. It's dangerous. I mean it

-hammie

UPA College Nationals Day 3

FINALS

After 2 days of hard fought ultimate, we reached the finals pitting Florida UFUCT vs. the Hodags of Wisconsin-Madison. It was hyped up to be a good game with a lot of big plays and great all around Ultimate. However; things changed as the game went on.

I guess Florida forgot to show up. During the game however, it was ridiculously windy and we saw the teams adjusting to the wind during warmups. However, as the game wore on, hucks were no longer good throws as the wind would snatch them up so we saw a lot of short game and zone... which turned out to be pretty boring.

In the end, Florida had some huge key drops and the game turned out to be a blowout with Wisconsin taking the championship 15-9, capitalizing on a Florida drop on their own end line. Highlights included the crowd boo-ing muffin of Wisco everytime he touched the disc, and the sheer amount of calls that were made (travels, picks, fouls, etc.)

Steve and I drove back to the airport after watching UBC go on a 10-1 run against UCSB in the Women's final to take the Women's championship 15-9 (after being down 5-8). Ridiculous

Anyhoo, here are some pictures and a sweet Video that I just uploaded from Pool play.


CBS College Sports (used to be CSTV) was there to cover the action

Pre-game huddles

Timeout-called

Wisconsin Hodags. 2008 Open Champions

zippy and hammie = unstoppable





watch this sick D by Georgia from Pool Play

-Sam

UPA Nationals Day 2

Pre-Quarters + Quarterfinals We arrived at the fields after the pre-quarters games had been played and settled in for what would be several exciting games. First game we watched was the quarter between Carelton and Georgia as well as Wisconsin and Harvard. The games were close but the favorites advanced. Carleton over Georgia, Wisconsin over Harvard, Florida over Arizona (BIG), and Colorado over Illinois in a semi-close game

This set up some really narly Semi-finals of CUT vs. Florida, and Wisconsin vs. Colorado. The decision was now ours of which semi-final to watch. We watched BLU tear it up against Carleton first and then decided to watch the Wisco vs. mambird game.

The game itself was very close in the beginning. Colorado broke Wisconsin right away and on the next pull, Wisconsin DROPPED the pull in the end zone but Colorado was unable to convert. The game was close with Wisconsin eventually breaking back to take half 8-7. Colorado began to play very sloppily and it resulted in Wisconsin taking 3 straight points and eventually winning 15-10.


It was difficult to watch as the majority of the capacity crowd was pulling for Colorado to win. On the other semi-final, Florida was absolutely demolishing CUT, taking half 8-1. They eventually won 15-6, but it was very one-sided and not many people were over at the field watching.

This set up the final of Wisconsin vs. Florida for Tomorrow @ noon.

Should be good =)


Here's some pictures from today's action



Semifinal #2 (Hodags vs. Colorado)

Hodags vs. Colorado (Big crowd to watch this one)

Joseph Kershner of Arizona wins the UPA Open Callahan Award for 2008 (Here pictured with 2007 winner, Dan Heijman of Wisconsin)

Me and my buddy steve at the fields before the Wisconsin, Colorado semifinal




Carlton vs. Georgia (Quarter finals)



TILL the finals

-Sam

UPA Nationals Day 1

So Day 1 of the UPA College Nationals began at 8:30am. We left our hotel around 7:45 to beat the traffic and arrived at the site at around 8:15. The site was awesome. It was quite a site as we walked in from the gate. Pool play began around 8:30 so when we got there, all we saw were teams warming up, pumping themselves up, getting themselves ready for the game. We started off the day at the booths that were selling Nationals merchandise. I picked up a couple discs for some friends and then we wandered onto the field, looking for a good game to watch.

We decided to watch Wisconsin vs. Stanford, and I'm glad we did since it turned out to be a good game. Stanford was up 2 breaks before the defending champs clawed their way back (mostly because of their ridiculous deep game) and won 15-13. We then made our way over to watch the women's side, with BLU playing against Maryland. BLU played well with great handling from Taz and D from gizmo, along with overall solid play from KIX and Cozmo.

During the next round, we watched Colorado play Santa Cruz, as well as Florida play Delaware. Both games were pretty lop-sided so I walked over to watch Stanford play Arizona. That turned out to be a good game as both teams were pretty evenly matched, with Arizona pulling out the win eventually.

The 3rd and 4th rounds started 1/2 an hour apart (4:00 and 4:30) and it was really difficult to watch since there were so many great games on. How do you choose between watching Carlton vs. Colorado or watching Wisconsin vs. Arizona. So what we did was watch the first half of the latter, and then RUN our butts over to field 1 to watch Carlton vs. Colorado. I was hoping that the games would be closer, but they both turned out to be one-sided with Colorado and Wisconsin winning by 6 and 9 respectively.

Although these games were about over, our attention switched over to watching our fellow UC team, Santa Cruz play against Dartmouth. They were up 3 or 4 but we saw Dartmouth mount a huge comeback and beat Santa Cruz. That meant that BOTH Northwest teams (Stanford and SC) were 0-3 and had no shot at quarters. =/

The attention of the tournament then went over to the Michigan vs. Texas game of Pool D. This pool already had 2 upsets and in this game, Texas was 0-2 and fighting for a chance to really stay in the tournament. When i got there, it was 13's. The teams traded points and it was an overall intense last couple points. Imagine the ENTIRE sideline and back end lines filled with other teams, spectators, cheering on Texas. That's what it was like. Texas eventually lost Universe point, and that left Texas at 0-3 and without a chance for the title.

We left the tournament satisfied, and look forward to the quarterfinal games for tomorrow.



Highlights

-Wisconsin vs. Stanford
Bloodthirsty went up 2 breaks on the defending champs and played very well. However; Wisconsin established the deep game and took the game 15-13.

- Michigan vs. Georgia
First upset of the day as Georgia upset Michigan in Pool D.

- Wisconsin vs. Arizona
The rematch of the TiV final proved to be a lopsided victory for the Hodags as they won 15-6

- Colorado vs. Carleton
Colorado goes up 8-2 at half on Carleton en route to a 15-9 win.

- Stanford and Santa Cruz
Both Northwest regional teams go 0-3 in pool-play, both losing their 3rd seed in their pools and dropping out of contention of the National Title.


Some pictures from the day:




Wisconsin vs. Stanford (15-13)


Texas vs. Michigan (16-17) *universe point)

UCLA vs. Maryland


Arizona breaks the huddle, before lining up against Wisconsin

Former Callahan winners were out for the action (Tim Gehret, Callahan Winner 2006)

Colorado on the line vs. Carlton

Boulder is Gorgeous




Pre-quarters, Quarters, and Semi's tomorrow

till then

-Hammy

UPA Nationals Day 0

Our flight got into Denver International Airport at around 8:15pm local time, the weather was cloudy, and about 50 degrees. We spent the first hour and a half or so riding the airport tram to the Avis car rental center and finally got our rental, a 2008 Ford Escape with only 300 miles on it., seriously.
Instead of driving straight to the airport, we drove an extra 25 minutes south from Denver to Littleton, where we met up with Zip and Maddog (BLU alumni), and had breakfast for lunch. It was a nice time just to unwind after a long day of traveling and to relax and eat some late night food. We dropped the two ladies back at their house and drove back to Aurora, where we checked in and where I am currently writing this blog for all of you guys to read. It's 11:30 local time, I'm pretty tired, but glad we got here on time.

Upcoming for tomorrow...

7:30am wakeup call and the 30 or 40 minute drive to Boulder where we will watch Pool Play action. Notable Games that I will try my best to watch/ film/ comment on:

BLU vs. North Carolina
Wisconsin vs. Arizona- a rematch of the Trouble in Vegas final
Colorado vs. Carleton
Colorado vs. UC Santa Cruz


I will try to watch other games, but I'll be running around the fields watching games all day. So until tomorrow's post...



Still doing work on the plane


California has Earthquakes, Colorado has tornadoes. You hide from them in men's bathrooms.


Temporary home for 3 nights


Car Rental companies "are stupid." Two keys that you can't remove?


From Denver,
-hammy

UPA Nationals

I'm going to Boulder, Colorado for the UPA College Nationals

I will be armed with a camera, a Sony Mini-cam, a laptop and free wifi


Let me know which games you want me to cover!

=)

How not to Huck

What rhymes with Orange?

i love ultimate... =)