Essentials on the Road To Regionals: Part 1: The Trust Fall

So I think it's about time for a new blog series. I will call it "Essentials on the Road to Regionals"; pretty self explanatory: simple, necessary things that if done enough, our chances for Regionals 2010 will increase dramatically. All players on the Fighting Gobies should take these to heart and implement them in their daily "thizz over regionals" session. I hope my fellow bloggers will continue this blog series and get in on the fun.

Essential #1: The Trust Fall

Who: you and a fellow teammate, especially one that you need to increase your bro-ing out level, chemistry on the field, or just overall confidence in one another.
What: See below in description.
When: whenever you and your teammeate need it.
Where: anywhere, but preferably on an Ultimate field to increase your Ultimate awareness and passion.
Why: Playing, living, breathing, sleeping, dreaming, eating, training, and trust falling as a team is the only way we'll accomplish our goal of regionals

Description: Master Bro K.P. showed me this beautiful little bonding moment last night at the women's practice. One teammate stands behind the other, a short distance apart (a few feet to start, then further apart as your trust points are increased as you level up). The person in front is the "faller". He sticks his arms out horizontal. Before you make the fall, declare with passion 2-3 statements demonstrating your trust in your fellow teammeate (such as: Me: "Kevin, I know when I cut break, you will somehow find a way to release a beautiful backhand break to me for the score. Kevin, I know when in the rare case I get beat deep on defense, you will be there in a flash of speed and manliness to D the deep throw to my guy. Kevin, I know when I have a bad day, you will always be there to lean on for support and comfort."). Following these words of trust, the faller will proceed to fall backwards with no intentions of breaking the fall, placing all trust in his teammeate to catch him (OPTIONAL: faller can close eyes to increase sense of placing complete trust in teammate). The teammate will catch the faller with his powerful, muscular arms. You then switch roles, the faller becoming the catcher and vice versa.

Note: these procedures can be repeated if you feel you haven't reached the level of chemistry and trust needed to get to Regionals.

Note #2: Can also be done with multiple catchers as shown in the picture above; ideal for teamwide bonding.

If anyone needs a demonstration, let me know, I'm always glad to help show the path to regionals.

- Mark

Player Profile - Andy Coleman

Name: Andy Coleman
Nicknames: Bulge, The Bulge, Candy Coleman, Candy, ac, King of Air Alert
Age: 20 years young
Height: he'll sky you. that's all that matters.
Position(s): Used to mostly cut, now seems to be filling in the role as handler.
Special move(s): skying anyone that challenges him and super smooth throws

Description:
One half of the dominant force that hails from Pittsburgh, Andy's ultimate career really took off after completion of Air Alert III. Never before has anyone seen jumps so high or calves so big until Andy stepped onto the field in spring '09. In addition to being a beast of raw power as a deep threat, Andy has always had super smooth throws (see special moves) that helped the team this sectionals and will definitely be an integral part in our road to regionals next year. What, you're gonna cheat over on the mark and attempt to stop his beautiful flick? Oh, he'll just break you with an even more beautiful backhand for the score. If anything, his signature "bulge" will have opposing teams second guessing their own manliness and will have girls on the sideline thizzin' over him.

In fact, I wouldn't even try to sky him if I were you. Don't embarrass yourself.

- Mark

Milestone

Just some self-thizzin' but.... 1000 views!!! We are spreading our influence.

The summer, and getting intense

The majority of my colleagues are currently bogged down with their work for computer class (NERDS!), so I'm gonna take a break from my mediavision to draw up a post for all of you to chew on as your primary mode of entertainment this friday.


It was windy today. Then again, the winds of change never blow without letting you know. Also, its finally getting pretty warm outside. I guess you could say C-town is just preheating the oven for the regionals run we're cooking up this year. I ceremoniously removed the plastic window wrappings in our house in an unofficial declaration of the beginning of summer. I also signed up for Cleveland Summer League (Draft league), and am prepping for a nice warm season of ultimate. It'll be good to hear people on the field saying its "warm as balls" instead of "cold as balls" in the coming months.

After our appropriately-lengthed end of year meeting last night, we held a co-ed scrimmage with the ladies. It was in a word "chill-gressive". The mood was light, but the playing was hard. We're all excited to see the ladies rock out with their ovaries out in Oberlin next weekend, and we're ready to cheer them on. Our sideline presence will squeeze extra intensity out of them like a big manly beautiful (e.g. Mark) juicer.

I thought I would provide a few tips for the ladies on how to get super pumped for their competitive sports event

1. Music: This is key. I would reccmommend getting a "boom box" and play something thatll really get you pumped. Lebron listens to Jay Z before games, so that's likely the best bet. You'll likely be shaking with anticipation, so let the beats flow through you, and high five each other till you stop skaking, or start bleeding. Whichever comes last.
2. Meditation: Nothing lets the other team know how much of a baddass you are by being the person who steps to the side and crouches down and just "feels it" for a minute. Sit still and take a few deep breaths, then make a show out of stretching extraneous muscles, then break out of meditation mode by screaming and chest bumping your teammates. If you do this, the other team will likely be expecting you to shoot flames out of your eyes once you take the field
3. Get injured and return: *cough*macandalex*cough*. Take it upon yourself to play with reckless abandon to the point you break a bone or tear a muscle. This may hinder your team slightly in the short run. But the pump-up inspiration factor of limping on the field and re-dominating will be enough to inspire your entire team to thrash the competition when it counts
   

-Kevin

Change we can believe in

Tonight there has been a changing of the guard. History has been made. I would like to introduce the leaders of tomorrow:

President: Allison Williams
Vice: Mark Richardson
Secretary: Diana Jiang
Treasurer: Brian Nelson
Men's Co-Captains: Mac & Ed Yanosik
Women's Co-Captains: Elaine Leung & Kumi
Northcoast TD: Alex Hunt
CWRUL TD: Kevin Pochatila
Safely Officer: Corbett
Apparel: Q

By the power of the people, these select few have been elected to help lead our team to victory, and to help us look super fly in the process (Q). It is under their leadership we must come together as a team and work our way to excellence. Congratulations everybody who was elected, thanks everybody who ran, and good job to everyone who got an award tonight!

-Andy

Steve's newest video

Steve sent me this today. Oh man.

-Ed

Inspiration

As Kevin said we take a lot of inspiration from the Cavs. If this reference does not make sense to you, WATCH THE CAVS, or check this out.

-Ed

Bumps on the Road

I've found maintaining our "road to regionals" vigor has been a more difficult task than we expected. On Monday, we assembled on the village field for another round of training and encouragement. However, we ran into a few setbacks. Only myself, Ed, Andy and Mark bothered to show up.
Because of the rain during the day, we deemed the stairs too be too wet and slippery to be properly thrashed. Feeling slightly disheartened, we took to the track for our 2 mile warm up jog. The pace was brisk, but I don't think we were near exhaustion to the point that Owen pushed us on thursday. Without any stairs to thrash, we were left a little confused as to what to do next. We knew we had to push ourselves to the limit, but I think we're not quite sure just what our limit is. I suppose our potential is limitless, but we've never really gotten there. It will definitely be a goal of ours to go balls to the wall as often as possible. We ended up devising a nifty little 4 man huck drill, but were dismayed quickly as to the quality of our hucks. Then we moved on to an endzone "on the block" drill that was well recieved, but left me feeling a bit dissapointed. Everyone was getting broken on forehand throws, and it just reminded me how hard it is to guard a true stud like Ed. After that drill, we were invited to help the ladies scrimmage. However, the mood was decidedly light, and I think Mark was the only guy really showing some solid intensity. He was a solid defender, and really made his presence known on offense. Mark wont be there tonight because of an unidentified ilness, but you know hes the kind of guy who will flex that sort of stuff right out of his system, and come back more powerful than ever before, which is impressive, because he has a pretty high power level to begin with. Luckily the day ended with Andy devising a sweet drill that I named "legit-i-cides". Its basically a sideways shuffling suicide. Works the crotch muscles. Pretty critical stuff for a guy like Andy (read: bulge).

I'm getting pretty inspired by the Cavs right now, especially Lebron James. The way he takes over a game effortlessly is something we all need to be able to do. Also, like Lebron, I plan to name my children after myself, and the Gladiator from "Gladiator". I suppose that's redundant, but whatever. That reminds me. Q left out a few of my nicknames in his profile. There's also k-ruv, poke-a-gorilla, quesadilla (from my phys ed teacher) and "the Spaniard".

Here is some "thizzspiration" for everyone. Russel Crowe is one of the main atheletes I try to model myself after:


In Gladiator, Russel Crowe fights not because he chooses to, but because he has to. He fights to honor his dead wife and to seek revenge against Joaquin Phoenix, who killed his mentor, Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris aka dumbledore version 1). Thats basically the complete opposite of why I play ultimate, but the fluidity of Maximus' swordplay is something I'd like to emulate in my fakes.




-Kevin

Player Profile - Nayyir Qutubuddin

Name: Nayyir Qutubuddin
Nicknames: Q, The Question, Q-Hundred, The Quotient
Age: 20
Height: 5' 10"

Position: O-Line Handler
Major: Chemical Engineering - 2010
Special Move: Nasty Fakes

Description: As long as I've known Q, he's been a handling god to me. His forehands are like butter (they taste like butter, but they're NOT BUTTER!) and his backhand breaks will always go off if you cut for it. His forehand huck could probably fly forever. He has passed the Air Alert Challenge and has stared the devil in his eyes, and broken the bastard. Q also has introduced us to timeless classics like "I ain't tryin' to have no babies" and is a master of speaking cool. Q will gladly throw to you on an in-cut but damn does he love to hit you deep.

Q.

Be a Witness

-Ed

Player Profile: Kevin

If Mark is the "pretty boy" of the team, Kevin is a close second.
Name: Kevin Pochatila
Nicknames: KP, K-Love, K-Poch, Pochazilla, Wally Szczerbiak, and a few others
Age: 21 (almost)
Height: 5' 11" or 6' (I think?)
Position: O-Line Cutter, Handler upon request
Major: Biomedical Engineering (ur pwnt) - 2010
Special Move: Swim move - uses it to get open on unsuspecting defensive players. It's real sneaky.

Description:
KP is one of the quiet emotional leaders of the team. He does not lead by telling other people what to do and not do - he leads by example. In the wake of losing one of our best cutters last year, KP was forced to step up and fill his shoes. To that end, he has surpassed all expectations and today is undoubtedly one of the top 7 players on the team - able to get open at any time, catch nearly everything, and play suffocating defense. He gets most of his offensive prowess by emulating the style of play of Wally Szczerbiak - swingman for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Beyond the obvious masculine beauty and athleticism, KP has unlimited hucking range, and uses precision cutting technique to wreck the field as he pleases. His contributions to the team exceed what he does on the field - as this past year he was Treasurer and VP for the team. He dedication is unquestionable and unwavering.

-Q (The Question)

My Opening Thoughts

To follow my fellow contributing Gobies, I will put out a few opening words regarding this blog, it's purpose, where we have been, and where we are trying to go.

Perhaps the questions are best answered in reverse. The Gobies are trying to get to the Great Lakes Regional tournament. I am a firm believer in having set goals. Our primary goal is to get to Regionals, and furthermore, in my eyes, I would like to be playing for something on the Sunday at Regionals. Of course, I would love to make UPA Nationals, but no team is going to go from not making Regionals one year to making Nationals another year. We need to do this one step at a time. As a veteran on the CWRU team, I will not likely see the day the Gobies make Nationals, but my purpose is to advance the team as much as possible towards reaching the Ultimate goal - participating and winning College Nationals. The first step then, is making regionals. Then comes being competitive at regionals. That is where we are today.

So where have we been? There has been a 4 or 5 year drought now for the Case team making Regionals (and alumni tell stories of playing in "games to go to nationals"). In other words, for the last few years, the official end to our season has come in early April at our Sectionals tournament. Needless to say, none of our current players have ever tasted Regionals. Regionals used to almost be an afterthought for this team. I think the competition locally was not as developed as it is now. Today, there are more teams, with more players with HS experience, and a solid foundation of the fundamentals of the game. This gives them a jump on the learning curve of the sport. Also, some of the top players in the HS level at least partially consider the strength of the Ultimate program at the schools they are applying to - thus further separating the top teams from the smaller, less competitive schools. The struggle then becomes to recruit and develop as much talent in a year before the college series.

And thats where we are today. We do not know what talent is coming in. Whether the next HS superstar will walk on the practice field, or people who have never thrown a disc before - we cannot control that. What we can do, is better ourselves as much as possible - especially on an individual level during the off season. The off season is the perfect time to work on everything. Strengths, weaknesses, and everything in between. The physical aspects, the mental aspects, the emotional aspects. It's a great opportunity to leave your comfort zone, and try things that you didnt have the opportunity to explore fully. It's the time when you can maximize your individual contribution to the team, so that when the season does start, it's a matter of putting all the pieces together.

I urge myself first, and the rest of the team second - to do a self-evaluation of their skillset, and determine what you are going to work on this summer. Set personal goals. Then reach and supass them.

And that's what this blog is about. It's a means to communicate what your fellow teammates are doing to contribute to next year's team. To motivate, inspire, and communicate. In the next few days I'll post my personal goals for the summer. I also call dibs on writing Kevin's profile.

-Q (The Question)

Player Profile: Mark Richardson

PL
Its about time you got to know some of the Gobies a little bit better. In the spirit of teamwork, we'll be profiling each other (I'm not vain enough to write my own profile) with fascinating facts

First off is Mark Richardson, the team's resident "pretty boy"

Name: Mark Richardson
Nicknames: Marky Mark, Pretty Eyes, Ocean Eyes, Delonte, Prius, Pleasure Master
Age: 20
Height: Tall Enough
Major: Computer Science
Postion: Hybrid Handler/Cutter/constant threat to score
Special Move: Super sick effortless low release forehand (the "money" throw)

Description: Stare into his eyes for too long, and the next thing you'll be seeing is a cloud of dust... and Mark 20 yards away pulling down a score. He's a threat on all sides of the disc. Go ahread try to stop his forehand. Heck, you can put a brick wall on his right side. He'll still throw under it. And for good measure, he'll break you with his regular ol' backhand. Regular enough to travel 50 yards on a line straight into a fellow Goby's waiting hands. Mark is often called on to handle, but his mastery really comes out when he lulls his opponent to sleep in the ho stack, only to make his move for a big gain on an in cut, or pop outside to catch an easy break for the score. Yeah its smooth, but sometimes the sharpest cutters are the smoothest

-Kevin

Our Journey Begins

Oh, the long road to Regionals. Now is the time to start preparing for this long journey ahead of us. Let me pass on some advice offered by some great sages of old.

First: “A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” We have heard this so many times before, but it is so important for us to remember. We must start walking now along the road to Regionals if we ever hope to get there.

Second: “The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide that you are not going to stay where you are.” It sounds trivial, but in order to get to Regionals we must not think of ourselves as only a Sectionals caliber team anymore. This is the mindset we must have if we plan on achieving the glory we deserve. We must not settle for anything less than greatness if we hope to reach our goal.

Third: “Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.” If everybody gets excited now about preparing for the upcoming season, it will become natural to us and we will constantly be looking for ways to further ourselves along the road to Regionals. It will be like learning to walk again, slowly putting one foot in front of the other, but soon we will naturally be taking strides down this long road ahead of us. This quote applies particularly well to the story of a few brave souls’ journey down the 15 week path of Air Alert (3). Our voyage had a rocky start but we all motivated each other to keep going. Around week 3 the excitement that had kept us going the first two weeks was starting to fade, but, at that point, doing the workout had already become habit to us and we stayed strong through the final weeks.

I hope this advice has inspired you to take that first step along the road that will lead us to glory. It is important to remember that the Fighting Gobies can be a Regionals caliber team; we just need to prepare ourselves to be Regionals caliber players.

-Andy

Summer '09: A Call to Arms

Gobies,

With a whole year until Sectionals 2010 it can be easy to fall into the trap of laziness. But we cannot afford to lose what we have gained this year. We all have made huge strides this year, athletically and as Ultimate players. We must continue to build on our skills over the summer. My challenge to you: get out and run, throw the disc around, play summer league, join a club team, join the nationals team, do whatever you can do to get better. I, of course, will be representing the US again at the World Championships (see me in action above). So I challenge you to take on whatever challenge you can. Work hard Gobies and next year will be our year.

-Ed

Week 1: A Starting Point

April 13th. Monday. 5:00 P.M. It's been 8 days since sectionals and I'm still as depressed as when we left the field in defeat against WKU. Just doing some thizzics (that's physics, for those of you who don't know). I get a phone call from Kevin P. :

"Gobies. Regionals. April 2010. I'll see you at the Village at 8:15." And he hangs up.

I know what this means... time to forget about our agonizing defeat against WKU (and #77) and start afresh for next year. What better time to start than 356 days until next sectionals?

We show up to the Village and start off with a nice little 2-mile warmup job at an easygoing 5 minute mile pace. We're hardly winded at this point. Now we start the real workout. We make our way over to the other side of the track and look ominously at the behemoth that is the Village stairs. We decide to run 3 sets with sprints in between; a daunting task indeed.

About halfway through the last set I start feeling fatigued. But as I look up in distress and see Kevin's thundering calves in front of me bounding effortlessly up the stairs like a deer prancing in the forest, I realize, did I expect the road to Regionals to be easy? We finish the stairs and sprints, and add a few more sprints on the track afterwards for good measure. Day 1 complete.

Day 2. Thursday April 16th. Kevin and I are joined by more teammates, Andy "big calves" Coleman, Ed "reppin the hat" Yanosik, John "I got flow" Carey, and Owen "big chill" Mayer. John and Owen are still only freshmen, and already they have the vision and dedication that we all need to take the next step to regionals. Gotta love it. We start off with the normal 2 mile warmup jog. After the first mile, Owen decides to push us all by picking up the pace considerably for the second mile. Once again, gotta love the spirit of these young ones. After this difficult warmup, instead of chilling out and taking it easy, we up the ante and undertake 4 sets of stairs with sprints in between. We only made it through 3 before collapsing from exhaustion. Nah, just kidding. What do you think we are, chumps? We finish the stairs (all 4 sets) and the sprints, and end the night by playing with the women (who are going to regionals, we'll see you ladies there next year, I guarantee it).

Week 1 complete. Some calves were throbbing, some tears were shed, but it was all worth it on the road to regionals. Hope to see more of you chumps on the field on Monday 8:30.

The Fighting Gobies: Where amazing happens.

- Delonte aka "pretty eyes" aka mark

The Road to Regionals: An Introduction

This blog is a view into the world of the Case Western Reserve University Fighting Gobies Ultimate Frisbee Team's Road to Regionals

After a 9th place (Though really 8th place, because we didn't feel like beating chump-tucky a second time) showing at sectionals, the gobies have been flush with a desire to redeem themselves at the 2010 east plains upa sectionals. From April onwards, the gobies will be training hard with sprints, distance running, throwing, general buffening, bear hunting, and other manly endeavors. Every single thing they do from now until next April will be another step towards regionals (yes, making this blog certainly qualifies).

Sit back and enjoy the ride, as you enter the lives of a handful of charismatic and handsome members of Case's ultimate team. We may just huck our way into your hearts, but be prepared to be hammered by our inspirational accounts

-Kevin