First Prx

Frisbee ain't shit but hucks and flicks
Pick up my bags and head to prx
-Andy Coleman


Words to live by. This week saw the first two practice of the Case Western Reserve Fighting Gobies. We've reunited at last, and we're stronger than ever. Being able to pick up my bag and head off to prx at Frieberger was one of my most satisfying and exciting experiences in a while

Some highlights:

Return of the Bharath: We all knew it would happen eventually, seeing the man in person again was enough to make us all thizzly. Add on 7 weeks work of air alert legs, and you got yourself a budding stud

The John Carey Experience: What's John Carey plus 10lbs of additional muscle and newfound cutting skills? A new deep threat that the Eastern Plains section is going to learn to fear

The Candyman Cometh: Sure we ripped on Andy all summer for not hitting up club prx. Then again, only a player like Andy could come back from a frisbee-light summer with rock solid throws and frighteningly chiseled physique

Marky Mark's Funky Bunch:
Thats a bunch of throws that he'll use to mess you with. Playing hard all summer, Mark came back with a vengance and made his presence known against yours truly. Picture it: Forehand fake, backhand fake, lightning quick reset to the forehand and an unreal inside-out flick break. It was rapid. It was clean. It left me stunned

Edward Scissorcuts:
You've been hearing about this guy all summer, but how much he's stepped it up has become all the more evident now that he's taken his position as co-leader of the gobies. Born Leader. Born Thizzler

Mac'sWellhouse
Good to the last drop. The last drop, that is, hasn't happened since the mid 90's. Our captain remains as solid as ever. Minus a "few" injuries, the leadership and talent remains pure.

Fear of the Nayyir:
An oft-diagnosed condition seen in many of the Gobies' opponents. Its all still there. The smooth-gliding flicks. The step around breaks. The fakes. But most of all: The style. The man basically walks around with cool blue underglow on his feet. He doesen't move, he flows

Jason Thrilliams
aka Jason Williams, another returning vet who caught the fever. The man talks fris 24/7. He's got the fire. Couple that with terrifying speed, and the gobies have moved one step closer regionals.

"Brawndon" Corbett Walsh
Few people love the gobies as much as Corbett. Many more people are glad to have Corbett fighting for the Gobies this year. He's worked hard all summer; gotten faster, throws better, and
has a killer instict now backed up by killer skills.

Oh yeah, and we've got some legit freshman. Many of these bros are ready to make a difference right away.

We've got the tools in place. Time to put our heads down and push towards regionals

-Kevin

And So It Begins...

On the eve of our first official practice, I sit here unable to sleep in anticipation for tomorrow. To continue K-Love's metaphor - tomorrow we open up the pack of Gushers. Who is going to be the 7th Gusher packet? What flavors will it possess, and possibly more importantly...will they blend well with the other Gushers to form an immaculate collection? Heck, I'm even eating Gushers right now. So many questions to answer.

Tonight I spent a few hours with fellow veteran Goby Jason Williams watching Ultimate videos and talking strategy. I even showed future Goby Trent Hovis a few of last year's highlight reels in an attempt to get him pumped for what will most certainly be an amazing season.

This past weekend we had our annual SatCo - a sort of Ultimate Clinic run by the team for prospective players, and it yielded another solid crop. I can only hope that as many people show up to practice from that as possible. The future is bright here, and, quite frankly, seeing as Future has come and gone (but still with us in spirit - and the fall semester), we need a new one.

-Q

The unification of chill

In case anybody hasn't heard, this year there are five men among us Gobies living in the same apartment, the Ford Fortress. Everyone is welcome to come visit us if they want, and think they can handle the bro-love. One of the best parts of our new apartment is, in my opinion, the porch. This porch is the unification of all things chill.

It is important to remember that learning to be chill off the frisbee field helps one maintain chilliness on the frisbee field. This is one lesson that we all need to be reminded of from time to time.

Anyways, this porch has many various factors that contribute to its overall chilliness. First we have a grill which allows us to cook up awesome food that can be shared and enjoyed by many. We are always playing chill music (see previous posts) to set the mood and maintain appropriate chilliness levels. Besides the usual bro-ing out that happens on the porch, some fun activities that can be enjoyed are PW, b'gammon, and slumber parties. PW, aka P-dub, aka people-watching, is an important part of our lives here at the Fortress. You would be suprised at the variety of folk that walk up and down the streets of Ford and Hessler. The typical reaction of a passerby who witnesses us chillin on the porch is usually a brief moment of confusion, followed by intrigue mixed with a rising wave of jealousy that crashes down on them when they realize what they are missing. If you are up for a more intelectually stimulating way to spend your time chilling on the porch you can always play a rousing game of backgammon, cribbage, and (soon to be) chess, checkers and Go. Playing these games is a great way to bond with bros and excercise the mind while resting the body and soul.

If, at the end of the night, you feel like you haven't experienced enough relaxation and rejuvination, you can always spend the night on the porch like KP and I did recently. Waking up to the sound of a garbage truck, the sun in my eye, and Kevin's shirtless body next to me reminded me of the Road to Regionals in multiple ways. The garbage truck made me think of the all the bad things that happened last year and how we, like the garbage truck, need to take out all of the trash from before. The sun in my eye reminded me of the light at the end of the road to regionals. The morning sun was like the birth of a new day for the Gobies. No matter what has happened the previous day, a new day will dawn and we can do whatever we want with it. Waking up next to Kevin reminded me that even through times darkness my teammates will be there by my side. This trust in one another is of utmost importance on the frisbee field.

Anyways, if you want to come by and chill out at the apartment or on the porch, chances are you're always welcome so just let one of us know.

-Andy

You'll Never Walk Alone

I recently became a fan of Liverpool FC. One of their slogans (title) reminded me of the Road to Regionals. If you're seeking the road, know that you'll never walk alone. There are always fellow Gobies following the same path - for starters, the 5 of us will always be there to lead the way.

The Road to Regionals takes you to Regionals, it tells you nothing about the path you are taking to get there. Moreover, the road can be different for each individual. This summer, my personal Road to Regionals had stopovers in Malaysia and Bangladesh. In my farewell post I mentioned how I was going to use this time away from the home pitches of Cleveland to rest, recover, and relax a little. Well, I'm back, and I accomplished what I set out to do originally.

Malaysia is highly legit. Real talk, it's an absolutely beautiful country. My time there was fairly well spent, but I still wish I could have stayed a bit longer. While in Kuala Lumpur, I stayed at a resort called the Mines Wellness Center. It's a sort of old-fasioned spa and massage oriented hotel, with many servies including complementary Qi-Gong classes (kind of like, Tai-Chi, very relaxing, controlled motions), massages, herbal consultations and so forth. During my stay there I go the most legit massage of my life. Using ancient Chinese techinques (Tui-Na, Tai-Su), my body's Qi was refreshed. I don't think I have ever been in more pain in my life before. The massage techniques he used on me were very deep and intended to really surface my blood, remove old knots and muscle tensions, restablish proper blood and Qi flow throughout and attend to previous injuries. My body was a deep scarred red for three whole days. My back looked like wolverine had clawed at it over and over again. The pain and visual cosmetic "damage" was well worth it. I felt more energetic instantly, and I feel lightly all over. It even gave me a spiritual boost. This stuff is real man. The Chinese know whats up.

Then there was the lingering "hamstring" issue. I put that in quotations because upon doing my own extensive research (since doctor's incompetently misdiagnosed it) I found out the true issue. By whatever means, laying out, landing funny etc, I had pinched my scastic nerve. I went to a neurological accupuncturist in Malaysia and after piercing my skin with many needles and applying a pulsing voltage...I was cured soon enough. I still require a follow-up treatment, but the bulk of my pain is no more. Accupuncture FTW.

The rest of my trip was full of many other adventures, but I had one more task with me. I, naturally, took a Goby disc with me abroad to toss with perhaps teach a few school children how to play. I really wanted to teach some kids in Bangladesh, but I soon realized that they have much bigger issues than what disc sport to play. In the end, I entrusted my Goby disc to my cousin's son - who is in 11th grade or so. Maybe he'll start playing or something, who knows. Once again, Gobies are international.

Congrats to K-Love for winning the 2009 Summer League Championship. Of course he wont let it get to his head, he knows what's on the real agenda.

Vocab: Chair Alert

- Nayyir Qutubuddin

Gushers and such

A box of gushers normally has 6 packets of delicious sugary "fruit snacks". Yesterday I picked up a box, and to my suprise:

7 packets.

it was miraculous. I paid for 6, and got 7. It made me think of the gobies. I look around at our team and wonder "who is going to be the 7th packet". Could it be one of our established players who steps up? Could it be an unknown freshman seeing goby glory? Who knows. I'm excited, almost as excited as i was when I shoved another wad of gushers in my mouth

Today was also the culmination of cleveland disc association draft league. I can proudly say, that for the first time in my life, I have won a championship in something. The finals were hard fought, and it was a challenging, but exciting game. Afterwards, my captain told me that intensity on the ultimate field was truly important, and to keep it up during the college season. He said Case needs to have dirty jerseys on Sunday, and I hope that's something we can all strive to do. The more we play balls to the wall, the more it will inspire our team to work hard as a group and achieve something great.

I'm excited to see all our new players, to see old ones go crazy on the field, and to see unexpected people step up in big ways. Hopefully we're all tweaking out and screaming after every point. Not in a douchey way or anything, but just so that we can feed off of each other and really care about something so that it pushes us to achieve. Even though it's just ultimate, that kind of attitude definitely translates to every important aspect of life.

-Kevin

Goby progress

Another few weeks has gone by, and I can say that I'm fairly pleased with the improvements and progress my fellow gobies have made on the Ultimate Field. Between open practice and summer league, there's been sheer ferocity, determination, and outright skill flying around all over the place.

Most of all, I've really been seeing a passion and desire to compete that hasn't been as evident in years past. All the gobies are just brimming with intensity and energy. Everyone really seems to love to play ultimate. That of course is probably the first step towards regionals. If everybody gets excited to be out there playing and having fun, the desire to thrash the competition will follow

more to come later. once i get more inspiration that is

-Kevin