Regret #1

If I regret anything about my college career, it is not getting a job at RIMAC, the university's gym/weights/racquetball complex. The jobs look super easy and, to quote an anonymous source, " the work is super chill. (Brah)" . I would have gotten to hang around the gym which I do anyway, and I could ogle all the good looking athletes while on the clock.


So ill say again, if you want my advice for your college years: work at the gym swiping student ID cards.



Quote of the Month:
"When people ask me now if I miss coaching UCLA basketball games, the national championships, the attention, the trophies, and everything that goes with them, I tell them this: I miss the practices."
- John Wooden

Awesome-Gallery-of-Awesome-Photos-of-an-Awesome-Nationals-Shot-by-the-Awesome-Meeko of the Day

Love

I hope you all can one day love something as much as I have loved playing for the UCSD Air Squids for the past 5 years.


That's it for today.

SW All-Region

My votes:

Justin "Bobble" Elliot- UCSD
Josh "Forge" Nickerson- UCSD
Jacob Baumer - CSULB
Max "Nero" Sheitr-Dunn- UCSB
Matty Zemel - Colorado

Evan Padget - Colorado

Mark "Arbiter"Elbogen -UCLA

Joke of the Day: BPGlobalPR

Vid of the Day: How LongBeach Won Sectionals

Changes to the Women's Game

Women's Ultimate should be played on a shorter field (maybe 50x35yard +25 yard endzones) with smaller discs (155-160g). You would see less turnovers per point and a greater ability for throwers to use creative touch throws, blades, hammers, and scoobers. I contend that this would make Women's Ultimate more fun to play and more fun to watch. Lastly, a smaller disc and a smaller field make the game much more accessible to newcomers - to a large percentage of women, it is very hard to learn the game when the disc is just too heavy and the field too long.


Joke of the Day: Why did the walrus go to the Tupperware party? Because he was looking for a good seal.

Vid of the Day: Fugue's Callahan Nominee Julia Sherwood (sorry to be a downer - but 1:14 is the worst travel I have ever seen on a huck. I understand who she gets it from though: Janin :20, :33, :52, 1:17, 5:37, 7:18, 10:33)

Teenagers Who Are Better Than Most of Us Will Ever Be of the Day: 2008 Worlds Highlights

A Whole Lot of Turnover in One Half for Two Teams That Do Know How to Play Possession Ultimate of the Day: Wisco v Texas Nationals 2009

Helpful Things to Say to Players on the Field

There is a short list of words and phrases that can be said by a sideline teammate that are actually helpful to the player on the field.

While on O

• Toe (as in Toe the line)
• Go to (Because your defender is going to make a bid on the disc)
• Milk (Milk the disc for a little bit before catching it (in the endzone)
• Greatest ( you must perform a Greatest to keep the disc alive)
• Man on (You thought you were poached and now you are not)
• You've got time (on a high disc, you don't need to jump just yet - wait to make a play)
• See**Someone's name** (when someone is ridiculously poached )
• See **Some throw** (when some option is obviously the right one but the thrower is not seeing it - examples: Hammer, Swing) (This mostly goes for DOffense players with the disc. If you need to tell your O-line players how to move the disc and what options to see, you need to reconsider the composition of your O-line.)

While on D

• Inside (shift your mark inside)
• Around (shift around)
• No huck (no huck mark)
• No Dump (shift all the way around to prevent all throws to the backfield)
• Strike (Jump over to the open side for a count)
  
• Team D or No foul (Back your mark up so the thrower can't draw a foul or an And-1 throw)
• Drop (you need to book it deep to prevent a huck score)
• Now you are in (your guy is only viable to cut in)
• Aggressive/conservative (for in zones that shift between aggressive cups/containment cups)
• You're last back (you should be aware to help deep)
• Bid (make a play on the disc)
• Up (a throw has gone up, often used for hucks)
  
• Right Shoulder (a huck/dump pass has gone up and you should turn right to find it/ D it)
• Left Shoulder (a huck/dump pass has gone up and you should turn left to find it/ D it)
• Guy on your right/left/behind (telling defenders in zone were the threats are)
• You've got two (telling defenders in a zone that 2 threats are in his zone)
• Looking, Looking (telling face-guarding defenders that the thrower wants to hit your guy)
• *Describing noticed tendencies of someone's defensive assignment: "He likes the lefty backhand"
• Edit: Thanks to Sam Swink for the suggestion. Peel (leave your guy to defend the open guy in the endzone. Often happens after your guy catches a huck just outside the endzone)
  

Am I missing any?


Conclusions: if you are saying anything else from the sideline like "Nice cut Mike!", your on-field players are tuning you out at best, but probably distracted from the task at hand. Celebrate after the point is over, not before.


Joke of the Day:
The early bird might get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.

Highlight Vid of the Day: Wisco Women Whomping at PresDay Weekend

Game of Last Week: Cal vs Oregon NW Regional Finals 2010. Damn Ego looks good. Its all solid fundamentals... give-go, high speed of play, touch on every throw... 8:16 isn't fundamentals though, that's just straight-up Jedi.

Nail-Bitter/Barnburner Game of the Day: CUT vs Pitt, Qrts, Nationals 09

The Rule of Thirds

Quality hucks follow the Rule of Thirds.

The Rule of Thirds:
Hucks involve 2 players, the thrower and the receiver. Quality hucks satisfy 1 or both of these characteristics:

• The receiver catches the huck in a different vertical third of the field than the thrower threw from.
• The receiver catches the huck in a different vertical third of the field than he started his cut in
  

The consequences of this rule: bad hucks are to receivers that start and end their cut in the same lane as the thrower. Hucks that go straight overhead are bad.





Joke of the Day: Why don't blind people go skydiving? It scares the shit out of the dog.


Copycat Highlight-Vid-Musical-Selection of the Day: Club2009 and BrodieForCallahan. Further proof that there are only so many viable songs to put over your highlight video.

Best-Posting-of-the-2010-UPA-College-Nationals-Seeding-and-Format of the Day

Best-First-Round-Opponent-at-Nationals-for-the-UCSD-Air-Squids of the Day: Jojah

Sorry For the Hiatus

I apologize for the long unannounced break. Regionals were in Colorado, then I had jury duty on Monday and Tuesday, then we had 6am practice on Wednesday and I had to grade lab reports continuing until I had to teach on Thursday and then the SunGod Festival was Friday. The weekend was booked with Ultimate and yesterday the sickness I have been putting out of my mind for the last 5 days caught up to me. But you don't want to hear excuses.... So I'll just say that I hope to be getting back to a more regular posting schedule.


Without further ado, The Idea of the Day:
THE UCSD AIR SQUIDS ARE GOING TO NATIONALS!!! See you in Madison!



Joke of the Day:
"Why did you quit your job at the Noble Gas factory?"
"Because I just will NOT be talked to in that tone!"

Highlight Vid of the Day: Oregon Fugue tearing it up at Pres Day (Shout outs to my friends #2 Christina and #8 Shannon who housed my entire club team when we played at NW Regionals.)

Quote of the Day: From the Radiologist who took X-rays of my right foot today: "Wow, I have never seen that many pockets of calcification in an ankle before!"

Further Reason for Having a Massive Crush on Cree Howard of the Day