Boom!

And I'm back. After a long dry spell I am back on the keyboard determined to type up my usual non-sense, upload my poorly taken photos, and make more of those gramatical errors both of you love. 

No real reason why I stopped blogging other than I was busy doing other things. Being unemployed allowed me to not be in an office and away from the need to fill the lulls in actual work I had to do. But now that I am gainfully employed again, paying taxes, and generally getting back into the mindless consuming lifestyle - I suppose it's time to put things on paper. 

Looks like my last post was way back in April after our Sectional (Conference) Tournament. It seems like a lot has happened since then but at the same time not really. Man I must be boring. Anyways this post is just for me to start rollin with the posts. Let's see if I can go a post a Day for a week. 

Anyways here's to livin large!

SoCal Conference Championships

Wrote up a Conference Preview for Skyd Magazine and Inside Breaks. Figure I'd post here about it...

www.skydmagazine.com/2011/04/conference-match-ups-socal

Pres Day Classic

The Pres Day Classic took place this weekend in "sunny" San Diego. The weather was in question all week and with the lack of quality field space there was a chance that the tournament would not happen. I have to give credit to Stephen "Pumba" Hubbard for having to deal with the stress of so much uncertainly. Would the fields be closed? Or won't they? Will the back up fields close? Won't they? He was able to handle everything well and not lose his mind. At least I think.

Anyways to how we did...

Day 1

The first day was met with uncertainly on whether or not we would play. We show up at 9:45 for a 11 o'clock game but we were forced to delay our start a few minutes to help the fields dry out. Finally at 11:15 we were able to start.

Dartmoth
We didn't have much of a scouting report coming in and I'm sure they knew nothing about us so we were just going to show up and play to our strengths and adjust as needed as the game went on. The field was small and half of it was full of puddles and mud. We get a turn on the first few points but can't put in the breaks and our offense looks smooth early and we trade for till about 3-3. Dartmoth was able to work it through their handles with give and go's so we switched to a flick force to help counter. We were able to get a break or two and take half 7-5 I believe.

In the second half we were able to maintain offensive consistantly by not getting broken all game and were able to take the game 13-11. A little too close but a win either way. I figured that we were a little sluggish to start but now we got our legs going and will be able to bring more intensity on D in the coming game, that wasn't the case.

Texas A&M
Again we had little to no idea about this team before playing them but they did just have a game agains Minnesota and did not play too well. But we knew Minnesota was good so we were not going to overlook them.

We came out sluggish again, we seemed sleepy or unintersted and we could not get a break. On the contrary our offense again was consistant and kept us in the game while our D would get going. A&M ran a simple stack and string plays off the pull, we were able to shut down most of those cuts but they were getting off ridiculous dump thows and would get a huck off. We threw some junk and were able to get a few breaks to close out the game in the second half 13-9. But again our Defense was not bringing enough pressure and we were not getting the breaks and D's that I felt we should. Some discussions with the other coaches and we concluded that we really just needed someone to make a big play and hoped that would start the snowball. We were right...

UCSB
I've said it before, I hate playing these guys. Partially because of when I played them in college they were all classless and disrespectful and because they are always tough competition. The weather was starting to show it's teeth at the start of the game with some winds gusting as well as some light rain and by 3rd point or so the clouds opened up and dumped buckets for about ten minutes.

We started this game on O and scored promptly on their box d. We came down 4 man paritally because of the weather and because it was effective against them at the SB Invite. We were able to generate turns but our Endzone O was couldn't decide if they wanted to fast break score or set up the O so we weren't able to get the breaks.

At 2-2 out Defense finally started showing some intensity and started putting in breaks. We kept with the zone and they could not get it off the trap side, a problem that again would be evident when Tide played Texas in Quarters against their Zone. They don't try to get it off the line and they don't throw over the top. We take half at 7-2 and never look back. Finally our defense started showing up and just in time for our game against Minnesota.

Minnesota
There was some trash talking on RSD in the week leading up to Pres Day. Someone stated that we would not put 8 up on Minnesota and that they would win the pool handily. However they already lost a close one to SB earlier (I did here there was some hard cap issues however) and we were now beaming with confidence after the Tide game so we knew we had a good shot to give them a game.

Again the weather was not holding well and it would rain occasionally and at one point it hailed for about 2 points. By far the hardest I've ever seen it come down during an ultimate tournament / game.

Steve Prodan watched alot of their game before ours so he was able to help with match ups. We forced flick to take away their lefty's flick and came down in hard man. We pressured the dumps and were able to make them go to their second option but still traded until about 2's. We threw some junk D and were able to ger a few breaks in a row and take half 7-3 I believe. The first half we were running hard and making plays all over the place. At one point they huck it deep and Blardo runs down hard to make up the ground and bids huge for the D. This really fired up the D and we just rolled after that. Another highlight was when Richard Prodan pulled it out of bounds and was on the mark at the brick, the thrower wound up big and Rich footblocked it with what looked like little effort.

Minnesota looked like they were ready to go to their hotel and call it a day, and we were able to finish the game 13-7. The team responded to the trash talk and didn't allow Minnesota to score 8 on us. We were feeling good after the day and could feel we were getting better ever point of every game. Overall Minnesota is a good team full of athletes, my guess is they haven't had sufficient amounts of practice time and that contributed to their struggles.

Day 2
The weather on this day was much better and there was no shot at it raining. We were on field 1 taking on the winner of Texas St. and Kansas, Kansas took care of business so we had the Zontals to deal with.

Kansas
To start the game we stressed fundamentals and sticking with what we do best and everything would come together for us. Kansas came out super poachy and we were hesitant to start and had two silly turns and go down two breaks to start. We stop the bleeding with some good flow and a nice huck to Tim Giligan who proceeds to spike the disc, Kansas became upset thinking we taco-ed the disc. This would be the theme of the first half, Kansas being upset with us and a lot of bickering between our players and theirs. The next point we come box and get a break back and the Kansas coach asked us to switch the disc saying it wobbled, we did and moved on.

Kansas liked to huck it but their recievers couldn't pull them down consistently. We were able to pressure with both aggresive man and junk and pull ahead. Score reporter says we won 15-7 but I thought it was more like 9.

UW
These guys were def intimidating at SB Invite in the Semis when we were dead tired and 4 guys down. Now we were confident and were feeling good so we were welcoming the challenge, the point being that our mind set was much stronger going into this game.

We start on O and promplty get broken to start the game again, this was concerning because our Offense was so clean all weekend but faltered to start both games. Our offense gets back on form and ties it up, we trade for a bit while UW is able to work it in their vert stack offense and their red head afro hucker is on point. We're able to get our break back and take half on serve 8-7. Early in the game we threw our junk d and they were able to throw it over the top, in the second half we went back to it and they stopped going over the top and were able to get a break or two. Our offense was holding serve, a few points our O turned it but our their Doffense could not work it all the way up and we were able to get the turn back.

We trade the last 3 points as we score on a Bobble huck to Gil to win 15-13. In the end it was prob the best game we have played all year but we left a lot of points on the field, too many times we turned the disc on the goal line of what would have been a break. Overall that would be our theme for the weekend. But at the moment we are meeting our goal of getting better every game.

Day 3
Again a very nice day and we had UBC in semis. This was big for us with back to back semi final appearances at our home tourney it was time to really show up and play.

UBC
We knew these guys were good and were basically Furious Lite with guys like Norris, Loach, and that Asian guy. We start on D and get the turn on a UBC drop. We work it the entire length of the field and give it back to them on the goal line. Again this would be a theme as we had the disc 4 times on the goal line for a break in the first half. Obviously something to work on at practice.

We do manage to get a break but they break half and they take half on serve 8-7. At half we talked about valuing the disc on the goal line and taking advantage of the opportunities we get. But out of half UBC ups their intensity and we are not able to match it. We get broken 3 times out of half to go down 11-7. We call a time out to try and refocus but are unable to respond to their pressure as we continue to shoot our selves in the foot. They take the game 15-9 in a second half beat down.

All weekend we were improving up until that second half, tired legs may have caught up to us but bascially a veteran team made the adjustments and we didn't. UBC is good and I expect that they will be around come Nationals.

Texas
We lost the semi's which was a bummer but we tried to get the guys amped up for this game. but Jackson went down in the UBC game and Bobble had to leave which dropped our moral. But we battled any way.

Texas wasn't much of a hucking team as they preferred to abuse the mark and work the break side. We were able to contain the breaks throws and pressure the open side. However our offense was not doing it's job and we went down 3 breaks or so. We def were not into this game but as coaches we tried to get the guys up for it. Our studs were having so-so games and we opened up the lines a bit which did not help with our pressure. In the end we lost 15-11 in a game I think we could have been in if we were into it. I think the three day weekend wore us down mentally and we faltered in the end.

Overall their were a ton of positives to take from the weekend but the few negatives are the most beneficial for us. We will practice those things we did not do well and look to respond at Stanford with some more good games and results.

How to Lose 5 Pounds in 5 Minutes!!!!!!!

Three easy steps...

1.

2.

3.

It's like backwards Chia Pets...

SB Invite

Last weekend I went to my first tournament as a coach for San Diego State, the Santa Barbara Invite. I've been to this tournament several times before as both a player and a coach but I can not remember a better weekend weather wise. Beautiful 75 degrees and cloudless both days. Day two was a bit more breezy but not that significant to hinder a good thrower.

Day 1
We knew we had low numbers on the weekend with a few absences in JT, Lobster, and Bobble. We were going to be down to 16 people. But with a veteran team we knew we would be ok.

UCLA - We warmed up well and came out strong agasint UCLA. We expected the typical UCLA style offense with quick squirly handler movements and breaking the mark. But with Smaug losing so many seniors from last year it was obvious from the beginning that this offense was vastly different. They were running a spread style offense where they would try to get the disc up field and have the handlers stay back and let the cutters do the work. However our defense wouldn't let them get the disc up field and they had trouble on the dumps.

Our offense was working well and I don't believe we were ever broken on O. We had trouble initially on our dump sets but after we stressed getting into proper dump position we didn't have much trouble. UCLA will likely have a slow start to the season after losing so many big players from last year. But I would expect that they will improve throughout the season and with the athletes they have they can string together some wins. In the end we take the game 13-5.

LPC - A young team with a lot of High School players. They looked like they had not practiced much this spring yet and had trouble scoring consistently. But with the great coaching LPC has had over the years, Casey Ikeda, and the possibility they will pick up another stud with a year of eligibility left to use they will get better. However with a competitive section its tough to see them finishing any better than 5th place, and the last two years you need 4 bids to get out of that section.

Again our offense was working well and we were scoring pretty consistently. LPC gave us a little trouble since they looked to break the mark when UCLA didn't. We made the adjustment on our marks and mentally and we were able to walk away with the game in the second half. 13-5.

Davis - I really didn't want to coach this game since I coached Davis the last two years. Davis is full of young talent and Taylor is trying to do everything he can to get his squad on board and ready to play. The main difference with Davis this year is they seem full of guys who really WANT to get better and win games. The last few years they would sometimes seem uninterested and not eager to learn or get better. But with adding Eli Kerns along with a handful of other high school players Davis's future is looking up. If they can pull it all together they will be a team that will compete for a sectional championship, and with that who knows what will happen at regionals.

In our game with them I was able to match up our players with their top guys. An advantage I brought just by knowing all of their players. It seemed to pay off since we started on O and then proceeded to go up 3-0. They call a time out to regroup, I think our guys got a little ahead of themselves thinking that Davis would just roll over. But they made adjustments and our offense sputtered a few times and Davis was able to take half 7-6. Davis was looking to huck the disc early, we felt we could match up against their deep cutters and encouraged them to huck. In the second half they weren't able to complete their hucks as efficiently as they wanted. Taylor was over hucking and Eli hucked a few out of bounds. We came down in our junk D periodically to get them out of their string play and we were able to get a few breaks back.

We traded the last few points until it was 12-11 us. We came down on D in our junk and Taylor tried to swing the disc that floated just over the other handler and right into the hands of Dylan (one of our rookies) who was coming down on the pull. He had a clap catch Callaghan for the win but decided to swat at it like it was a Bee. We picked up the disc and ran our end zone O for the win. 13-11. We take the pool and it's off to the jacuzzi. On a side note Richie Prodan went down in this game with a tweaked hamstring. He wouldn't play the rest of the weekend.

Sunday
UCSB
I always have hated playing these guys. It used to be because they would play the typical "Tide" persona. Basically belittling their opponents through bad calls, trash talk, and dangerous play. But that was more of the "Old Tide" mantra, now I just hate playing them because they are well coached and are rarely an easy game.

This game started well for us, our Offense worked it up great and scored without much trouble. We then broke them on the next point. The following point we had a three turn per team point. It was a bit windy and we couldn't close out the point, but our Defense wouldn't let them score. In the end they scored the point but on that play we didn't get the break but we also lost Tyler to a sprained knee, later we would also find out that Cocks broke his wrist in that game and will likely miss Pres Day.

We were able to play tough D and get a few more breaks, our box and zones were working in the light wind and we take half 8-4 I believe. At the start of the second half our small roster size on the weekend was evident. We started making lazy throws and tired cuts and they were able to take advantage of that and bring the game to 9-8. A timely time out, a refocus on our mark, and efficient O helped us regain focus and finish the game 13-9 I believe.

SB will be a tough "out" at regionals. You'll have to account for them as they will get better with they type of program that they have.

Semi's
UW
They had just beaten the Squids in the quarters and from talking with my Streetgang counterparts they all said that UW is good. It didn't help that UCSD went down early and couldn't get out. But UW looked like they had some Rhino and ECU players on their squad and with a ton of height and athleticism they looked good.

We start on O and promptly turn it on a floaty huck. We go down 2-0 before we put one in to bring it to 2-1. We trade on a few points with our O being patient and our D trying to figure them out. It's 5-3 when they get another break and then take half 8-4. Most of our turns are on lazy throws and tired decisions. UW definitely wanted it more and we did not have the legs to keep up. They started to throw zone to get our smooth O out of rhythm and were able to get another break or two. We generated enough turns to get back and be in that game but we couldn't punch it in. In they end UW takes the game 15-10 in a game they controlled from the get go. We had our chances but obviously we need to get our legs under us before we can really challenge deep into a tournament.

Overall
We finished right where we should have. We held seed and played well, the Feds responded to the challenges that us as coaches presented to them and they earned the wins they got. We have several weeks to still prepare before Pres Day and assuming we get healed we should be a force to reckon with come this local tournament.

Our results from this tournament also helped us get into Stanford Invite and Terminus in Georgia so again overall it was a good tournament.

Until next time...

Do it again...

News years time and just like last year where a new years resolution post got me back into the writing mood I bring you the 2011 version. First a recap on how well I did on last years resolutions...



Move - Check, I am now living in San Diego!
New Job - Well I'm on the right track since I no longer work at Fujitsu, now I just have to go and find it.
Pay off all Debt - Well I have significantly reduced it, and am on a steady plan to keep paying it off. Most of my debt is school related so the rates are pretty good.
Qualify for Nationals - I did qualify with Streetgang for the USA Ultimate Championships last year, but it was somewhat anti climatic. Mostly because I did not play a significant role in it. I broke my foot in the early part of the season and never really could get back to being the player I was.
Win the Super Bowl in Madden 10 - Check
Catch a Handblock - Will have to be a carry over.
Develop better eating and exercise habits - It may have been just that I was in Sac but since I have been down in SD I seem to work out every other day if not every day, and eating mostly the right things. So I say check.
Read & Write More - I have been reading a ton, lately it has been more related to job and soul searching.


Overall I'm going to say it was a good year. I think I achieved most of my goals or resolutions and I'll keep striving to get better.

As for a new years resolution this year, I don't think I'm going to write down any points that I want to accomplish. Mostly I just want to do things that make me happy. Too often I have done things because I feel I have to or because I feel others want me to. So going forward I'm just going to do what I want to do. When it comes down to it I just have to be happy with my decisions.

Drinks are on me...