The Wind Blew In!

It was a great turnout yesterday for a chilly and windy day! In fact, we have some new award recipients for the Wind Ribbon. Only MattP on the gold team yesterday already had his so we added his teammates Travis, Eric, Conrad & Frank. And on the green team, Bryan and Lon picked up their ribbons and were playing with Todd, Bill, & Bob who already had played in 25+ winds which may have explained the big lead they shot out to early in yesterday’s game.

The disc was dancing all over the place though and it was a gusty wind so we actually had many (okay, some) instances of being able to complete long passes between gusts. Todd connected on a few to Bryan and myself (800mg Motrin has been a miracle cure!) and Conrad hauled in a long one as well. Mostly though, both teams were more successful with the short passing game (which I think neutralized Frank). Not the really short passes like when Conrad took one in his ear but the more “medium short” passes. Because at other times Eric was sailing one through the SE endzone corner multiple times in a strange jet stream and Todd, when not completing long passes, was throwing it in the ground.

I saw at least 4 hammer passes completed yesterday, maybe more. I think MattP & I each threw one for a score and there were others. Interesting that pass would be somewhat effective in that kind of wind. Especially for me since I can not usually throw it where I want it on a calm day.

Tried to run the “39 go” play a few times today with varying degrees of success. Speaking of that, good to have Lon back on the field. He and Swinny had checked the same weather report thinking it was going to be in the 50’s and had been lured out to find temps down in the 20’s with the wind chill. So thanks to everyone who did come out anyway because 5 on 5 is a nice game.

As we head to the weekend the Chief Buzzard will be headed to the mountains for a little hiking and photography. However, if you’re so inclined to stay home and take in some indoor activities I’ll give you my weekend preview…

Quick Buzzard’s-eye view on the world of sports…NFL: Commissioner is in town speaking to Congress about drugs in his sports…ironically, Kevin Faulk of the Patriots was in Louisiana hangin’ with his peeps at a Lil Wayne concert and got cited for “simple possession”…nice poetic juxtaposition there pigskin league…speaking of better living through medication…how ‘bout “The Rocket”? The latest on the Clemens saga is that his wife and the ex of Jose Canseco allegedly had an implant show and tell at a Canseco party. Ah the life styles of the rich and famous. March Madness is not quite upon us…check back next week or so and I’ll be starting to get excited. The gear heads are in Las Vegas this weekend…Look for Toyota to get its first win.

Not in the mood for sports viewing…I’ve watched several movies on DVD in the last couple weeks I would recommend with varying degrees of enthusiasm…Knocked Up if you’re feeling nostalgic about some friends you haven’t spoken to since college…Fantastic Four 2...okay outside of Jessica Alba in a jumpsuit, there's not a lot of redeeming value here…if you’re in the mood for an adventure sequel, I’d steer you towards Spiderman 3, Pirates – At World’s End, or X-Men: The Last Stand instead. Want a good sports movie? Invincible has been out a while but is a decent flick based on a true story…and if you need a good, hmmmm, how should I say this? Uh, let’s say something on the more relationship based…romantic comedy side then No Reservations I thought was pretty enjoyable.

Doesn’t look like we’re going to get enough to play today which is too bad. Now I’ll be forced to choose between flag football and studying for my class.

Fly high Buzzards.

Peering out the window...

I feel like the little kid who wants to go out and ride his bike but he’s looking out the living room window…you know with your nose mashed up against it so your mom will be cleaning who knows what off of it later…and it’s doing nothing but raining.

I considered calling for a game anyway this morning since it was supposed to be relatively warm. But I got in this morning, hung over from a night in the classroom listening to 4 hours of discussion on Education philosophers, I just put down a big country breakfast, and I’m still suffering the after affects of almost getting skunked yesterday…plus none of the other Buzzards were clamoring via email for a game to be called…so “the better part of valor is discretion” or some such Shakespearean nonsense has won out today. But I will…already do actually…miss playing.

So, the story of the “almost skunk” you ask? Well, pairing up yesterday I thought I had broken up the teams equitably…Todd on one…Phil on the other…separated Bryan and Travis so they could run each other into the ground and then through myself, Bob, Justin, & Frank into a hat and just tossed out green & gold pinnies, with Frank & Bob joining Visor & Swinny on the green and the other 4 of us pulling on the gold. Looked “fairly even”…or so I thought.

First of all, it took about 10 minutes for either team to score. That may not be an exaggeration at all. There were seriously at least 3 or 4 possessions each up and down the field with nobody even sniffing the end zone. Finally green busted through with the first score. I bone headed the next pull and gave them the disc on the goal line for the next score and then…4 more unanswered scores for green. By my count it was 6-0…it could have been more…and we were literally 20-25 minutes into the game. I muttered something about wondering what a skunk was as we got ready to receive the next pull and unbeknownst to me, Swinny was asking his teammates on the other end if we had even scored yet….that’s when DK set it. You know Disc Karma….yea, don’t mess with that.

On the very next pull, we got all 4 guys to touch the disc, made some very sharp crossing passes and give and go’s and got right in for green’s first score. That was about as good as it got for us the rest of the game. We held our own I suppose and the defense on both sides seemed to be…uh, generally speaking…a little tighter yesterday. We tried the “Force Flick” on D against Swinny most of the game and he beat us for a couple flick scores and even tried out his Hammer. All in all, though there was some debate about this as we came off the field, it beat being in the cube.

Enjoy the day of rest. Get ready for tomorrow, I’m not sitting inside again.

New Photos!

After the holiday weekend, it was good to get out and play on Tuesday and we had good numbers with 11 of us showing up. We were able to play a substitute for the first part of the game and get some newer pictures.

Then we just decided to play with the extra player and, as inexplicably happens with the Buzzards, the team short a player wound up playing the better game. Anyway, not much commentary but enjoy the pics! Check out the full set here!



"Coneboy" Phil setting up the field.

MattC the stoic.

Hey Kash, you see I'm holding the camera right? Why are you flicking at me?

Eric practicing the high pancake in warmups.

Todd with a nice flick form.

And it's Wings by a step over Shadow sprinting down the field.

Bill contemplating his next move.

Sniper, in a crowd, looking for a pass.

Holy Vertical Leap! Matt reaches over Boom Boom...with a good 5" of space under his bottom cleat.

More leaping? Phil & MattC both go airborne on this play.

What's getting to Kash first, the disc or the train?

Nice follow through Eric.

Matt trying to decide if he can get it to Kash with Bryan & Eric lurking nearby.

Presidential Ultimate

Which U.S. President would have been the best Ultimate player? In celebration of President’s Day (which by the way, deprived us of a day of Ultimate with temperatures in the 60’s!) I thought I’d give you my best presidential Ultimate Roster.

Okay, well the first guy I’m putting on the team is the first President, George Washington. C’mon, dude has height, will play in the cold (see Valley Forge), can wear a wig with style, and built a 2,250 square foot distillery (can you say team party?). Gerald Ford is also going to be on this team. Though he was caricatured often as clumsy, the guy was the center and linebacker on two National Champion Michigan teams so ‘nuff said there. Also, Ford is a “Spirit of the Game” kind of guy…please, anybody able to pardon Nixon? How about Zachary Taylor? His nickname was “Old Rough & Ready”. He gets points for being the first president born the in the self governed American Colonies and for being in the Whig party. John Kennedy is going to be on the team. I want somebody I can yell “Fitz” at. He was a PT boat sailor which is kind of close to Coast Guard small boats and we see all those pictures of him playing back yard football games. Also, he established the Peace Corps which probably drew from a similar demographic as Ultimate Players during its inception. We could use a good mountain climber on the team…so I’m taking Theodore Roosevelt (T.R.). Did you know he ascended Mont Blanc? He also gives our team half of the Rushmore presidents.

I’ll let you all debate over the two remaining roster spots. By the way speaking of presidents…There is a guy who has been serving as president since before any of us were born that has decided he “will not seek or accept” (sounding a little LBJish)…Fidel Castro. Maybe we should put him on the team too. That would be a particularly interesting team interaction, with JFK and Ford. But dude has some staying power…you have to give him that.

Hope everybody enjoyed their day off. See you out on the field.

Pull!

Who is the Ultimate Valentine?

Vincent Adolphus Valentine was a Jamaican cricket player, Stacy Valentine is a veteran of the adult film industry, Ryan Valentine is a Welsh soccer player, Josh Valentine is an Australian rugby player, Greg “The Hammer” Valentine was a professional wrestler, Howard Valentine ran the 800 meters for the U.S. in the 1904 Summer Olympics and won a silver medal, but the Ultimate Valentine is, of course, Saint Valentine. Turns out the guy is the patron saint of bee keepers. Hmmmm, that’s not quite as exciting as Cupid shooting arrows and all.

So, if you’re looking for that very unique Valentine’s present, get a jar of honey, explain the whole bee keeper thing and take a cue from one of Stacy’s old movie scenes…or…

Just come out and play some Ultimate today. The sun is out and we need a decent game to help one of our own, Visor, celebrate his birthday.

Rumor has it, that Coach Bob will be back out today as well. Haven’t seen him since before the holidays.

I think I’m taking a new nick name. I’d like to be called “Uno” in honor of the first Beagle to win the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show “Best in Show” award.

You go snoopy dog! By the way, Snoopy would have been a sick Ultimate player.

Sponge Game

Many years ago, way before Lance Armstrong starting winning Tours De France and bicycle makers began stripping off every extra piece of equipment that might drag on the wind, back when Jack Nicholson & Morgan Freeman were known for their roles in “One Flew Over a Cuckoo’s Nest” and “Electric Company”, respectively, back when you could get away wearing stripes with plaid together…

Well, back then, bicycles came with fenders. You know why? So, when you rode on wet pavement, you wouldn’t have this splatter streak up the back of your pants and shirt. Well, today was a bicycle fender kind of day on the Ultimate field. Particularly for people like Travis and Phil, who actually run hard. The field was very soggy and muddy. Actually, I suspect I may even have had the splatter marks since at one point when Kelly was marking me, she remarked “Wow, you’re muddy!”

I have a couple confessions both of which you could verify with my mom. One, I like to play in the mud, and two, I have worn stripes and plaid together before, probably with patches no less.

Today was a spongy game. green started off slow and the gold team of Phil, MattP, Brook, & Kelly got off to an early lead by navigating the mud holes more efficiently and making shorter throws and less cuts. The green team of Travis, Eric, Scott & Bill couldn’t seem to find their spacing very well, I threw 3-4 right in the mud where Scott informed me none of the rest of the team was running and we basically floundered around for a while before going on a small run in the 2nd half of the game and taking advantage of Travis’ speed, Eric’s reach, and Scott’s surprisingly quick defense.

“I’m getting to where my legs aren’t killing me every day after I play”, said Scott, spoken like a true Ultimate addict…er, uh…convert.

Well, BrianT, has come out this week, now Kelly. Geez, maybe Lindsay & Bob will show back up at some point. I haven’t read any news stories about a Chevy Impala being carjacked only to find it was being used as a bedroom or of any skullers in the Williamsburg area arrested in a bar fight with the William & Mary women’s hockey team so I’m guessing those two are alive, if not altogether well.

Great weather today…72 at game time, breezy but no where need the stiff winds that were being predicted. Heck, I even decided to have the egg salad. Don’t tell my van pool.

See you tomorrow.

By the way, Todd mentioned there may have been some “odious missteps” on the Ultimate Juke Box playlist. If you have some requests, I’ll see what I can do about including them.

Play nice everybody.

Super Fat Tuesday Game Day

Was it actually humid yesterday? Seems hard to believe but in the first week of February we were all in shorts and short sleeves and actually very warm yesterday during the game. Today is supposed to be even warmer.

While the temperature was great yesterday, the play was not…well at least not for the green team who, despite being a player up for the first part of the game, was getting beaten by gold’s quickness and accurate passing. Chasing Kash, Travis & Phil around is not ever easy but when you put me, Wings & MattC on the same team…well, we aren’t the fleetest of foot perhaps. Visor & Swinny were looking for spare parts.

So, it was a good turnout. CaptK & Conrad also joined us. Brook was a no-show…though he was careful to have an email waiting for me when I got back to the cube letting me know it was the first time he’d ever responded for a game and didn’t come out…and as far as I can remember, he’s right.

I understand the game on Monday featured new or returning players. Welcome BrianT & Chris. In fact I got emails from newer or resuming players yesterday saying Monday’s game needed recovery time before they could come back out.

Today should test your throwing skills if you venture out. The wind is supposed to be near 20mph. Don’t be intimidated though…that’s why Ultimate is played with that 175 grams of plastic…it can be done. So grab a friend or co-worker and come on out today. We’ll be missing a few regulars so we need some of you other, less frequent, or better yet new players, to come join us.

Happy belated Fat Tuesday Buzzards and readers…it was a Super Tuesday as well and while I’ll probably try and refrain from making any obviously partisan political comments here from time to time I may appeal to your social conscience as a citizen. For those of you that call the metro area home, the Maryland, D.C. & Virginia primaries are next week…get to your polls.

Lots of things more super than a bowl...

The BPUC did hit the trifecta yesterday. Our third game in a row this week and it was a pretty good one. We were back to the odd number of players, only getting 9 out there. Early on, it wasn’t any problem for the green team, they used the sharp passing of Visor & CaptK to distribute the disc around to Scott & Swinny and were actually outscoring the 5-man gold team of Kash, Phil, Bill, Eric & MattP who seemed to be having some challenges playing any effective D.

You all know my theory here…the team with the extra person gets lazy thinking they can zone everything and all of sudden when you thought you had two people marking somebody, it ends up being nobody marking and that runner getting loose for a score.

Swinny was having fun mastering his flick yesterday with two early “pinpoint” 5-yard throws for scores…both, to his delight, with me on him… "How’d you like that flick, Bill?” he taunted much more cordially than the last time his flick was called into question and he was spewing expletive-laced barbs back down the field at his tormentors.

Other nice tricks I noticed on the field yesterday…Eric batting down a scoring pass with his hat…Wings throwing his hands up into the air to grab another score and giving the impression that he had a 42” vertical leap while not actually leaving the ground, me getting tangled up in somebody else’s feet again and today taking down Scott for no good reason at all, Kash hitting a corner cut scoring pass with a nice zip throw for the 2nd day in a row, & Phil “getting the pot calling kettle black” treatment from Bill yelling at him for not running and breaking and then zinging an uncatchable pass towards his teeth.

All of it was done under the relative balmy sunshine and 38 degrees…but with no wind! Great day of Ultimate!

Chief Buzzard’s Super Bowl thoughts: You think Michael Strahan is intimidating rushing you?...think about Wings bearing down on you as you’re about to catch a disc you’ve just elevated for. Tom Brady/Gisele Bundchen, that ain’t nothing. You think she brings his cleats to him if he forgets them? Swinny, you got that Brady guy beat. Yesterday’s temperature in Tempe, Arizona, site of the Super Bowl 56 and cloudy. Sunday’s forecast for D.C…56 and Sunny…great day for Ultimate, the sport of the common man. Who gives a goose poop about an organization who’s participants will be hauling down an average of $1.1 million this year. You know what our average salary on our field was yesterday roughly?...about 60K, I’d say. You’d think we could find something more to our demographic to occupy our time on Sunday eh?

See you next week Buzzards.