Hollan's last stand

~ posted by Bill

We lured out enough people yesterday to celebrate Hollan’s last game. Well, I thought it was “just enough people” one of those days that I had just 8 and then a 9th rogered up right before we headed out and then we wind up with 12 on the field.

You know a while back when we used to give out nicknames more often we had dubbed Tom “Boom Boom”. You see, Tom is left over from the Buzzard’s days of Ultimate when this game was a little more….uh….let’s say…physical. And when we started the club back up and Tom first came back out, he had a habit of using some of that well learned physicality. These newer, younger Buzzards began to try and reinforce some of the actual standards of Ultimate that state this game should be a non-contact sport and Tom had to reinvent his style. Which, by the way, I should say he has done very well over the last year or so. Of course, some nicknames just stick and from time to time he hears “Boom boom” being called his way.

Yesterday Tom made a case for the rescinding or, perhaps more appropriately, the reassignment of this nickname. Another new player you might guess? Perhaps a football player learning a new sport? An overaggressive soccer player looking for an outlet on his non-game days? A pickup basketball player throwing his weight around? Yea, not so much. None of the above. In fact, it was to the bestower of the “Boom boom” nickname in the first place. The rule enlightener himself. The guy that played one season of a “real league” and decided to become an Ultimate snob. Okay, I admit it! It was me!

I really don’t know what happened. It was late in the game and maybe I’d lost a step. I saw Todd standing about midfield looking around for somebody to pass to and I saw him make eye contact with Tom who about 10 yards in front of me and to my right about 1 o’clock. I could see that Todd was going to lead him a little bit crossing in front of me and I figured I could cover that 10 yards in front of me before Tom moved over to Noon or 11:30 on the dial. I made a mad dash and put my head down for a second to help with the aerodynamics. When I lifted my head and expected to be getting to where I could stick my hand out and knock down a pass I found that there was a body already there. I ran right into it and found bone and elbow and crumpled to the ground.

A brief shaking of the head to make sure everything was still there and I opened my eyes looking straight up in the sky. Tom was standing over me looking down at me like I’d lost my mind.

“Dude, you okay?”

Apologizing and getting up groggily, I said “C’mon lets go. Disc in play”.

“I think we have a new Boom Boom” I heard Tom shout back down the field. Or, I thought later…

What do you call a nut case who runs full bore into “Boom Boom?”… "Sonic Boom?”

And see, it hadn’t been the first contact I’d had that day either. Earlier, thinking I had found a seem deep I made a dash for a disc headed to the end zone. But green was playing zone and Todd and Bob were sitting deep as the safeties. So as the disc headed for the left corner of the endzone and six eyes looking up at it trying to get a track on it the six corresponding legs started getting closer and closer to each other. Todd got the first glimpse of situational awareness and pulled up just enough to see Bob and I going by him and becoming entangled and rolling to the ground together in a heap…the disc still in the air above the 3 of us and then falling to the ground.

On Hollan’s last day, I continually heard him swearing about his inability to get a pass anywhere he wanted. One sailing over Kevin’s head…$&@*….another cutting to the ground before JQ…*$%@...and another not quite making it to Mark…$*&!.

But it was nice to have 6 on 6. Thunder, thanks for coming out at the last minute to even up the teams. After giving Jeana a hard time about not making it out to the rain game a couple week’s ago, we thought she was going to stand us up again but she and Tom showed up right after the start also and our 9 turned into a dozen and hopefully we gave Hollan a nice game to head out on. It’s been our pleasure having you play with us brother. I think I may have even saw a small tear in Phil’s eye as he came up to sign your going away disc yesterday afternoon. Or maybe Paul just poked him…or maybe he was crying about the dead fish…I’m not sure.

Wheat and Chaff

Some of the things I separate during my normal weeks….whites from the darks during laundry day, eggs, oil & vinegar when shaking up the Newman’s Own, Buzzards between green and gold, and yesterday…the hard core “we’ll play in anything” Buzzards from the “fair weather” fowl.

To be fair, I suspect there were others that would have played had they been there or were not in meetings but credit shall be given where it is due and I need to give a big shout out to Phil, Brad, Bob, JQ, George, Alec, Hollan, & Kevin who came out to play yesterday in by far the worst weather conditions of the year. It was about 47 or 48 degrees and raining…not just sprinkling but a full rain. We looked on the radar before we went out and we were on the edge of that dark green and yellow bands. Then about mid way through the game the wind started to blow as well.

None of that kept those Buzzards off the field yesterday. Bob & JQ were both nursing nagging injuries, Alec (our Maine native) didn’t have long pants or long sleeves on, Phil had no Phil had no hat and none of us had many dry spots even after the run out to the field but we played and had a great time!

We didn’t waste much time yesterday getting out either. Brad & I jogged out to the field in hopes that it might keep us warmer. Bob wondered if it wasn’t warmer standing still? Hmmmm, I’m not really sure about the scientific quality of that surmising but I guess it could be argued that if you’re wet and not causing the wind the blow harder against yourself, by running, that you might feel warmer. But my thinking was that keeping the blood moving and the core temperature up would be a good thing. So we through on the pinnies right away with not much thought about who was who’s team and just started playing.

Initially, we only had 7. “But Bill, you only call games when you have 8” you might contest. Yes, that’s normally true. And I did have 8 when I called the game…with a couple of other “maybes”. And usually I’m not one to throw anybody under the bus as things do come up (like Tom’s marathon meeting that started before 9 and still wasn’t over when we went out) but when we just get stood up because it was raining I feel the need for some manner of “public cyber flogging”. Hey Jeana, I tried to keep the Buzzards from hurling the “new player” and “girl” epithets around in disdain….okay, actually I joined in…but really. And you’re an Ultimate player from before too? We only cancel games for lightning…and then usually begrudgingly and amongst jeers that I should at least wait until somebody gets struck before I pack up the bag. Luckily JQ & George wandered out after we had gotten to the field and we had 9!

Speaking of packing up the bag….somebody please take those pinnies home today and wash them. I can’t imagine they are even dry yet from yesterday and secretly I’m glad I didn’t have to put one on today. But if they don’t get home, can you imagine what they will feel and smell like on Monday? Ewwwww!

Okay so everybody that came out yesterday…you get the AWB (All-Weather Buzzard) award and the satisfaction of knowing your zeal and gusto borders on insanity and that you are indeed Ultimate players!

Have a great weekend everybody.

Top 10 Reasons to play Ultimate today...

10. Frisbees can't get water logged.
9. You don't have enough hair to mess up.
8. Turtles like water.
7. It's cheaper than the cafeteria.
6. It's not as cold as Wisconsin.
5. Nobody gets fired from Ultimate.
4. You'll remember how fun it was to play in puddles.
3. Despite how erudite we sound in our blog…we’re an easy-going bunch.
2. You won't be the only women, old guy, Chief, Contractor, or soccer player playing.
1. It's not your desk for heaven's sake.

Rodney Reunion Tour

“So with Rodney playing today, do we have to let him win?” was the question I got asked yesterday morning in preparation for the BPUC reunion game we had planned for him as he was going to be back in the building and hoped to play.

“No way” I said “Let’s just treat him like we always do…like our little sister”. I mean we didn’t want to make him feel unwelcome. I did notice though that JQ was making Rodney look deceptively fast early in the game zipping two passes into end zone corners where the defense wasn’t actually that badly beaten. Ah, handlers…sometimes they make you look good.

There seemed to be a variety of defenses being played yesterday. My team, overwhelmingly outvoted me and wanted to play zone to begin with. So Brad and Brian headed forward to play the cup with mid-play tutoring going on (which, oddly enough, seems to impact the effectiveness of the defense actually being played…not in a good way). Phil, Dennis & I roamed the middle and Bob played deep safety (he likes that position too much and jumps at the chance he gets to play it).

The green team seemed to be playing some bastardized version of pentagon and 1 or what I like to call 5 guys playing man and the 6th letting Brian run loose. After we found Brian for the 3rd or 4th open pass early in the game, I heard Todd shouting “Who in the world has Brian?” I’m not completely sure but when I saw JQ racing back and forth across the field as safety a la Bob, I figured he was the one who’d been cheating on the man defense.

I had a particularly tough time throwing yesterday due to the new defense being played on me. Scott was marking me with the “bump pivot” D. That’s when I’m trying to get him out of my shirt and I pivot around and he keeps bumping me. It’s legality clearly in question…I could picture Phil if he’d had to endure it, constantly rotating the disc around in front of his stomach to try and cry for more room…but the effectiveness of it could not be disputed. My handling sucked yesterday. Aside from a couple that I decided to just throw out of bounds and let come back in (and one of those got caught up in the tree), I was pretty much useless.

Several players deferred playing yesterday and said they’d be playing today. If that was your idea of fair weather Ultimate playing I might point out that you didn’t check your weather forecasts very well. Yesterday was almost perfect playing conditions with temperatures in the 50’s and almost no wind. Today will barely reach into the 50’s and there is 100% chance of rain. Oh, we’ll still play but for Alec & Jeana…I’ll be looking for you two.

And while I’m throwing people under the bus…er…uh…I mean…missing players who haven’t been out this week…that we usually see out there is…Jason, Paul, Brook? Are you guys here this week? We got George back out yesterday so I’ve taken him off the MIA list. Rachel, are you coming back out? How ‘bout some other former players who have really gone into the Witness Protection Program…MattD, Jorge, Bo, Eric B, Denise, Roz? Hey, don’t think I don’t know who’s on this list. Come on back out folks!

You know I sometimes mention the conversation on the way out or back from the pitch or in the locker room…they’re generally my most interesting of the day. Last week there was talk of loofahs, waxing, and quality whites (wine, not linens) that would have made you think you were at the spa and not the guy’s locker room. Yesterday, Kevin and I were comparing our driving lives that shared commonalities like 3-generation pickups, routes (29 & 95 respectively), some Va. State Trooper observations, and High School Musical 3 (okay we don’t share that but we talked about it). You don’t get this kind of renaissance intellectual and emotional stimulus in many other circles.

So, I’m thinking…what this White House transition team really needs is a lunchtime Ultimate game coordinator to keep everybody motivated and physically fit and…you know…informed.

Armistice from the cube!

Tuesday holidays? Strange things…Does anybody use the word armistice anymore? Do any of the Buzzards readers know what the word means? I’ll save you the time of going to Dictionary or Webster’s dot com edition…it’s the “temporary suspension of hostilities” which is a strange thing to call the end of the “war to end all wars”. Temporary? It turns out to be rather prophetic as a generation later the world headed off to the sequel.

In all seriousness, I’d like to give a big Buzzard’s nod to all Veterans all over the world who have served their countries in hopes that their children and grandchildren would have a safer place to live. Personally speaking, I’m Bill, III and Bill Sr., was a Major in the 29th Infantry Division at D-Day and Bill, Jr., was a swabbie aboard ship around the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

On a lighter note, I’d like to give a nod to some Buzzard “Veterans” no longer playing with us regularly…Lonnie, Lindsay, Craig, JasonN, MattC, Kashyap, Lon, Justin, Derek, Conrad, Frank, Tag, Travis, KellyG, Bryan, CAPTK and I’m sure I’m forgetting others. Thanks for your dedication and participation.

“Guys that should be Veterans” should have been the name of the gold team on Monday. As I wandered out on the field Tom asked “Bill, why did you put all the slow guys on one team?”

I thought he said “…all the old guys” –

“yea, it could be either” he corrected, “or both, old and slow…anyway, we’re all on this side”. I looked up and down the line….Tom, Bob, Scott, Mark and I. Actually, I think Mark just looks old and slow, he was really the “baby” on the team but the rest of us were mostly guilty as charged.

“Don’t worry” I assured Tom, “I gave us all the wily guys too.” He looked over and saw Todd, Hollan, Tim, Bridgette, & MikeC on the green team and didn’t seem convinced. Then when Lee wandered out…by the way, was that his first time? Welcome…just one point of rules…you can’t knock the disc out of anybody’s hands. We know you didn’t know that so we let you just celebrate it. As I was saying…Lee came out and I told him to throw green on too and Tom thought I had lost all of my limited faculties.

Turns out, wily was working on Monday. Even a player short we managed to control the game hitting on a couple timely long passes and basically working the field. It didn’t hurt that Hollan was recuperating from a bout of food poisoning (re: hangover?). Of course he gets points for coming out. Phil, reportedly having similar symptoms stayed safely inside.

MikeC ~ we’ve got to get you to learn to run with your hands down. Does anybody else get scared when they see Mike running by them with his arms waving frantically and him yelling something while having no chance of catching up to the disc? It reminds me of when I used to coach my daughter’s softball team. You have to persuade the outfielders they can run faster for a ball with their glove down and then stick it up when they get there. Just teasing you Mike...keep running...keep screaming...keep having fun.

Initially when we went out on Monday, people thought they had underdressed and Todd & Hollan considered going back in for long pants. Forecasts of varying wind strengths had circulated. One said 3 mph and another 15 mph. It was closer to the latter on the way out but by about mid game it had settled down to the other and the temperatures were quite pleasant. These days in the 50’s are really ideal Ultimate weather.

Other new players to welcome out of late have been Jeana & Rachel. Hope you all have had fun and will be back out with us. A few of you haven’t been out in a while but have played a lot in the past. I know some of you are injured but I just wanted to let you know the Buzzards were thinking about you from time to time…MattP, MattD, Brady, Eric, and ErikN. And then some of you are just hanging around on a distribution list and really have no good excuse for not coming out.

Come on! Think of it as a “work armistice” ….temporary cessation of hostilities of your cube.
Pull!

Our cup over runneth...

“Okay, shake your head up and down if what I just said made any sense, and side to side if you thought I was speaking gibberish” Kevin clarified after the words cup, left mid, hammer block, force wind, and other quasi-official Ultimate speak left this somewhat dazed look on his teammates faces?

“Can’t we just cover somebody?” Tim asked. And to his point…if you spend all morning in a meeting with a bunch of other O4s, being asked to think at lunch time on the pitch may be akin to any Republicans that were up late Tuesday night somehow hoping California wouldn’t go blue. Yea, that’s not happening.

Well, to even be in the position to practice the zone yesterday was a surprise because when I called the game I had just barely gotten the 8th response and I thought for sure we were headed for a 4 on 4 or 4 on 5 game yesterday. But then I was able to solicit a few latecomers, Alec & Brook, on our new “Office Communicator” (really the most functional aspect I’ve found for the application yet), Thunder changed his mind, somebody finally found Phil hiding under his desk and Mike wandered out and then Brian even showed up on his bicycle. So our 8 turned into 15 and the 3 mile and hour winds cranked up to about 15 probably and made for some interesting passing…uh…er…dropping perhaps.

Early in the game was ugly as everybody, it seems, dropped pass after pass. Or the handlers just threw them into the ground or 15 feet over somebody’s head depending on how the wind was blowing at that particular instant.

But, teams were running from stacks (well, when Brian didn’t think I was talking about IHOP), and we were playing some zone and actually forcing to one side or another and at times we looked like Ultimate teams. Not a lot of long pass connections yesterday though.

Another overcast rain threatening game today. Life’s good, let’s play.

Make a Change!

~ posted by Bill

On the heels of a truly historic election I just want to encourage all the Buzzards to take part in another campaign, the Combined Federal Campaign, and truly bring change to people and organizations that partner to imporove and enhance our communities. I'm not advocating any individual organizations but I will point out that the Ultimate Players Association can be sponsored (#CFC code, used for making designations: 11294).