Running on empty...it's too late for me

Submitted by Bill

Looking out at the road rushing under my wheelsLooking back at the years gone by like so many summer fields.

I could hear Jackson Browne’s melodic Southern California style ringing in my ears yesterday as I returned to the field after more than a week away and struggled to find my wind. Of course, that wasn’t the worst of it. In my misrepresentation of my own running potential I must have evaluated some others on our green team similarly and when Todd lined up for the first pull and looked down the line to see who would be “running” with him he must have been discouraged not only to find he was a player short but that there weren’t a lot of chasers there on his side.

After the game, Phil remarked “Well, you had a lot of handlers…” and to be sure we had a very nice team of handlers yesterday. Of course, the handlers can’t just all hang back and throw to themselves in the middle of the field all day long and our inability to cut and slash and run vertically caused some problems yesterday. The lack of running was not limited to the offense and we let a lot of runners by us on the defensive side as well.

I called the game with 8 responses yesterday and then Wings came out after we secretly sabotaged the football game by having his boss call a meeting and then excusing himself at the last minute…okay, we’re not quite that conniving…or smart for that matter. So we had 9 confirmed on the way down to the locker room. I saw Swinny as I was leaving and that made 10 and then got out to the field and Paul had wandered out as well. That gave us the 6 on 5 game and for some reason I thought putting Phil, Swinny, Paul & the “sneaky fast” trio of Bob, MattC & Wings on one side seemed equitable.

Myself, Tim, Thunder & Shadow are more “bursty fast” which is to say we have bursts of speed surrounded by a lot of, um, “field stagnation” leaving Todd to wonder whether to cover Phil or Swinny each time down and playing the odds that Tim or I might be able to stay with the other for a play or two. Even when Lon wandered out and gave us and even 6 on 6, we seemed to have problems tying 3 or 4 completed passes together or marking all our men at one time.

Give gold credit for realizing this and making several nice short pass drives up the field and playing some good D. I told Bob on one trip down the field that usually I could just toss the disc up and count Todd being able to out hustle a defender to the disc but after watching a lazy pass into the end zone get quickly double teamed and drop to the ground I realized that I’d have to do a better job placing the disc.

You know each game seems to bring something unique to the field and yesterday was no exception. While setting up the cones we noticed a nice surprise toward the middle of one side of the field…a pile of horse crap! So, we deployed a couple extra cones and had the added bonus of aromatherapy. I think I may need to switch to jasmine, juniper berries or patchouli today because yesterday’s scent was too indicative of the way I played.

I want to take a minute to offer a hearty Buzzard farewell to another regular. Yesterday was Travis’ last day at HQ, and in fact, in the Coast Guard. As one of the few guys who could actually run with Swinny on a regular basis, you’ll be sorely missed. We wish you the best as you head to MIT to get more geekier. We hope to see you on their Team Page in the future.

Good idea of the day ~ Phil making sure to have a 120’x40’ yard field mowed at his vineyard for the annual Ultimate Vine Invitational ~ “Now, pulling for the Shiraz team, Thunder”… “Oh, what a layout by Swinny of team Reisling” Quick, respond now with your favorite grape and start recruiting your players

It’s good to be back Buzzards.

Doctor my eyes
Tell me what is real
I hear their cries
Just saying "It's too late for me"

A Scribe's Diatribe or 'The Straw (re: Mitchell report) that broke the camel's back'

When was the last time you heard an Ultimate player’s name in the news for steroid use, perjury, dog fighting, spousal abuse, DUI, drug abuse, sexual harassment, etc? Oh, you haven’t? Do you wonder why? Well, it would be nice to think that it’s because those of us in the sport of Ultimate sit on a morally higher ground and conduct ourselves in a more ethical manner. And there could be some argument, with our “Spirit of the Game” self-governance, offered as evidence, that this is true on some level. But the real reason is that we don’t make bazillions of dollars a year playing a child’s game. All those things occur throughout society but they don’t make the front page headlines because our collective earning power doesn’t make a ripple in the pond of multi-billionaire, ego-maniacal, far-removed from “the common man” professional sports figures.

For those of us decrying the state of professional, and in many instances even collegiate level, sports as having eroded to the level of social cesspool, I offer this New Year’s resolution challenge…STOP WATCHING! Heck, get a head start at your holiday celebrations over the next few weeks. Instead of falling into the cosmic forces that seem to separate family gatherings into the 3 spheres of kid’s table, kitchen help, or TV sports watchers dare to pull your cousins, nieces, nephews and even Grandmom Mildred into the back yard and throw the disc around. Or pull out somebody’s game of Cranium, Would You Rather, UNO, or even Twister, a nice bottle (or eight depending on your family size) of a local Virginia wine…the 2003 Keswick Vineyards Chardonnay or 2001 Barbousville Winery Octagon, that’s white & red respectively for you “Frisbee” players, and stop watching! Do something more constructive with your time, reclaim your search for fun, sportsmanship, fair competition & general well-being. Stop making the rich richer while complaining that the "out of work veteran" panhandler should find a job and stop holding a sign in the same parking lot each day...the one of the Starbucks we're pulling into to plunk down $3.50 on a gingerbread latte...okay, I'm rambling. ESPN has sent me over the edge today.

I’m in the planning stages of my “year-in-review” entry for this forum. Please forgive me if it doesn’t completely have something to do with the sport of Ultimate but the company of players I keep is so “Renaissance” in its collective spectrum of interests and stories that it’s likely I’ll ramble off on many tangents and you’ll wonder what in the world you’ve clicked to.

If any of you have any submissions, feel free to send those along for my consideration.

In the meantime, looks like we’ll have a decent day for a game today for those of you who have come to work. Thanks for keeping the games going this week in my departure. Just want to give a hearty (or squawky) Buzzard shout out to Rob. This was his last week of internship at CGHQ and he has been a faithful participant since his introduction to the BPUC. You’ll notice he was both, a wind & snow ribbon recipient. Good luck Rob.

So, what’s happened this week Buzzards? No interesting stories? I find that hard to believe. Chime in and find yourself published.

See you on the field today.