7 vs. 7, sunshine, Hard hits, and some awesome Army music.

Submitted by Phil

Not a typical start to my Monday. Returning from a weeks worth of leave I was a little depressed to come back to the o'l puzzle palace but those feeling were quick to change. Before I had even made it to my cube the boss man, aka "thunder" said to me "hope you have your stuff, I already replied that you're playing." From that moment on I knew it was going to be a spectacular day. And a spectacular day it was.

Walking out to the ultimate pitch we ended up with 7 vs. 7. If my memory serves me right it was a classic match up between the Gold team of: Phill, Swinny, Scott, Eli, Derek, Tim, and Hollan, and the Green team composed of: Todd, Justin, Frank, Bob, Tom, Rodney, and Jason. With a heavy count of regulars and no newcomers the game was destined to be a good one. Along with the normal bumping, and light contact there were a few instances that stood out. For example when Scott managed to level Frank pretty good near the end zone as the two battled in the air after the disk. Or when I was completely murdered by Todd, who felt the need to attack my ankles and send me into the ground, (ok that might have been dramatized a bit but you all know what I am talking about) For all those non regulars reading this I swear it is a non contact sport.

For the most part the teams were even and a good solid match was had. However, there was one more little treat that the Buzzards were in for. Little to our knowledge, we were privileged to be able to listen to the Army band and select singers practice just yards away. Nothing like listening to the same song over and over and over and over and over and... well you get the point. Apparently the music took Bryan back to his Karaoke days as he was quick to burst into song along with them. What a treat.

Despite the great back ground music when it came down to the end of the match and the "first one the three" was called, the Gold teams patience and precise disk work led them to a 3-1 victory over the Green team, But who's counting anyway, and "Who the #%$@ is marking Scott!!!!!"

PULL!!!!!!!

Recap from Last week

Submitted by Thunder

{Crickets}

Well, after some high turn-out days, this week was a struggle. With some key regulars on leave (Bill, Phil, Todd?), our depth was really tested. Monday was a true regular's game... 3 on 3 in the rain and thick grass. Setting up two goals, Frank, Rodney and I took on Eric, Tom and Matt.

There was very little doubt that standing in the crease would require titanium gonads, Rodney took shot after shot in the shins from Eric, Tom and Matt... well at least until Tom took mercy on Rodney's shins and came out with the backhand-over-the-shoulder-lightning bolt right into........ Rodney's face. Ouch.

With a cool rain settling on the long grass, Rodney made the Ultimate layout. Going long on a break-away pass from Frank, Rodney dove face first, slid 30 feet on his stomach, catching the disc and nearly sliding with it into the goal. I think I know where the inspiration for the slip'n'slide came from.

Enough about Rodney... Tom was a powerhouse scoring machine and Eric proved to be my nemesis. No matter how far around him I tried to throw, his out-stretched 16 foot wingspan defeated me. Matt, props to you for your aggressive behind the net play. Must be the post-season hockey action that inspired your play calling.

Tuesday. Well I can't really say much. It was the final make-up weigh-in day. With a 12-pack of Guinness on the line with Phil, I opted for an early morning workout... ok, I was sweating making weight and figured a quick hour on the treadmill in long pants wouldn't hurt my chances of collecting my prize. Needless-to-say, I had no idea the disappointment that would be thrust on me later that day by the regulars when I opted out of playing (I'd like to say I was resting my legs, but truth be told I was just enjoying being able to eat again). Uh, Phil, you owe me...

Wednesday. Two days in a row I missed the game. Guess I should find a ghost writer to fill in here. Anyway, 49 of my closest classmates and I secured tickets to the Nationals game and we were very busy making preparations in the James Creek Marina parking lot Wednesday morning. I know there was a game because I saw quite a few of you trot by on the way to McNair. Tim even had the decency to stop by and socialize a little.

Thursday. A beautiful day to return to the field. 4 on 4 with an even mix of regulars and irregulars (my apologies for missing names here). Both teams matched up well and the sun even came out.

Friday. What was I thinking? The ranks were still thin, but I thought I'd give Rodney a break from calling the game, so I dutifully punched out an early morning feeler to see if anyone was even here today. Sure the regulars all replied within 15 minutes and we were up to 5... then silence...[more crickets please]... As the hour approached 1100, I decided to call no game, but Microsoft had other plans for me. While I sent the email, the Outlook gremlins decided I didn't need email anymore. After 20 minutes with the help desk, my email was restored, luckily the no game email had gotten lost in the recovery effort. Rodney and Hollan called in to tell me they had moved appointments around and Swinney emailed over an interested Army player. My eyes perked up as the magic number eight bounced through my head and I quickly sent out the Game On! Email.

How disappointing. After being kicked from the North fields by the infantry, we merely managed 5 today (Tom, Tim, Hollan, Rodney and I). Our warm-up session went into extra innings with some intricate 5-way 2-disc maneuvers. Giving up all hope, we played yet another variant of 3-on-2. In today's game, we set up three cones right next to each other at each end of the field. Assigning Tim to be the permanent offensive man (as in offense vs defense, but if you find him offensive, that's ok too), Rodney and I took on Tom and Hollan. No pulls, just play the disc. Knock over a cone with the disc and you score... simple, right? Let's just say throwing a disc at cones makes the small soccer goals look like caverns. It was a low scoring game with lots of running... freshly cut grass, sunshine, and warm... far better than occupying a cubicle.

Anyway, lesson learned; calling a game is much harder than it looks. Bill, come back soon, we need your leadership, your sportsmanship, and YOUR blog entries!!!

Aisle 10...irregulars

Submitted by Bill

It was great to have a game of 5 on 5 Friday when many of the regulars were not here. Welcome out Pete & Dan. It was my first time playing with both of you and welcome back Tim & MattM who, though fairly new, have been coming out pretty frequently lately. Sometimes, when somebody new comes out they get discouraged that their “playing wind” is not quite what they want it to be. Me, being the compassionate and empathetic guy that I am, I had one of the new guys, Dan mark Swinny to start the game.

Hey, what do I know, he looked young, in shape… a few times down the field Dan, made a couple nice grabs and throws but was bent over trying to catch his breath. “Want to switch” I offered, knowing I couldn’t keep up with Bryan, but secure in my shortfalls.

“No, thanks. I’ll be okay when he starts to slow down” Dan said (breaking New Guy rule #4 ‘Never overestimate your ability to keep running’).

“Well, I’ve been playing with Bryan for a year now and I haven’t seen him slow down yet” I replied. I was marking Matt at the time and he was running a like a mad man also but I thought I’d give Dan the option.

Bryan had apparently already sufficiently briefed Pete about the pain and running as I checked in with him about midway through the game “Hey, don’t kill yourself out here, we’re not trying out for any Olympic team yet”.

“Yea, don’t worry” Pete responded “I’m trying to keep the running to a minimum”. Ah, Ultimate wisdom…it’s a keen quality. Know your strengths and play to them. Pete made some great throws for a first day out and not having to chase Swinny or Matt probably helped.

Hey Rodney! What the heck did you do with our old Warrant Officer? I could have sworn that was you sprinting behind the defense on several occasions for long huck scores. Sprinting and catching on the same play. Who knew? Tim & I just want to thank you for giving us somebody to actually throw to.

No sign of Travis, MattC, or Justin this week. Jason did come out Friday and was at least one soon departing player looking to squeeze in as much Ultimate as possible before transfer time.

Conrad was also getting in his last game before hanging out up north in Baltimore these next two weeks. Best wishes also to Brady who will be headed to the DL after surgery. Heal quickly but don’t try to come out too soon (check with Wings for the official disclaimer there).

Lon, did you say you were bringing another facet of your game out on Friday? Well, I heard somebody comment that you were running all over the place. I assured them that couldn’t have been you but they were pretty adamant. Did Rodney share his secret potion with you? You guys need to quit bogarting that brew and hand some over this way.

The cookout is on hold after some less than overwhelming response about attending. I guess I’ll try and follow my own advice and play to my strengths.

Force home!

Deep grass, humidity, & nets…

Submitted by Bill

Anybody else notice sweating from the ground up yesterday? That’s how I can tell the humidity is rising. It was heavy on the chest and lungs as the temps bumped up a little and the humidity went up a lot. It’s only April Buzzards…start conditioning now for summer.

Speaking of conditioning, I don’t know what to suggest for the grass conditions we played in yesterday. Very deep, it was a good thing Kash wasn’t still here, we might have lost him. Even though the humidity may have had more to do with it, the grass length was a great excuse for some slower running.

And we went out yesterday with only 7 (Bob saved us from 6 with a last second RSVP) until Conrad finally showed up so we went with a version of Ultimate we used to play quite regularly a few years ago…with goals instead of end zones. An added feature was the hockey-like crease that Todd decided to set up. This game theoretically favors the strong throwers. Of course it takes a few to get dialed in on range as I found out after sailing my 3rd shot at an open net just a little high. Wings was upset the new setup was having negative impact on his MVP season.

Out of common courtesy, we used to outlaw the tomahawk throw when playing with nets. The defender can really get lit up that way. But Thunder, wasn’t around in those days and may not have any common courtesy but regardless, he let loose a scoring tomahawk. I think it was one of only 2 or 3 scores we even had on the nets before the soccer folks came out to play. Anybody else notice they didn’t make it out Monday in the rain?

Anyway, by then we had 8 and went back to our regular game but team speed never really proved to be a factor. Not sure whether it was the grass, humidity or general unfit for play status but Phil & Bryan did not break away for as many running scores as they’ve been known to. In fact Phil may have had the best play of the day and it was defensive…a fantastic “Secret Service Layout” (thanks for the idea Scott) on a sure long pass score from Todd to Bill.

I heard Conrad complaining that his “Kungfoo Grip” just wasn’t what it used to be. Rest easy my friend hardly any of us have anything working as well as it used to.

Enjoy a day off everybody. I think the ACO picnic or football will keep us from having enough for a game today…of course I could be wrong so good luck Rodney in getting enough players.

Looks like we’ll have great weather again tomorrow though and hopefully the fields will have been mowed.

The Greatest Rain Game Ever (is that too hyperbolic?)

Submitted by the whiny, dutifully remorseful and apologetic (you told me so) Chief Buzzard, Bill

You know you’re having one of those weeks when the LTjgs have to pick up the slack for you…

After a weekend of hiking and then getting a torrential rain shower Sunday night, I thought, after peeking at the weekly forecast that Monday and Tuesday might be a good little break on the Ultimate field. Not that I don’t enjoy playing in the rain, contrary to all the “I’m melting” jibes I received Monday (despite actually being out there), I love playing in the rain. But I thought it was going to be thundering and lightening as well. It turned out being just cool and breezy and apparently there was a groundswell of voices wanting to play as Swinny called Phil before heading to a meeting to beg him to call a game.

Meanwhile, even though I did have gear here, well all except a towel, I thought I might just quietly sit in my cube, eat my Caramel Chex Mix and sleep…er…uh…I mean catch up on some work during lunch. And then I got caught! On my way back up from the Exchange and getting my Chex Mix, Rodney spotted me coming out of the elevator (I knew I should have taken the stairs) and asked in his quiet unassuming manner “What the hell are you doing here? Why aren’t you playing?”

So, I was shamed into going back to my cube and replying that I would come out. And it turned out…finally…to be a great sponge game. The whole walk out the field, it just started raining harder and harder and the wind was blowing and I was grumbling to Phil about what he had dragged me into. But after more than my share of whining, we got 10 out there as Kelly had been similarly manipulated and dragged out by Bryan.

It wound up being a great game of many layouts and slides. Frank, Hollan, Todd, Bob, & Scott were the other hard core Buzzards who came out. Well done everybody! You would all make the universal Ultimate club very proud. I felt like I was 11 or 12 again heading out to play football in the rain and mud. My cleats are still wet.

Kelly stepped up yesterday when I was legitimately tied up in a meeting (of very little value…especially when balanced against missing Ultimate) and I hear there was a great game of 12 and the sun finally came out.

Today the forecast is sunny and low 70’s. Time for all the fairer weather Buzzards to come out. It will not get any better than today for weather…but you really should try a rain game sometime. As demonstrated by Hollan and Bryan doing belly slides into puddles at the end of the game Monday, it will bring out the inner kid in you when you used to like to stomp in puddles and get muddy, and track dirt into the house (yea, Scott, I know that was just last week for you).

Fly high Buzzards. Pull!

Ghost in the Machine...

submitted by Kelly

It was ghost- town-city here yesterday; you could hear a pin drop in my office. But I thought with the flippn' awesome weather why not try to call a game. We had only 6 people for a game, not a very healthy number by any ultimate means but Eric emailed me about an ultimate variation called "hot box" or "half court" that you play with smaller numbers like 3 on 3 or 4 on 4. Here's the link he sent http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_box_(game). I sent this to the 5 other players and had them on board for trying this out. Well we didn't actually play that version we just shortened the regular field and played 3 on 3. A great day and we had a blast!

Double the numbers!

5’s on Monday, 6’s on Tuesday and then as I headed down to the locker room on Wednesday I was thinking, "mmm, good week, we have 11 playing again today." Walked in to find Hollan dressing out…he hadn’t originally replied…

"Can’t stay away” he said, getting dressed. Outstanding, another daily dozen!

Then I wander out on the field and by the time the “crowd” makes it’s way over there are 16!!! That’s like 2 games worth for us over the last couple months. Amazing what a little warm weather and a couple new people catching the bug can do. Want to send a welcome out to MattM & Paul who came out. Matt has been out a few times before but this was Paul’s first time with us I believe. Great to have you both out there. Usually, I like to give everybody else a shout out to that comes out but I’m telling you, I know I’ll forget somebody.

We have made some field modifications, stretching out the end zones to the official field size of 25 yards. Wow, that makes a big difference huh? Unbelievably, a couple people still managed to exceed the limits of the end zones with their throws. But it was definitely nice to have the extra space considering how many people were on the field. It was tough finding open lanes coming down the field though. Great game, great weather, great turnout. Thanks to everyone for coming out. Looking forward to some great numbers this spring and summer.

I saw that Kelly got a game yesterday while I was on papal (does that rhyme with maple or scrapple?) leave. Will look forward to a report from the game if anybody wants to submit something, email it to me.

One of your teammates, Todd, certainly one of our better handlers wants to send this along for your learning opportunity. I, for one, love anything that’s going to teach me about gyroscopic stability and I am absolutely going to try and add the “Wheel of Death” throw to my repertoire. By the way, Todd is the only one I see out there using the Push effectively and I’m not even sure what he threw me the other day for that score in the end zone. I am also disappointed by the conspicuous absence of The Machete, a throw I’ve come to master and other to hate. Not that I’m the only one who throws it. I believe it was a Machete throw earlier this week that bounced off of Frank’s chest and I guess we should all be glad we didn’t have a sucking chest wound on our hands.

Played an interesting variation of 2-man Ultimate yesterday. There were two soccer nets on the field where we’d gone to play catch and the were about 35-40 yards apart. We each stood in one goal and tried to score on the other. 2 points for a score, 1 point for the defender if the disc overshot the net. At that distance, the disc gets to you quick and your hands can take a beating. Good times though and made for an interesting twist on catch.

Hope all you Buzzards have a great weekend. I’m heading out for the mountains of Virginia to do a little hiking. Be safe and I’ll see you back here on Monday.