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).

Hats, tights, and gloves...oh my!

~ posted by Bill

Just wanted to give a quick shout out to all the Buzzards who came out today. The rain stopped and it was just the wind and cool temperatures to contend with and once you started running it really wasn’t that cool anymore. I saw clothes being shed in fact.

But it was also a day for tights, sweats, hats, and gloves. The game started with some monster pulls, courtesy of a nice back wind. And through the course of the game we had some other types of pulls too. Like Brian’s pull that landed behind his line. Wind is a tricky think sometimes.

And some were surprised that there would even be a game today. A little after 0900 my instant messenger window popped up? “How many do you have today? Want to play racquetball instead?”

“Well, actually, if you’ll change your mind and play, we’ll have ‘Game On”” I replied.

“If I don’t, I’m going to feel like a ninny. I’m in.”

“Outstanding! Game On then!”

Todd may have been reconsidering his decision after about the first 10 minutes when the green team couldn’t seem to catch a disc. But they came around and worked some nice short passing runs with Hollan, Brad, Brian & Jason all getting in on the game with Todd.

The gold team started out well with Bob, Kevin & myself handling to Dennis, Bridgette & Paul…did I mention what a great turnout this was today for an inclimate weather day? But I’m not sure what happen with our 1-person advantage and some defensive breakdowns. The green team started scoring and hanging on to discs.

All in all though a great game. I’m headed out of here to the Swing State Voter Awareness concert tonight. Who knew Virginia would ever be a swing state again? Life is good. I’ll be groovin’ to some Jack Johnson, Sheryl Crow & Beastie Boys tonight. You all be good to each other. See you tomorrow.

pre Halloween & Election Day wear.

~ posted by Bill

It’s getting to be that time of year. What time of year you ask? The time of year when we walk around the wall of the loading dock on the way out to the pitch and that wind hits you and you say “Crap, it’s colder than I thought!” and wonder if you shouldn’t turn around and go back in.

Okay, it wasn’t quite that cold…but it’s getting there, quickly I suspect. And for the record, Brad and Jeana were the first to wear either tights and/or sweats out on the pitch. I thought wearing long leg wear before Halloween was like wearing white after Labor Day.

Some of you heard me ponder aloud a couple weeks ago, when we had 19 come out to play, “I wonder how many we’ll get when it’s in the 40’s and raining?” Well, I guess we’ll find out today. Not to lower anybody’s expectations but today has the potential for all the worst elements. Cold, it’s only supposed to feel like 40 around game time. Rain, chance of showers all day. Wind, and not just some little breeze like we had yesterday. It’s supposed to be 25 mph by the time we’d head out.

I bet we don’t see anybody on the volleyball court today. I overheard Larry yesterday complaining about frostbite on his feet from the cold sand. You ever try to serve a volleyball in high winds? You think throwing our disc is challenging? Alas, the netters can move indoors. We Buzzards? We’re resigned to the fact that if we want to continue to play our fine sport, that we’re going to have to play on days like this. Well, maybe not just like this. I prefer to only have to contend with one or two of the above mentioned elements rather than all 3 on the same day. Especially since I don’t have my tights with me today. However, I do have my gloves and if we get enough people to play, I suspect I’ll be wearing those.

But I actually think the chances of getting enough for a game today are slimmer than those of Governor Palin passing the CLEP for American Government and finding out that even if she were to somehow find herself on the winning ticket next week (also a long shot at this point), she would not be in charge of the Senate as Vice President.

So, it’s a good thing we had a game yesterday. Despite the cooler temperatures and breeze, it was a good day on the pitch. Where’s Rodney when you need him? You would not believe the example of Spirit of the Game attitude we had yesterday. But perhaps it’s gone too far when you stop to help up a defender who likely just fouled you and you miss your own player cutting into the end zone for a score…okay it didn’t happen like that Brian but next time you can just leave him on the ground until after you throw it and not risk it.

I checked with Kevin and he said most of the leagues he’s played in don’t actually require you to stop play unless it’s a puncture wound and you see blood spurting in the air. Speaking of league play. I heard Jeanna asking to play “the cup” yesterday after Paul kept getting past her or reaching above her for completions. So there’s your homework Buzzards. Find out what “the cup” is. I learned this strategy last winter when I played in CUDO. I’m not convinced it doesn’t actually take a higher degree of athleticism but maybe that’s just because I was nursing that pulled groin last year.

Thanks to everyone else that got out yesterday. Pull out the cold weather gear.

Ultimate & Electoral Math

posted by Bill

What do I need to do to get your vote? John McC and I seem to be in similar dilemmas except that I’m hoping I have a bigger “undecided” pool from which to still persuade than he does. By my count, I only see 5 states still in that big “U” column and even if he won all of them I think he still is behind in the Electoral count.

Here’s how the Ultimate Electoral count goes…I have 65 names on the Ultimate Distribution List and I only need 12.3% to be able to call a game but for the last two days I’ve been unable to get to that. Big Mac’s challenge is far greater…of 538 possible electoral votes, he needs 50.1% or 270. Thank goodness I don’t need half our list to be able to call a game. Though last week, we pulled 19 out on Thursday which was almost 1/3 of the list.

But see the problem that I have, not unlike the McCain/Palin ticket is that I have roughly 30 names on my list that I put into the “New York/California/Massachusetts” category of players. They are firmly on the side of “not playing” and haven’t been out or have any intention of coming out much like the chances of any of those 3 states voting Republican.

So, I’m left with roughly 35 other names with which to pull from. This means now, instead of only needing to get the 12 and half percent, I need almost 25 percent to win. Fortunately for me today, I’ve already gotten Alaska, Alabama, Idaho, Mississippi, & Kansas (all states that haven’t voted Democrat in the last 30 years and won’t this year either). These are my sure players for today so far…Hollan, Tim, Todd, Kevin, and Moi’ (we can argue over who is which state later…Hollan you’re definitely ‘Bama or ‘Ol Miss). So basically, I’m looking for a few more. Maybe a big one I was counting on “Texas Phil” and another usually sure one, “South Carolina Thunder”. See because today, I’ve lost one sure one…we’ll call him “Virginia Bob” a usual sure bet, headed to the other side this time around.

Who knows how cold it will actually start to get. Don’t miss this opportunity for some sun shine and a great game today!

This is October???

-posted by Bill

Water bottles strewn under the tree, shirts soaking through with sweat, sun beating down on the field and enough players to play substitutes with almost everybody glad for the chance to catch their breath in the high humidity.

Sounds like August eh? Well here we are in the third week of October and the temperatures soaring back into the 80’s and in our first post-Columbus day game, we drew 17 players out today. I thought we only had 11 on the way out and then a whole new team of 6 showed up. We decided to play 8’s with a sub on one side but it was still pretty crowded.

Welcome out to Jeana. Not sure if it’s your first time out with the Buzzards or not (it’s obviously not your first time out throwing a disc) but it’s certainly the first blog entry since you’ve been coming out. Thunder (or Scooter if you like)….or Thunder Scooter (you could be a new Mario Kart bike)…anyway he was wondering if the Blog had somehow been on the negative side of the DOW collapse last week and been shut down.

Fear not, even without a government bailout, the blog is back! You know what I’d like to hear addressed in tonight’s debate? If you are starting play from your end zone line do you like 4 cutters at the front of your stack or do you prefer to have 3 runners going deep from the back? Do you like your dump throw to your strong hand or weak hand side? And do you prefer a domestic, import, or microbrew draft after a tough match on the pitch? I mean do we have to hear about the economy every day? Do we still have soldiers and sailors in Iraq? You’d barely know it by perusing the partisan media of CNN and Fox New respectively.

You want the Buzzard’s new energy plan? We put activity-charged battery cells on our cleats during the match and you store up energy by how much you run and then you plug that onto your car battery on the way home and that’s how far you get to drive that afternoon. That’s bad news of course for me since I’m used to driving to Richmond or Charlottesville and probably barely run enough to get me across the 14th street bridge but you know maybe I could buy somebody else’s energy credits? Say Will, Phil, or Bob’s today.

Welcome back out also to Bridgette & Mike today. And Bridgette gets extra points for agreeing to take the pinnies home to wash them. She admitted to finding the breaking point to her femininity… "I can stand the stench anymore”. Hmmmm, I didn’t tell her that when Todd takes them home he uses his special gardenia-scented fabric softner.

Great game today everybody. Thanks for the awesome turnout!