Love for the Game-

Being injured and sitting on the side during workouts/practices has made me kinda reflective. Plus I threw in the park for 4 hours today and didn't go to any classes... I have been trying to figure out why I love this sport and keep playing it after 2 broken feet and much harassment from my mother and haven't really come to any real conclusions, but maybe (maybe!) I will by the end of this post...

Beginnings

I think my first game of Ultimate was in the summer of my 7th grade at Choir Camp in Sonoma County (Bishop's Ranch). For those of you who don't know about my middle school life, I went to an private Episcopal school called Cathedral School for Boys, which is attached to Grace Cathedral. We had a professional Men and Boys choir, which was pretty darn good (sang every thursday and sunday, weddings, funerals/memorials, special events, etc) and I was in it. Every 4th grader auditioned and about 4-7 kids were taken in each year...some kids stayed with it, some didn't, it was a pretty big commitment since it meant getting to school an hour earlier than everyone else, and staying to sing/practice until 8 every thursday after school. Every summer, the choir would have a weeklong retreat before school started up again and we'd learn music and chill at this sweet ranch in beautiful Sonoma wine country...Kinda like the training camp in Remember the Titans..............but not at all

..ANYWAY, back to Ultimate. So in summer before 7th grade, I think my brother was a counselor and he with the others decided it'd be fun to play Ultimate in a cow field. They were right. I had a blast, especially since I picked up the disc and could throw off both sides to begin with and ran circles around some of the other kids (keep in mind, I wasn't the most athletic of kids in middle school....but I seemed to be able to throw and catch better than any of the kids that day...so I was ecstatic). I thought to myself "huh, I'm pretty awesome, and this is the most fun I've had playing a sport...I should keep doin this." But somehow these thoughts got put on the back burner for a few years. In 7th grade I picked up tennis, spent much of my mom's money on lessons and my dad's time on the practice court and played Tennis through my 4 years in High School.

However, during high school, I never forgot how fun it was to play Ultimate, which is why I still had dreams of starting a real team at UHS. During my time in HS, I played intramural ultimate after school and when I didn't have Tennis practice, designed a school disc to basically sell for fun and designed a jersey my last year for the intramural team to play in (although we just scrimmaged ourselves after school anyway, so I felt dumb when we only had white jerseys). My senior year, I remember I almost organized a scrimmage against Redwood High School and Branson (both schools had actual teams that practiced, while we just played with no real organization). My brother, as well as my experience playing pick up in SF, taught me the basics of throwing and cutting and a simple vert stack offense, but I never really imposed any structure on our high school "team."

Family

Most of my early exposure to Ultimate came through my brother, Jesse, who is 5 years older than me and began playing for Chicago JUNK his freshman year. I always seem to have followed in his footsteps (same middle school, same choir, same high school, same Choral group in high school) and so it felt very natural for me to pick up Ultimate after he did. I was initially attracted to the sport because it seemed to be what my brother did other than study (to my knowledge) in college, so I "knew" that I wanted to play Ultimate when I got to college. This is a little saddening b/c I had dedicated countless hours on the tennis court since 7th grade and once I got to college, I kinda gave up on that sport....anyway...I began to read about ultimate and I think once my brother began to play, I started becoming a fan of the sport...which may explain my near fanaticism these days.

I decided to break up my post for those of you reading who wanted to take a break....sooo take a break HERE!

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Freshman

Once I began to play Ultimate in college, I think my main motivation/goal was to surpass my brother in playing skill. To be better than my brother at something was kinda a big deal, being a younger brother and all...but not the healthiest/best way to approach anything in life. (BTW I know i'm better at tennis than him, since he spent his high school days on the stage while I was on the court :P )

I guess during the early stages of my Ultimate life, I played because the idea of playing Ultimate and being part of the culture was in itself "cool" (my brother did it, so it must be), plus I wanted to be better than him at it. However, after Jesse stopped playing, there was no challenge of trying to be better than him. He had reordered his priorities and I was left trying to figure out what I was doing in this evolving/hippyish sport world?

During my freshman year at NYU, I played to have fun and get better as an individual player...and I accomplished those goals. Along the way, I made friends that I believe will last me a lifetime, but that wasn't really something I set out to do, just a plus. A few weeks before sectionals I broke my foot and from the sidelines experienced my first disappointment in my Ultimate career, losing sectionals. I didn't expect to feel so disappointed since I knew I wouldn't even be playing a single point and I began to realize I had made such a strong connection to this team that I felt horrible when we lost.

Sophomore

In retrospect, after I broke my foot and after sectionals, I began to appreciate the game of Ultimate from a fan's point of view and began to think of Ultimate as a great way to make friends. This is mainly because the summer before my sophomore year, I went to Regionals with the Femmes, led by Mia and co., and watched them make it to nationals...then I went to watch them at nationals and saw my first high caliber Ultimate. That experience was pretty cool in itself, but it was made even cooler by the fact that I became pretty good friends with Schulz/Finkel during that post season and I thought I met the girl of my dreams. And I guess I had Ultimate to thank for that. Thanks Ultimate.

So...yeah I spent that summer falling in love and being a gimp. By the time I could walk/run again I played Ultimate ASAP. During the academic year, I split my time mentally and literally among school/ultimate/my girlfriend... probably not weighted in that order and probably without school even in the picture b/c the year was pretty easy in that area. So my life was split between my girlfriend and Ultimate. It was weird because although I was a total Ultimate fanboy, I wanted to play Ultimate so that my gf would be proud of how good I was getting and how hard I was trying (because I know she understood how much time I loved the sport) and at the same time I wasn't ever having as much fun playing ultimate as I would be if I were spending time with her...When I was in school or playing Ultimate, I was usually thinking about my girlfriend, instead of really dedicating myself to those two things (not that I would really change this given the chance). It's funny because I used to think I was trying really hard at Ultimate back then in order to make her proud....but this year I know what it really means to push myself and try hard (our workouts makes last year look like a vacation)

Anyway, my sophomore year is a little bit of a blur. I spent most of my time thinking about my gf or spending as much of my free time with her. And Ultimate seemed to be a minute part of my life. By the time sectionals rolled around, I hadn't worked hard enough and I dont think I was in the best shape I could have been and we experienced yet another disappointing end to the season. I think I let the team down in my dedication to them, but at the same time...I was in love and stupid...In retrospect, I'd say I played Ultimate that year because of the people I met...and this carried through the summer when I played my first season of Club.

Club--Summer--> Present (Junior year)

I played with two teams during this past summer: PieMo and BAG. PieMo was just a fun team I played one beach tourney with and BAG was a more competitive team. A few days before flying down to a tourney with BAG, my girlfriend broke up with me on the phone and I was devastated for the next several months. However I began to dig deep during games and became a much more emotional player (for better or worse) and still am an emotional player today (Hence the nickname Rampage). During that club season, I began to use Ultimate as an outlet for my anger and negative energy (again, for better or worse). At the same time, I got to make some great friends in the Bay Area on my team. When I got back to NYC, I talked to Capt. Pete and he needed a handler or two for Crafty for Chowdafest, and so I thought "hey I have no gf to visit this weekend before school starts, why not!" and I promptly broke my other foot during an endzone drill. W00t!..there goes my outlet.

Honestly, after this injury I thought about quitting the sport (something my mom really wanted/wants?)...life sucked: my girlfriend dumped me, my mom didn't want me to play the sport, and apparently God didn't want me to play ultimate anymore, so he broke my foot, stupid deities.;)

.. but once the fall season came around, I decided I was going to dedicate myself even more to Ultimate and to Purple Haze. The friends I have on this team and the friends I have made through Ultimate are my family and I can't walk away from them (not that I could walk at the time)... :P

So I used helping and supporting Haze this fall as my outlet and i guess rededicated myself this year. Shouting from the sidelines helped relieve stress but at the same time made me more frustrated because I could be out there playing...Anyway, we did pretty well in the Fall, in my opinion and I was so happy to start playing with this team again when I could. Once I could train with the team and once we started our intense workout practices/Novagility stuff, I wanted to see how far I could push myself and the team. I want us to be successful. We've shown promise this Spring. Everyone is working hard and we have been pushing through the pain. I am inspired the look in the eyes of my teammates when I see them run up that 20th set of stairs (especially when i'm injured and have to shamefully watch them from the bottom or top of the stairs). That is where you see a real look of determination. Everyone is faster and I think most of the pressure relies now on our handler core stepping up their game (a pressure I'm scared of since in the past years, handling and dictating an offense has been the job of others)

I want us to win our Section, that's my goal right now. That's why I'm playing this sport. Friends and family have brought me back to this sport, and winning our section is my motivation to play this sport right now. I have to win for them and myself.

I dont just play because I'm good (back in choir camp) because I know so many peple are better than me, or I need to prove myself better than my brother, or impress my gf, or prove something to myself, but I play right now because I have a responsibility to...

Future thoughts-

I wonder if I'd rather play with a nationals team that I didn't have much fun with or a decent team that I had much more fun with. I used to think I wanted to be the best player in the world....but now I'm having my doubts.

Not a Conclusion-

I guess there isn't one reason I love this game because my motivation and goals change from time to time, but I do have to thank it. Thanks Ultimate. Thanks for being my outlet in hard times, thanks for not turning your back on me when I wanted to give you up. Dont let me down now. I'm looking forward to what more you can offer me. Love? Adventure? More friends?

~Quinton Qt-Rampage Ma

Schedule

MONDAYS -- Workout Practice. 9:15-10:45. Coles couches.
WEDNESDAYS -- Outdoor Practice. 7:30 - 10:30. ERP Grand Street fields.
THURSDAYS -- Workout Practice. 9:15-11:00. Coles couches. (With any luck, we'll have the gym floor to throw on for the last 30 minutes.)
SATURDAYS / SUNDAYS -- Outdoor Practice. Times and locations TBD based on weather, availability, etc.

Stretch, drink water, study, eat healthy, heal up those injuries.

~Qtma

Roll Call

Fail.

Roll Call

I want to win. K thx.

WDYPU 5: Because Spring Break deserves more photos...

and because, what WDYPU boils down to is the people you meet and the memories we share...

(and some of these portraits are too good to pass up)

love~QTma

photo credits go to Kari and EmTurnTables

I'll miss you, Spring Break.

So the City College Men/Women's teams again took the field in the sunny south at the annual High Tide (hosted by our christian friends at ....whatever they represented) and I am happy to report that this city college student had his best spring break in a wHile.

My favorite part of the trip was getting to hang out with both teams. This was most easily accomplished in our sometimes lukewarm tub (props to all those who figured out ways to fix the hot tub). Although I've always been quite friendly with the femmes in my 3 years, I was particularly happy about how much the two teams got to hang out/interact this year. I've never wanted to be part of those college co-ed teams who made it their goal to get drunk at tourneys and "just have fun"....which is not to say that fun isn't at the top of my list of important ultimate thingys...but I like being on a team serious about winning. At the same time, in the past i've seen those teams and thought "it'd be cool to be so close to every member of both haze/femmes"....anyway...

Jekkyl Island was great. The fields were sweet (especially compared to the old cow fields). The island was clean and s beautiful (if you didn't get a chance to take a long walk or bike ride, I'm sorry for you). The people were friendly. I can't complain much about my time on Jekkyl.

On to ultimate: we played really well:) 3-0 Tuesday, 3-0 Wednesday, 0-1 Thursday. I was very happy with how we rolled teams that sucked. In my experience, Haze has always had trouble with lesser teams in terms of playing down to their level, but I feel like we've begun to overcome that mental problem. Even with a smaller squad than usual (which in a way I think helped me play better at times because I didn't have much time to get stiff on the sidelines) and without a few starters, we got our jobs done.

Eli was open on the under and deep all day and skied people when he needed to and played the tip successfully about 5 times a game. - he had a great week

Kahyee stepped into a handling role this week well, I think on the second day, he had zero turns while handling. Jebus.

Schulz picked up the trashy hucks I threw down field and played shut down D.

Zach was zach, played like zach...wish we had him cutting, but hey, he does what we need him to do when we're down handlers.

I threw lots of turns, but a few sweet puts here and there too. :)

Pete had this one gorgeous huck. I dont remember what day it was, or tournament, but it was beautiful. (IO backhand around his man- maybe a break throw?) anyway- it was sick. He also called himself On the Block once, we laughed about it after I think.

Jared got a handful of point blocks.

Lu wang was a bitch and forgot to come to Georgia. Ditto for Ben, Tyler, Charlie, Hus, Chooch.

I wont recap every game fully. Sorry.... we had a universe win over Amherst and then rolled the other teams until losing to URI....thats all

Our loss on Thursday (URI), i think, was due to miscommunication and lack of adapting to a different man-man game where hucks would come from both sides of the field. They out ran us and wanted the disc more. Sad day. but I'm gettin over it. I'm still not over the fact that on game point, the guy caught the disc by jumping from out of bounds and they sent it back and then i got finger tips on the next huck to the same guy...i should have moved my hand one inch more....ugh

Highlights:

-Bologna!

-Mallory and my secret faces.

-cup o'whisky

-Mime-off

-VP injuring his ankle while stupidly pokeying jeff from rutgers....silly VP

-Zach high fiving random dude while said dude was making out with "chick" on the sidewalk at 3am.

-no shady drunken hook ups to report of on my part, sorry people...sickos

-Jared yelling BAM and dancing after a footblock

I miss you Spring Break.

PS: i get tired just thinking about Southerns, but maybe i'll write about it another time.

6-1 High Tide- highlight (many)- but specifically crushing Columbia

3-4 @ Southerns- highlight- crushing Rutgers

Message to Haze:

We have 7 team workouts, [6] outdoor practices, 22 days until we board that bus for Sectionals. Rest your injuries if you have them. (i broke my foot 2 weeks before sectionals my freshman year, and I dont wish being sidelined for sectionals for anyone). It's time to shut your mouth and give one last push because it's time to bring it. What will you do April 18 and 19? Are you going to let the pain of this season, these workouts, these gym practices be for nothing?

I can taste Regionals and you will see tears whatever the outcome this season because I've never worked so hard for anything than winning our section this season. I believe in all of you, especially after the performances I've seen at High Tide.

We've beaten Delaware, we've crushed Columbia, we've run Rutgers into the ground. So they're scared and know what to expect of us, but nothing matters if we dont take our section by the throat. Every fucking team is gunning for us now. So let's not disappoint them, our supporters, or ourselves.

Here we come Metro East. It's time to get some headshots Haze.

WDYPU 4 - Spring Break Edition 2009

Best Spring Break to date. I love you all. Rampage random rants about the weekend will be written up later this week. In the meantime, enjoy these great pics (credit to Kessy for the pics +one from Cassandra)

Georgia On My Mind

Heyo, it's Finks updating for Quinton. Some favorite items of note I've seen recently:

1. A space shuttle being launched into outer space
2. Chappy almost taking flight while jumping on a windy beach
3. Wooden fish sandwich
4. Cold Cola and Cup O' Whiskey
5. Popeye's delicious popcorn shrimp, though they might not be EmilyTurn approved. But she can suck it
6. <---my number
7. Walking down the street at 4am and high five-ing some dude making out with a girl on the sidewalk
8. Kahyee spoke words. Many of them were funny
9. Florida giving out free orange juice at the Welcome Center, and two minutes further down the highway, free shots
10. Richard jumping on a wall and said wall collapsing underneath him
11. Richard falling backwards onto collapsed wall
12. Schulz, while helping put the wall back together, stepping on an in-ground electrical box and cover of said box collapsing sending Schulz falling through the earth.

Get Hyped

So I've been pretty absent from this blaug for a while - I've been really busy with other stuff. But after breaking down this weekend in my mind I have a lot of thoughts to share.

D-LINE

I'm going to reiterate what Perry said in the comments: we just can't go out there and get 1-2-scored on. It's totally unacceptable to get smoked deep off a continuation without having a bid on the disc. It's one thing if you get skied, but getting burned by 10 feet or more is just not OK. We know how this game works and we have put ourselves in a position to run with any team. DON'T GET BEAT DEEP.

Also, because we're in good shape (and will be in even better shape come series), we need to start working harder. More contested in cuts, stronger dump D, and tighter marks. We will more often than not have the speed to catch up on deep cuts, which allows us to totally shut down the in cut. Lay out D city. This can also involve strategic switching with our last back to further stifle the O.

This weekend, the D was generally solid, but other teams were turning the disc more than we were taking it away. We need to take it away. We need to fucking dominate on D and then turn around, chill out, and put the disc in the endzone. Think about what you personally need to do to make that happen.

O-LINE

I don't have as much to share here since I don't play any O line at all. But I think D line outplayed O again this weekend. The O, in particular, had trouble against GWU, getting broken 4 (I think) straight times against what was (granted) a good zone on a small field. We have to be tougher. It's as simple as that. The weather was nearly perfect during this game so there's no excuse for turns. Against a good zone, we have to swing swing swing swing swing swing until the cup can't run anymore. There's no reason to get impatient and try to jam something through/deep that's low percentage. VALUE THE DISC. Make smart decisions. And please, God, stay chilly near the endzone.

O line defense also needs to get more amped. There were some great points (notably, the point before half against Delaware - truly epic) but as a general rule we really weren't running hard enough. The O line's gotta want it as much as the D line does. Bust your ass and then come rest while the D line ticks off two or three breaks.

META

Our physical toughness is really showing - we played hard and didn't give up exhaustion points this weekend. Now we have to really hone our fundamentals and our mental game. Everyone should be throwing at least three times a week - handlers even more than that. This will get easier as we move outside, but we've got to put in work now.

Mentally we broke down against GWU. They were the biggest test of our season IMHO and we showed our inexperience at higher level ultimate. The (what I would call) cheap calls and physicality during the game are common at the top - we need to play through it. Do what you need to to deal with it - get pissed, get focused, get loud, or get quiet.

I personally get pissed - I talk trash and call other teams out when I think they're wrong.

Bad spirit? Yea, probably. Oh well. Makes me play better.

This weekend was a step forward for us. We did beat a perennially good Delaware team, but lets not kid ourselves, GWU was much better and if we want to make a splash at Regionals were going to have to beat teams better than them. We can't be content with what was merely a decent performance. We all need to think about what we need to do better in order to help Haze kick some ass next month.

*

I think we have a very special season in the making. I spent two hours last night talking with Husayn about offensive tweaks I think we need to make. I'm not even on the O line. I was up until 4:30 studying because of that conversation. Let's make shit happen.

Hey, we just beat a Nationals team.

I'm quasi happy with this weekend (one day tournament). Last year (2007) we played Pittsburgh in the Fall and got a win off of them when they were not at full strength. However we played Delaware today, a good team and consistent nationals caliber team, and won...and it's spring. Sure we won in soft cap, but we won. I'll take it. There was one player, I think his name is Vince (I didn't get a chance to talk to any of the players much), who stood out in my mind as what I want to work for in terms of moving after I throw. He has a great step right after his backhand passes to inside cutters and nice handler cuts off a stopped disc. I saw him make the same cuts and movements 2 years ago in Ohio. Anyway, we beat them. That was sweet. Doesn't mean we'll make nationals yet, but it's a good step.

Which brings us to George Washington...I hate these guys. They talked to me too much. And next time I see them, I'm going to bitch them out and jsut tell them not to talk to me. I hate when people constantly try to chat with me when I'm playing....I want to D the shit out of you and score with you looking up at me from the ground. I dont want to be your friend, G-Dub. Maybe off the field...if you're lucky. I have to say though, I see why they make regionals every year. Their zone hurt us, especially on a definitely non-regulation field...They got an early break probably due to one of my 6 turns (?) that game...personally not a good game for me....and their offense was pretty good, full of handler motion, like the handler motion that i got beat upline on for the score to win the game. Whatever, they're not unbeatable.

Buffalo was uneventful. I mean it was eventful to me because we are finally beating teams by large margins that we know we can beat comfortably...and that's a great sign. We've had our past troubles with playing down to teams and I think we're beginning to overcome that.

Swat: I was worried going into this game because the only thing I knew about Swat was my past experience and knowledge of their club team. However I was pleasantly surprised that our D-line kicked ass and capitalized on not only huge d's but were pretty chilly in converting on turns and easy drops.

For those of you keeping count:

W: Delaware (8-6)

L: George Washington (5-9)

W: Buffalo (13-6)

W: Catholic (forfeit)

W: Swarthmore (12-6)

Currently 9-3

Individual observations:

I saw Chooch make zero fakes and his mark would just keep creeping in on him. Also held onto the disc too long.

Charlie raised his conversion percentages. Way to go chuz.

Nova has a lot of turns on weird/awkward attempts at up the line throws....

Qtma- turned the disc alot. Didn't get any Lay out D's

Tyler- telegraphed all day and then fixed it and we high fived. it was cute.

Ryan- called his parents and said he almost got a cool layout but missed it, got some nice scores as usual.

Eli and Lu had a great tourney. Not too much to complain about them. some monster skies and sweet lay out grabs.

Orion lost his freshman goal virginity.

Perry got a sweet point block in our opponents end zone. Jared got a cool foot block.

I'm too tired and stricken with allergies to write any more. Good night.

Untitled

I hate playing frisbee on a gym floor.

Sweet dreams.

~Rampage

Fuck the Irish

Our first shot at Regionals contenders Cornell and Edinboro has been denied by shitty field conditions (snow)

http://upa.org/scores/tourn.cgi?div=18&id=5643

My vote is for a full on day of mixed Ultimate (saturday, since we now have practice Sunday). 2 teams will be drafted made up by Haze/Femmes. We were planning on a full weekend of Ultimate, so we should have at least 40 people who were planning on playing ultimate to come out to this. I would like to nominate myself as one of the captains. Each team will have a girl and a guy captain.

Tourney format: 4-3 format. Games to 13. Best of 5 games. 2 TO's and a floater.

more thoughts to come...

I hate the east coast.

Schedule/Roster for Huck of the Irish

SCHEDULE
...through Spring Break...

• MONDAY :: 2 MAR :: 9:15pm - 10:45 pm. Workout Practice at Coles -- meet at couches.
  

• WEDNESDAY :: 4 MAR :: 9:15pm - 10:45 pm. Workout Practice at Coles -- meet at couches.

• THURSDAY :: 5 MAR :: 10:10pm - 12:30 am. Gym Floor Practice at Coles -- meet on gym floor.

• FRIDAY :: 6 MAR :: HUCK OF THE IRISH (SALISBURY UNIVERSITY)

• MONDAY :: 9 MAR :: 9:15pm - 10:45 pm. Workout Practice at Coles -- meet at couches.
  

• WEDNESDAY :: 11 MAR :: 9:15pm - 10:45 pm. Workout Practice at Coles -- meet at couches.

• THURSDAY :: 12 MAR :: 10:10pm - 12:30 am. Gym Floor Practice at Coles -- meet on gym floor.

1. Altschuler, Chooch
2. Berk, Daniel
3. Briggs, PJ
4. Burt, Orion
5. Carnegie, Husayn
6. Casarella, Nova
7. Eisenhood, Charlie
8. Finkelstein, Mr. Zach
9. Gilchrist, Pete
10. Kenigsberg, Ben
11. Leung, Perry
12. Ma, Q
13. Noyes, Tyler
14. Pandya, Vivek
15. Rago, Chappy
16. Schoenberg, Gabe
17. Schulz, Schulz "the schulz"
18. Smith, Jared
19. Wang, Lu
20. Wilkins-Malloy, Eli

BEN KENIGSBERG!

We missed too many people at practice today. It's our only outdoor practice before Huck of the Irish and not enough people showed (in my mind). I am pissed about this because I think if we had 2 or 3 outdoor practices with full turnouts before Hellfish, we could have won the tournament, but instead we had to fight for 5th. We missed you guys out there today and you missed my single score and spike. Anyway, I wish people would write emails like this everytime they missed practice, I wont name names, but we missed a handful of people I wish I'd seen today.

"hey guys,

so i just want to apologize for not going to practice today. i somewhat pulled my groin muscle at the thursday practice. its not that bad but its tight/sore enough that i was worried that a full day of running hard would rehurt it enough to affect me this weekend. so instead i decided to hit the med books hard because I have a big exam on the monday right after the coming up tourny and i really need to get ahead. but now im sitting in the library and im having trouble concentrating because all im really thinking about is all you guys out there working hard at prospect park. which brings me to my final point, my not being there is unacceptable. in order to accomplish the team goals we set at the beginning of the year, we need a higher level of dedication and accountability than that. regardless of whether i was going to play today or not, i should be out there in the cold with you guys. so again im sorry for not coming today and i cant wait to see you all next time.

~ben"

PS: all y'all who missed practice are bitches except for Ben. you missed my first hammer assist ever. nice job

for those of you who made the trip to Brooklyn, here's an awesome picture of Lu Wang