Pitt Ultimate won Wilmington 8s this past weekend.
It was a great feeling.
Better recap to come later this week.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Champions
Pitt Ultimate won Wilmington 8s this past weekend.
It was a great feeling.
Better recap to come later this week.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Two weeks till Wilmington, if you're healthy
I made the A-team. That's good news.
That said, there are about 25 guys on the roster. Two of the guys aren't here this semester. But for some reason, we still only have 14 able guys to practice and scrimmage. It's been like this for almost three weeks now and I'm sure it's starting to irritate some players.
We're two weeks from one of the best tournaments of the fall, Wilmington 8s, and we have 8 or 9 guys standing around on the sidelines while the rest of us practice and improve our game. The problem I have with this isn't injuries. If you are seriously injured, then you go see an orthopedic doctor, get a diagnosis and heal it. That's how injuries work. And there are guys on the team that are in that situation and doing everything they can to get back out on the field.
The problem is with guys who self-diagnose or just go to Student Health and get some half-assed response and don't do anything from there.
The captains and coaches have brought up this point multiple times, especially recently, and it's a shame that it is happening. There is a difference between playing through pain and playing with an injury. In the latter, you get it checked out and do rehab and whatnot. Play through pain? Come on. The best players do that all of the time. I'm sore every once in a while and am always bruising myself or straining a muscle during practices and games. It happens. You get over it and play through it.
I'm not calling anybody out - because for all I know nobody is actually being lazy about their problem - but there is definitely a small divide happening on the team right now and some people would like to have at least one sub during our scrimmages.
I'm sure it will get better though. After all, if you don't practice, you don't play. Simple as that. If you have a serious injury, it must be a miracle for you to get healthy for a tournament if you couldn't practice the week before. You don't get better in two days.
That said, there are about 25 guys on the roster. Two of the guys aren't here this semester. But for some reason, we still only have 14 able guys to practice and scrimmage. It's been like this for almost three weeks now and I'm sure it's starting to irritate some players.
We're two weeks from one of the best tournaments of the fall, Wilmington 8s, and we have 8 or 9 guys standing around on the sidelines while the rest of us practice and improve our game. The problem I have with this isn't injuries. If you are seriously injured, then you go see an orthopedic doctor, get a diagnosis and heal it. That's how injuries work. And there are guys on the team that are in that situation and doing everything they can to get back out on the field.
The problem is with guys who self-diagnose or just go to Student Health and get some half-assed response and don't do anything from there.
The captains and coaches have brought up this point multiple times, especially recently, and it's a shame that it is happening. There is a difference between playing through pain and playing with an injury. In the latter, you get it checked out and do rehab and whatnot. Play through pain? Come on. The best players do that all of the time. I'm sore every once in a while and am always bruising myself or straining a muscle during practices and games. It happens. You get over it and play through it.
I'm not calling anybody out - because for all I know nobody is actually being lazy about their problem - but there is definitely a small divide happening on the team right now and some people would like to have at least one sub during our scrimmages.
I'm sure it will get better though. After all, if you don't practice, you don't play. Simple as that. If you have a serious injury, it must be a miracle for you to get healthy for a tournament if you couldn't practice the week before. You don't get better in two days.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Fall is here
So we're more than a month into the fall season and my senior year and it's great. It's so much fun playing with some of the guys who I started out playing with my freshman year. I'm glad to be on the A-team (for now) and I feel that I'm definitely playing my best Ultimate right now.
Practices have been tough and our scrimmages have been even harder. There's a lot of emotions riding in these practices because people know that despite having 30 or so good players on the team, some will get cut.
Up next for us is the tournament at OSU this weekend. I had hoped to be playing there, and was really looking forward to it, but I might not be able to due to unexpected family issue. I really won't know if I can make it to the tournament until almost the day of. That's how things work out sometimes, though. It'll be OK.
We still had a split-squad scrimmage on Sunday with our teams going to OSU. The game got really heated after the other team took a 5-1 and 6-2 advantage. But we bounced back and played some really good defense. We were still down at half, 8-7, and traded points until we began to break away when we needed to. We ended up winning 17-15 or 17-16. I can't remember the score, but it was still a great comeback for our team and a devastating loss for the others. That's how competitive Pitt Ultimate has been so far this summer. This is going to be a great year.
But if I can't make the OSU tournament, I'm 100&% ready to play in the Wilmington 8, which is from November 7-8. Now that will be a great tournament to play in with a lot of good competition. Take a look at the list of teams and the structure. This is going to be quite the tournament and I'll be pumped to be playing in it.
Looks like that's all for now. I couldn't make practice today because of this pretty bad cold that I'm going through, but I hope to be back on the field on Thursday.
Practices have been tough and our scrimmages have been even harder. There's a lot of emotions riding in these practices because people know that despite having 30 or so good players on the team, some will get cut.
Up next for us is the tournament at OSU this weekend. I had hoped to be playing there, and was really looking forward to it, but I might not be able to due to unexpected family issue. I really won't know if I can make it to the tournament until almost the day of. That's how things work out sometimes, though. It'll be OK.
We still had a split-squad scrimmage on Sunday with our teams going to OSU. The game got really heated after the other team took a 5-1 and 6-2 advantage. But we bounced back and played some really good defense. We were still down at half, 8-7, and traded points until we began to break away when we needed to. We ended up winning 17-15 or 17-16. I can't remember the score, but it was still a great comeback for our team and a devastating loss for the others. That's how competitive Pitt Ultimate has been so far this summer. This is going to be a great year.
But if I can't make the OSU tournament, I'm 100&% ready to play in the Wilmington 8, which is from November 7-8. Now that will be a great tournament to play in with a lot of good competition. Take a look at the list of teams and the structure. This is going to be quite the tournament and I'll be pumped to be playing in it.
Looks like that's all for now. I couldn't make practice today because of this pretty bad cold that I'm going through, but I hope to be back on the field on Thursday.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Mid-Atlantic Regionals
Looks like the seeds and schedule are posted on the UPA score reporter.
First up for Swagger U? The No. 6 seeded team, LOS. It will be a tough game, but so was Pike - and The U took them down. That's basically the only opponent that we're guarenteed to play as the rest of the bracket is dependent on how other teams finish. I'm not even going to look at who else we could play whether or not we win.
Not sure of how many guys Swagger is taking this year but that's not important. Winning is. And we'll do that.
First up for Swagger U? The No. 6 seeded team, LOS. It will be a tough game, but so was Pike - and The U took them down. That's basically the only opponent that we're guarenteed to play as the rest of the bracket is dependent on how other teams finish. I'm not even going to look at who else we could play whether or not we win.
Not sure of how many guys Swagger is taking this year but that's not important. Winning is. And we'll do that.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Step 1
First A/B splits took place.
31 guys will be gunning for a spot on the A-team this season. I'd estimate that around 10 get cut between now and the end of this term, but I could be wrong.
There are 14 returning A-team players, 3 B-team players (Bob, DZ and myself) and 14 "rookies" - I put that in quotes because a lot of them have played before and are good players. I'm unsure of how many true rookies there are, but you know the team is looking to take at least one of them this year.
That's pretty much it on the Pitt Ultimate scene right now. Tryout practices will last the next couple months with cuts here and there - typically after tournaments - and so we'll go from there.
I've worked hard this summer and into this fall, so that's all I can say about that. Now I just have to prove it on the field.
31 guys will be gunning for a spot on the A-team this season. I'd estimate that around 10 get cut between now and the end of this term, but I could be wrong.
There are 14 returning A-team players, 3 B-team players (Bob, DZ and myself) and 14 "rookies" - I put that in quotes because a lot of them have played before and are good players. I'm unsure of how many true rookies there are, but you know the team is looking to take at least one of them this year.
That's pretty much it on the Pitt Ultimate scene right now. Tryout practices will last the next couple months with cuts here and there - typically after tournaments - and so we'll go from there.
I've worked hard this summer and into this fall, so that's all I can say about that. Now I just have to prove it on the field.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Club Update
I got word about a week ago that I wasn't going to be put on the final Forge roster. And while it sucks that I didn't make the cut, it isn't unexpected. I missed three tournaments this summer. It's a shame that the three weekends I would have conflicts would be the three weekends that Forge had tournaments. That's how it goes, though, and I'll be alright.
I'm still invited to come practice with them, which is always a good thing. It will help me to keep on practicing for this fall when I make my push for the A-team.
Speaking of this upcoming fall, I've been working really hard this summer to get myself into the best shape possible. I go to the gym as often as possible (I try for at least 5 times per week) and have been throwing and learning a lot more strategy. I'm in the process of completing Air Alert III. I'm currently on week 11, so only a few more weeks to go. It'll be perfect timing for the fall season.
Because I'm not on the Forge roster now, I'm left with two options for club ultimate this year. My first option is to keep practicing with Forge and see if they take me on their team for the club series. The second option is to keep practicing with Forge and play with SwaggerU for the club series. Either way, it looks like I'll be playing with Forge whenever I can during the rest of the summer.
Looks like that's all for now on the personal level. I got back from Minnesota on Monday night after coaching Pittsburgh Impulse to a 3rd place finish at the Youth Club Championships. I know I said I'd make some posts about me coaching, but that never happened this summer. Maybe I'll get around to getting a post up recapping my summer as a coach.
That's all for now.
Gotta keep on working hard.
I'm still invited to come practice with them, which is always a good thing. It will help me to keep on practicing for this fall when I make my push for the A-team.
Speaking of this upcoming fall, I've been working really hard this summer to get myself into the best shape possible. I go to the gym as often as possible (I try for at least 5 times per week) and have been throwing and learning a lot more strategy. I'm in the process of completing Air Alert III. I'm currently on week 11, so only a few more weeks to go. It'll be perfect timing for the fall season.
Because I'm not on the Forge roster now, I'm left with two options for club ultimate this year. My first option is to keep practicing with Forge and see if they take me on their team for the club series. The second option is to keep practicing with Forge and play with SwaggerU for the club series. Either way, it looks like I'll be playing with Forge whenever I can during the rest of the summer.
Looks like that's all for now on the personal level. I got back from Minnesota on Monday night after coaching Pittsburgh Impulse to a 3rd place finish at the Youth Club Championships. I know I said I'd make some posts about me coaching, but that never happened this summer. Maybe I'll get around to getting a post up recapping my summer as a coach.
That's all for now.
Gotta keep on working hard.
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