So, apparently we were put into the Pool of Death. Our 1st seed, Dark or Light, placed 8th overall, our 2 and 3 seed, Gino's and Pheonix, faced off in the finals. I never really felt like we were being outplayed or we were far off from their athleticism or skill level. But, we lost anyway due to many errors on our part.
The 0-4 day 1 start can be put on a few things. Lack of defensive intensity, especially on the marks (Getting broken around, not sealing), and having nearly negative flow on offense. We had plenty of unforced turns and weren't able to generate many turns. All of these things started getting much better throughout the day, and by day 2 we started really clicking.
It really showed on day 2 (at least for the second and third games) that everything and everyone was starting to come together. Marks were holding the force, forcing up poor decisions with great down-field defense and generating turns.There were finally continuation cuts coming when the cutters would get the disc. Overall just great play from everyone.
It was great to be counted on when we needed to score some points. All the pushing and working has paid off at least a little bit (and the fact that we lost Emory-7x, Tom Brown-7x, Kat-PoNY, JG-PoNY). That being said, the new guys really stepped it up.
Dave "Vanilla" Hall came up with at least a dozen lay out D's, most of which were catch D's.
Charlie, Justin, and Steve all played solid offense.
Jimmy set the bar high for catching the pull on day 1 by catching some enormous super bladey pull, forced the rest of us to man up and actually catch them (although he did drop 2 pulls on the weekend).
Dylan looks like a monster, Bland looks like he needs to get back in shape.
Ben's IO flick hucks were spot on, the rest were 50/50.
No one showed a lot of weakness, solid athletic ability all around. Good start for the season.
For me on the weekend: solid man defense, obviously lots of room for improvement but it was a good starting place. Only got beat up-line once, it was for a goal from 30 yards out though. Got beat deep a few times, most of which were contested at least. I really need to be ready to turn and go after preventing the under.
Offense-wise, I can't huck at all right now; they are all inconsistent and bladey. Most were turnovers, consisting of almost all of my turns on the weekend aside from one throw into the ground late day 2. I'm having difficulty getting open on handler defenders that apply a lot of body to me, normally I am able to rely on being quicker then my defender, but not when I can't move. Unders and breaks all look good, putting the disc to the safe side hand of the offense nearly every throw.
Running felt fine, I was able to grit out the long points, even when my defender was out of gas I was able to keep going. This helped a lot to finish out games on day 2.
Very exciting to see what we can do, like scoring 4 straight while being down 14-12 to win the game 16-14.
This is only a starting point for the season. No where to go but up.
Can't stop. Won't stop.
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Friday, June 20, 2014
Bahstahn Invite
The Fish will be heading to Boston this weekend for a tournament. In preparation for this tournament I've been trying to watch Highlight videos to get myself pumped up and ready to play, for some reason it just wasn't working to get me excited.
I started thinking about why I wasn't getting amped. Was I tired? Am I not excited for the season? Is nervousness overriding confidence? To answer all of these questions: I don't think so. Yes, I'm tired. Yes, I am a little hesitant going into the season with such a new roster. Yes, being in the Elite Bracket should be making me nervous.
But this is all just fuel. Fuel to push me past my limits, to expand my role on the team, to play better than I ever have before.
I found that it is more important for me to remain calm over pumped up. When I'm pumped up, I rush. When I rush, I cause turns on our end. When I cause turns, I don't get to play anymore. All I want to do is play.
Hopefully I'll find a happy medium, but for now I'll keep it calm.
The Highlight videos did show me one thing, lay-out D's get you on the video. Just do it already, it's been long enough.
Goals for the weekend:
No turns
Don't get beat deep
Attack in the air
A few D's would be nice
Most Importantly: Have fun
We are playing against a high level of opponents, we are seeded last in the tournament. Intra-team turmoil will not help. This team was built in having fun and playing hard, let's keep it that way.
tl;dr
Stay Calm
No Turns
Attack
Have fun
Let's do it Fish,
Can't stop, Won't stop
I started thinking about why I wasn't getting amped. Was I tired? Am I not excited for the season? Is nervousness overriding confidence? To answer all of these questions: I don't think so. Yes, I'm tired. Yes, I am a little hesitant going into the season with such a new roster. Yes, being in the Elite Bracket should be making me nervous.
But this is all just fuel. Fuel to push me past my limits, to expand my role on the team, to play better than I ever have before.
I found that it is more important for me to remain calm over pumped up. When I'm pumped up, I rush. When I rush, I cause turns on our end. When I cause turns, I don't get to play anymore. All I want to do is play.
Hopefully I'll find a happy medium, but for now I'll keep it calm.
The Highlight videos did show me one thing, lay-out D's get you on the video. Just do it already, it's been long enough.
Goals for the weekend:
No turns
Don't get beat deep
Attack in the air
A few D's would be nice
Most Importantly: Have fun
We are playing against a high level of opponents, we are seeded last in the tournament. Intra-team turmoil will not help. This team was built in having fun and playing hard, let's keep it that way.
tl;dr
Stay Calm
No Turns
Attack
Have fun
Let's do it Fish,
Can't stop, Won't stop
Friday, June 13, 2014
Damn, it's been a while
So obviously haven't posted in forever. I'll try to get back into now that the summer 2014 Stonefish season is starting up again.
The team looks alright from how we played in the Rochester Round Robin. 9/18 of our players were brand new to the squad this year, which is great and also awful at the same time. This new incarnation of the team has brought forth quite a bit of very young talent, but with youth comes some instability. Some are dynamic cutters, but can't throw; some are great throwers, but lack vision.
Two large hits that we have taken so far this year are losing Emory to 7X and probably losing Calabrese to Garuda. Honestly, I'm way more upset about losing Emory. Even though Steve may be the better player in a vacuum, he played like a prima dona every time he stepped onto the field with us. I don't think I've ever seen him play at his "final form," not even sure he has it any more. Every point Emory gave to Stonefish, you knew that he was going to play his heart out and make an impact.
Current goals: Lose 15 pounds (Ate a little too much ice cream this winter)
With that I will gain back a lot of speed, I'm not slow right now, but I'm also not fast.
Team chemistry is going to be very important this year, both on and off the field. Who doesn't love new friends?
Let's do it Fish,
Can't stop, won't stop.
The team looks alright from how we played in the Rochester Round Robin. 9/18 of our players were brand new to the squad this year, which is great and also awful at the same time. This new incarnation of the team has brought forth quite a bit of very young talent, but with youth comes some instability. Some are dynamic cutters, but can't throw; some are great throwers, but lack vision.
Two large hits that we have taken so far this year are losing Emory to 7X and probably losing Calabrese to Garuda. Honestly, I'm way more upset about losing Emory. Even though Steve may be the better player in a vacuum, he played like a prima dona every time he stepped onto the field with us. I don't think I've ever seen him play at his "final form," not even sure he has it any more. Every point Emory gave to Stonefish, you knew that he was going to play his heart out and make an impact.
Current goals: Lose 15 pounds (Ate a little too much ice cream this winter)
With that I will gain back a lot of speed, I'm not slow right now, but I'm also not fast.
Team chemistry is going to be very important this year, both on and off the field. Who doesn't love new friends?
Let's do it Fish,
Can't stop, won't stop.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Titles are still pretty shitty
No games for me this week, felt like shit on wednesday, Tom got hit later that night by the same thing. Sucks living in an infested house. Whateves
Take a second, look at your game. Go ahead, I'll be here when you're done.
.
.
.
Done yet? Cool. Now with the upcoming school year looming ever so closer, one must think, "What about my game would I want the new freshman to emulate? What about my game would I want them to never actually do in game?" These are tough questions to answer, and even tougher is that the same answer can be had for both questions. What are we going to teach them? How will we teach them? What role will you play on the team?
Had enough questions? oof sorry about that one, wasn't even thinking. While at the gym today with Thomas, I started thinking about how we started out all those years ago. We didn't really have people to look up to to show us how to play well, we had to learn for ourselves. That's especially not true for this next generation of Gunx. They have so many players to learn from, we just need to decide what skillz we want to each put forth.
Think about it.
Can't stop. Won't stop.
Take a second, look at your game. Go ahead, I'll be here when you're done.
.
.
.
Done yet? Cool. Now with the upcoming school year looming ever so closer, one must think, "What about my game would I want the new freshman to emulate? What about my game would I want them to never actually do in game?" These are tough questions to answer, and even tougher is that the same answer can be had for both questions. What are we going to teach them? How will we teach them? What role will you play on the team?
Had enough questions? oof sorry about that one, wasn't even thinking. While at the gym today with Thomas, I started thinking about how we started out all those years ago. We didn't really have people to look up to to show us how to play well, we had to learn for ourselves. That's especially not true for this next generation of Gunx. They have so many players to learn from, we just need to decide what skillz we want to each put forth.
Think about it.
Can't stop. Won't stop.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Titles are awful
Wudi has been pretty good. The team has been coming together nicely, but the one thing that the team lacks is the one thing I've been working on, intensity. I'm tired of being a shlub on D so I've been working to use my speed and agility to my advantage over my opponents, but 1 person playing D won't stop any team from moving the disc down the field. Even if I stop my dude, other people let up easy passes nullifying any work that I put into it.
The teams we've beat recently have pretty much all been playing savage or close to savage, granted our numbers haven't been great for a couple of games either but Ramen is younger and fitter then most teams out there. We have the capability to beat every team out there, but only if we try and want it.
As for my play: D has been getting better, my dude will still touch the disc but generally off of sweet cuts. Shut down D is nearly impossible in this game, but I'm trying. My throws are some of the worst they've been since I started playing. I can't tell why but not many short passes are coming off smooth and my hucks are drifting at the end. Bleh. There's still time, and cutting is still sweet. I'm jealous of people that only cut, I don't get why they want to pick up the disc so often.
So yeah that whole trying thing is a new one in my life... Trying on the field, and attempting to try off the field too. I've been taking a page out of Doober's book and I've been doing push-ups and excrutiators before bed each night. Hopefully this will pay off.
I've been feeling like Dante (Clerks) as of late, sick of my station in life. But unlike him, I'm attempting to do something about it now. It's only taken me 21 years to get to this point, but there's no time for change like the present. Gotta do what I can.
Can't stop. Won't stop.
The teams we've beat recently have pretty much all been playing savage or close to savage, granted our numbers haven't been great for a couple of games either but Ramen is younger and fitter then most teams out there. We have the capability to beat every team out there, but only if we try and want it.
As for my play: D has been getting better, my dude will still touch the disc but generally off of sweet cuts. Shut down D is nearly impossible in this game, but I'm trying. My throws are some of the worst they've been since I started playing. I can't tell why but not many short passes are coming off smooth and my hucks are drifting at the end. Bleh. There's still time, and cutting is still sweet. I'm jealous of people that only cut, I don't get why they want to pick up the disc so often.
So yeah that whole trying thing is a new one in my life... Trying on the field, and attempting to try off the field too. I've been taking a page out of Doober's book and I've been doing push-ups and excrutiators before bed each night. Hopefully this will pay off.
I've been feeling like Dante (Clerks) as of late, sick of my station in life. But unlike him, I'm attempting to do something about it now. It's only taken me 21 years to get to this point, but there's no time for change like the present. Gotta do what I can.
Can't stop. Won't stop.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Wudi baby
So, two games under my Wudi belt so far, and I gotta say the team is shaping up to be something good.
Game one I wasn't able to attend due to recently being diagnosed with pharyngitis, and deciding it would be best to get some sleep instead of trying to force through it.
We've got a very solid team this year, things will start to pick-up once we figure out how to play with each other. We are very thrower heavy, with most players preferring to dink it around in the back field instead of putting it into the mid field. We have a pretty sick O-line consisting of me, a couple high schoolers, stigz, and filling out with a flurry of pretty decent athletic cutters. Oh, not to mention we also have Liv, some dude from bashing who is very good at laying out and getting Ds, and T-Rich who is tall lanky and fast.
Game two:
Showed up on time, and almost everyone was there. I don't remember a ton about the game, I do know that Stigz played good solid ultimate, getting open on his cuts, but not getting the disc put to him. Liv played OK, throwing away a couple out the back. The main thing to take away from this game is that we can't just rely on the "studs" of the team. Liv, T-rich, and the other dude (sorry other dude) would primarily look only for each other regardless of whether it's a good decision or not. Sound familiar? lolololol jkjkjkjkjkjk
Ended up going down 0-5 at the beginning, brought it back a little, but eventually just gave it up. Red played hard against us, but we are much better. By the end of the season we'll show em all!
Scored two goals off of Liv, let my man score on multiple occassions.
Game Three:
Showed up pretty late today, we were down 5-2 when I showed up. I put some fire into the offense, I definitely belong on the handle for this team. With how quick our handlers are we are able to move the disc quickly and cleanly. Our only problem is figuring out how to score once we get there. I called Stigz out for a couple Iso's and he beat his man every time. So good.
Ended up losing 15-13, but we were able to bring it back to 12s even. The other team's numbers eventually overcame our superiority. Most people played mostly savage (I made 10 for us). It was easy to see that we were a better team, but we'll rock them next time I have no worries about it.
No Goals today, but a bunch of assists. One "lay-out" D, Stigz says it wasn't, I'm not positive if I could've gotten it without laying. Practice bidding at Doober's is helping. Thanks Tom! Threw a bunch of turns today, mainly from hucks. I gotta rein them back in, or at least figure out how to throw them better.
Game one I wasn't able to attend due to recently being diagnosed with pharyngitis, and deciding it would be best to get some sleep instead of trying to force through it.
We've got a very solid team this year, things will start to pick-up once we figure out how to play with each other. We are very thrower heavy, with most players preferring to dink it around in the back field instead of putting it into the mid field. We have a pretty sick O-line consisting of me, a couple high schoolers, stigz, and filling out with a flurry of pretty decent athletic cutters. Oh, not to mention we also have Liv, some dude from bashing who is very good at laying out and getting Ds, and T-Rich who is tall lanky and fast.
Game two:
Showed up on time, and almost everyone was there. I don't remember a ton about the game, I do know that Stigz played good solid ultimate, getting open on his cuts, but not getting the disc put to him. Liv played OK, throwing away a couple out the back. The main thing to take away from this game is that we can't just rely on the "studs" of the team. Liv, T-rich, and the other dude (sorry other dude) would primarily look only for each other regardless of whether it's a good decision or not. Sound familiar? lolololol jkjkjkjkjkjk
Ended up going down 0-5 at the beginning, brought it back a little, but eventually just gave it up. Red played hard against us, but we are much better. By the end of the season we'll show em all!
Scored two goals off of Liv, let my man score on multiple occassions.
Game Three:
Showed up pretty late today, we were down 5-2 when I showed up. I put some fire into the offense, I definitely belong on the handle for this team. With how quick our handlers are we are able to move the disc quickly and cleanly. Our only problem is figuring out how to score once we get there. I called Stigz out for a couple Iso's and he beat his man every time. So good.
Ended up losing 15-13, but we were able to bring it back to 12s even. The other team's numbers eventually overcame our superiority. Most people played mostly savage (I made 10 for us). It was easy to see that we were a better team, but we'll rock them next time I have no worries about it.
No Goals today, but a bunch of assists. One "lay-out" D, Stigz says it wasn't, I'm not positive if I could've gotten it without laying. Practice bidding at Doober's is helping. Thanks Tom! Threw a bunch of turns today, mainly from hucks. I gotta rein them back in, or at least figure out how to throw them better.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
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