North Coast Mettle

Happy Holidays

2011-12-24T08:35:00.000-05:00

Good day serving today over at the grille. Nothing like talking basketball with Austin Carr right before he goes back to work on Monday. You're my boy AC!

Excerpt pt 2

2011-12-20T13:46:00.002-05:00

rain maker Week 4, Jan 29th 2010
rain maker vs Sreyem

Rain MakeR:

Though we'll likely get a more thoroughgoing e-mail from "BDCAT" Weston
Miller, I don't know that a lot needs to be said
about tonight's game. We all know that this is the "biggest game in
Cleveland league history" or some SHINT like that. The funny thing is,
it's not big at all, and its requirements (i.e., those things that we
need to do) are the smallest of any game we've played thus far.

Tonight, we need: (1) to do the little things right; (2) to play as hard
as possible.

The little things are simple. A few examples: Sprint past the man/woman
you're covering when is clearing, then keep pace with them (so they
don't burn you deep), look for the dump-swing rather than get fixated
downfield when flow is stagnates, hold the force rather than try to get
point-blocks...the list could continue, but we all know small things
that we need to do in order to play well.

Playing as hard as possible is simple too. Just run harder, faster,
longer. Let's push ourselves. LAY OUT.

If we do these things, I believe we will win the game. But, even if we
don't, if we do these things we'll be PLAYING RIGHT, and playing right
is LIVING RIGHT. The most fantastic thing about this game is lost on
those people that don't recognize spirit of the game, or recognize it as
something other than it is: playing Ultimate is virtuous activity, and
just as all Zen practitioners are enlightened while they are practicing
Zazen, Ultimate players are virtuous (for the Christian, read as
"saved") when playing Ultimate (cf. my recent WL forum post about
accuracy/inaccuracy in speaking and its effect on the soul).

Love,

sILKMC

Machine 2011 Nationals Highlights

2011-12-16T11:25:00.000-05:00

http://vimeo.com/337281292011 Chicago Machine Nationals Highlights

Excerpt pt 1

2011-12-13T22:01:00.000-05:00

The Cleveland Ultimate indoor winter league 2012 draft is just a short 48 hours away. Lets get a reminder of where we were a year ago.

Email sent Jan 8th:

Hey Rain Makers,

Tonight is our first game! It starts officially at 11:30, but it may start a few minutes earlier or later than that, so please arrive early if possible. The field location can be found here.

Our opposition hails from the fair city of Akron, and looks to be a strong contender who will play hard to earn respect as a younger team. But from top to bottom, we are looking stronger. There is nobody on this team who will be a liability on the field, something I can't be sure about for any other team in the entire league! That being said, we must not be overconfident. Such is the hallmark of disaster for any Cleveland sports team, and ours is no exception. Our style of play will be grindstone athletic, physical, fundamentally sound and above all highly spirited. We will be competitive, but never at the expense of enjoying both the company of each other and the love for the game.

If you need something to focus on for tonight, keep 2 things in mind which will be our keys to success if we hope to do well over the next 8 weeks.

1) We must play hard defense over the whole 60 minutes, and not allow the opponents to have any super easy scores. Getting scored on in 5 seconds will derail any team, no matter the personnel.

2) We must also attack the endzone on offense. This may seem straightforward but, to quote our beloved MC "the only place you can score on the field is in the end-zone," and when all is said and done, the team which catches more passes in the endzone is the team that wins.

I look forward to seeing you all this evening. Let's make it rain! I will buy a drink for anyone who invokes the spirit of Kevin Pochatila and celebrates one of our goals tonight with an impromptu rain dance. It will be the first of many.

---------------------------------

more to come

ETP 2011 Highlights

2011-12-10T21:52:00.000-05:00

Elite Team Partnership with Ultivillage, 2011 Highlightshttp://vimeo.com/33452903

stack theory

2011-12-03T20:46:00.000-05:00

http://katfishultimate.blogspot.com/2011/04/discussion-of-different-offensive.htmlNot the best post ever (should have been edited slightly better), but this guy is mostly correct in his assessment of several advantages/disadvantages of different stacks.LONG LIVE THE "CENTER STACK:" Hucking and breakmark offence = Best ever!

Groundhog's Day 2012 Announced

2011-11-27T23:00:00.000-05:00

Groundhogs 2012
Friday Feb 3rd
8:30pm-6:30am
GaREAT Sports Complex
http://www.gareat.org/

Indianapolis Alley Cats

2011-10-31T03:13:00.000-04:00

The combine was held at a local highschool with a beautiful turf football stadium. Most players arrived about an hour early to warm up and stretch and were greeted by the owner, manager, and coaches. The actual combine started with an introduction and explanation by the owner of the team (“This is where it starts!” and various comparisons to the start of the NFL).

The group of 37 players was broken into three groups that moved through three stations during the first half of the combine and three later in the night. Greaseman was at the combine as well, and while I wasn’t in his group, I saw him being a baller and making people cry… cause that’s what he does.

The first three stations looked like this:

1. High jump drill: just what it sounds like. You had two jumps. They were looking for 24+ vertical and they took your best jump. Almost everyone got it.

2. Accuracy + Speed drill: players started with a dump pass then ran to four different stations set up 10 yards outside of the end zone. At each station there were two discs, one for backhand and the other forehand. The targets were other players standing in small boxes at intervals along the back of the end zone. Altogether, you made 9 throws and were evaluated based on your accuracy and speed. Players were also evaluated based on whether or not they caught the discs that were thrown to them.

3. Sprints: just what it sounds like. Every player had two attempts with the best time being recorded. The sprints were 80 yards. To give you some perspective, I ran it in 9.58 and was above average in my group. However, Wildcat (from madcow) was in my group and ran the 80 yards in 8.3 seconds, which was the fastest time.

After the first cycle, everyone stretched and threw for about fifteen minutes.

4. Shuffle Run: nothing too complicated here. Players took turns straddling a line and time started when they made their first movement (players choice, left or right). You went to the first line (5 yrds), cut straight back (10yrds) and cut back one more time to your starting line…. I’m convinced I could have explained that better, but I’m not going to try. Again, to give some perspective, I was at 4.5 seconds and I think Wildcat was under 4.3.

5. Duel: Players paired up for 2vs2. There were four positions and every player played each position one time. The thrower was trapped on the line, 10 yards outside of the end zone. The offensive cutter was in a 10x10yard box in the end zone. The offense had 7 seconds to score on a single throw. Again, you cycled through: handler à cutter à defense on the cutter à mark.

6. Hucking: another fairly basic drill. You stood on the center of the 40 yard line, facing midfield. You were responsible to throw hucks 60 yards into the far end zone. The end zone was broken up into three sections: left, middle, right. In the first part of the drill, each player threw 4 hucks to each section (2 forehands, 2 backhands), for a total of 12 throws. The player then called their next three throws and was allowed to throw it to whatever section they wanted with either a forehand or a backhand. Total hucks: 15.

7. Scrimage: while the last group was finishing up the hucking drill (which took forever), the other groups scrimmaged. Normal ultimate rules except for the 7 stall count. The field was short, so points were hard and fast (ha). After the last group finished, the scrimmage was taken whole field and we tried the new “official” field length and width.

We scrimmaged full field for about an hour, closing statements were made and everyone went home. I was at the field from 4:30-9:15pm.

I think it might go without saying that each of the stations were manned by at least one coach, owner or manager. It was interesting, one of the first things that the owner of the team said was “I will have no part in choosing teams, that will be completely up to the coaches.” Having said that, the owners tended to man the stations involving objective measures of performance (e.g. the timed sprints), while the coaches observed the accuracy, hucking, and dueling drills.

new ride

2011-10-11T17:39:00.000-04:00

2000 blue corolla

Cleveland Club

2011-09-30T20:12:00.000-04:00

conversations with one of the senior veteran Cleveland club players prior to regionals 2011

"Why do you play Cleveland Ultimate?"

> > While I've played on combo
> > "regional" Open teams in the past and had success, my heart has been and
> > will always be with the Cleveland ultimate scene. Despite what some of
> > you may think when seeing me in my "black n' gold", I was born to bleed
> > brown & orange and am fiercely loyal to what this city represents. Those
> > who have been born here and suffered the years of indignity from
> > everyone outside of the great North Coast can relate -- we are proud &
> > fierce beings that share a little in common with Napolean's "little man"
> > complex, always trying to prove that we belong and deserve respect.
> > Cleveland's a nice place to visit 3 months out of the year, a good place
> > to get an education or a heart transplant, but almost always not a place
> > to call home for most of those that were not born here. We have been, we
> > are, and will continue to be "underdogs" fighting for respect and the
> > chance to taste the sweet nectar of greatness. This element of my
> > "being" is a core reason I have played along side nearly 4 generations
> > of Cleveland based ultimate players who have never qualified for
> > Nationals. This is what I still play for each spring, each summer and
> > each fall. I play for & against the ghosts of opponents, teammates and
> > in one case, a man whom I share half an egg with - always trying to
> > change history in my happy ending dreams. It's a funny thing though....
> > For me, now, after so many fall campaign's, I am no longer solely driven
> > by the desire to be in Sarasota at the end of October. Instead, I seek
> > to enjoy and relish the journey along the way. In doing this, enjoying
> > the journey, the competition, the friendships, the sweat, blood,
> > laughter and tears all for the chance to stand on the warm fields of
> > Sarasota in late October exorcising some of my ghosts - this is why I
> > still play Cleveland ultimate.

CHC pool play

2011-09-15T18:09:00.000-04:00

Madcow vs Machine
http://vimeo.com/29057367

Player Roles

2011-08-14T18:30:00.000-04:00

Weston-Develop chemistry. Shut down the 1st option on the other team. When we get turnovers, run the other team into the ground. Make good decisions, and keep the disc moving. You are a great cutter, and it is our job to tire the other line out by making them work longer and harder. Don’t let them off the hook with a quick turnover right back to them.As with anyone on the team, if a deep look is wide open, feel free to throw it for a completion. However, realize that we have a number of great deep throwers on that Dline. With your speed, we’d rather see you on the receiving end of those. The closer you can be to playing turnover-free, the more unstoppable our Dline will be. In a similar way, make sure you always push up ahead of the disc. Don’t ever get caught standing around in the handler set, even if it means clearing all the way to the outside …and work on pushing your defender upfield (with deep fakes) to create big gains on in-cuts.Don’t think too much, and let your natural skills take over when you’re on D. We think you need to hit the track and plyos a little more to develop that explosiveness since you’re only going to play one out of 3 points if we’re in a tight game…the games that matter are always tight. Be receptive to criticism, and be humble in finding the best throwers to make the toughest throws. And most importantly, once we have the disc…let’s not give it back.