Stanford Invite: What We Must Do to Win

I must admit, it bother me a little to use that title. It's the sort of title that will appear on countless other blogs. Ah well, at least it's descriptive.

LPC's schedule is as follows:

Sat Rd 1 (8:30) - UC-Davis

Rd 2 (10:25) - Cal Poly SLP

Rd 3 (12:20) - Carleton

Rd 4 (2:15) - BYE

Rd 5 (4:10) - San Diego State

Sun Rd 1 (8:00) - British Columbia

Rd 2 (9:55) - BYE

Rd 3 (11:50) - UCLA


Before looking at any of the individual teams, I think it is important to note that we can't consider any game an "easy win." Every game will require us to put out considerable effort. I see our schedule as a sort of wave where our competitors' skill levels rise and fall with each game like the waves of the ocean. With that in mind, we can't let our game play emulate those waves. Start strong, finish stronger. That's the way to approach the weekend.

Game 1 - UC Davis
We are undefeated against Davis this year. But, they have given us a real close game every time we play them. I love the fact that we are playing Davis first at Stanford. Each time we have played Davis this year, we have been pumped to play them. Our top tier guys, our middle tier guys and our bottom tier guys all put out maximum effort. It is awesome to see. I think the same could be said about Davis (except for one game). They are pumped to beat us. They really want to beat us. They will fight for every inch. We need to come out strong for this tournament. And I think Davis is perfect for that. I am looking forward to that fight. I wish I could guard Robert every point. I guess I'll settle for Taylor or Ashlin.

Game 2 - Cal Poly SLP
This is a very crucial game. Typical LPC style would have LPC coming off strong against Davis (with either a win or a loss) and then have us losing all our momentum against a weaker team. If we lose our momentum at the beginning of the game, it is very important for us to regain it in time for Carleton. The 2nd half of this game may well determine how we do against Carleton. Keeping this team fired up for this game, especially during the 2nd half will be huge for us against Carleton. Keep that energy high. We need to be excited and ready to layout D that Carleton player come the first point.

Game 3 - Carleton
They are #1 in the UPA rankings right now. In the last 5 years, we have a 1-0 record against them. They will want to pay us back for that. Plus they received a little shit-talking from a couple of our players at Vegas (myself included). They are the second toughest opponent of the weekend. We can't let our guard down

BYE
Once again, no matter what happens with the previous games, we need to use this time to prepare for the next game. We should be ready both mentally and physically. We can't come off a great game and suddenly become lazy.

Game 4 - SD State
They are not as good as they were last year, but they can still make us work hard. That being said, few things would be worse than beating Carleton and losing to SD State.

I'll have to get to Sunday at another time.

This One is for the Ladies

High school ultimate. That was a joyous time. During that time, my team would travel to many tournaments with no more than 12-14 bodies. We would often have a good number of guys, but our ladies would always struggle in numbers. Since high school ultimate is coed, finding and keeping ladies for out team became a crucial task.

I found out during this time, just how important our ladies were to our team. There was much more to it than just having numbers. A good lady could, in many ways be more useful to our team than another good guy. I still to this day, when playing coed ultimate, value talented ladies over talented men by a wide margin (though not to the extent where Bob can give me a team with 9 male scrubs and 3 good ladies and expect me to compete on the same level).

Our college does not have a women's ultimate team (at the moment). But we still have some talented female ultimate players who take part in our practices and join us at our tournaments. While they may not be doing the same thing as the high school ladies, who I found to be so important, our ladies carry an importance of their own that I have truly grown to respect.

I'm not talking about the fact that they take stats for our team, or take pictures or film the games. All these things are great, yes, but I find that they help out our team in another aspect that helps us out so much more.

Our team's biggest weakness, is our number of players. Each year we have several players on the cusp of staying with the team and each year they kill us. We go to 3 day tournaments with 16 players on the roster and only 12 of them are able to play by the last game. All the while, the few subs that we get to enjoy leave us gasping for water and trying to ready ourselves for the next point. It's a struggle for us to take on the role of the good sideline player when we are so exhausted.

Our ladies, ever resilient, are always there. Always offering the encouraging remark. Always reminding us, that we have people there for us, backing us up. I am regularly impressed with Sara and Alma's sideline voices. Their encouragement always makes me want to push myself. To spring down on that pull. Faster. Faster still.

Then comes the point where I finally take a sub and my male teammates who are on the sideline are talking to the mark, or instructing teammates in the zone. The ladies are still shouting encouragement. I struggle to find somebody's water to drink and I hear one of our other ladies telling me that I'm playing well. She tells me to get her a D. It brings a smile to my face. I'm playing like crap. I could be playing better. But the compliment helps. I want to play better. And I don't have time to feel down about my level of playing. Thanks for the compliment. It's time for me to get excited.

The game will end. Saturday will end and we will gather together as a team and think about what we did well and what we need to improve on tomorrow. I'm tired, hungry, thirsty and stressed out. I know I could've played better. We all could have.

I don't want to talk much on the car ride but the ladies have already started bumping the music. Ami and Natasha are choosing the next song. Sara's in the back busting out another dance move. I must admit, it is hard to stay stressed out when you have a car full of beautiful women dancing to club music. My stress wears off, I lose myself in the music and forget about all the throwaways I had, all the drops I had, all the layout D's I failed to lay out for.

The night is great, I have a ball. I go to sleep with more than a little liquor in me, but I go to sleep with a smile on my face. My body may not be in prime condition for tomorrow. But at this moment, I am ready. I am ready to dream about ultimate.

Come tomorrow, I am going to struggle waking up. I might have a hangover. I'll be dehydrated. But the ladies will come to the field with their lattes in hand and be ready to continue cheering us on. They're not giving up on me, there's no way I'm going to give up on them.

Thank you ladies.