Mind Games

Regionals are several days away and while I've been getting excited for them, I have one element on my mind that worries me.

Big games pump me up. The stiffer the competition, the more excited I get and the better I play. The game against Mischief was no different. I was looking forward to playing them ever since we beat their incomplete squad at DUI.

I went into the game ready to dominate. I was sprinting down every pull, staying on my mark's ass every second. Then on the second point that I was in the thrower called a foul on me. I felt that I was stationary and contested the call. After a little bit more arguing the play continued and they scored.

While on the sideline the thrower came up to me and started asking me why I like to cheat. Confused I asked if he was referring to the foul call. I felt that my call was right, but he just kept on going saying that the call labeled me a cheater. Now, I consider myself a relatively spirited player, so that felt like a low blow. To make matters worse, one of his teammates joined in and just started ragging on me while on the sideline.

I do not play well when I'm upset. And these two were upsetting me. As the game progressed, I slowly started playing worse and worse. I ended up taking myself out of the game. When my captain called lines I preferred to let others play in my place.

This really bothered me. I spent a lot of time mentally preparing for this game, and after a couple points of their players ragging on me from the sideline, I had lost my focus.

Regionals is coming up and I am excited by the stiff competition and the desire to perform for my team. But I am not looking forward to playing Mischief. The last thing I need is to have all my energy and focus fade away because some dick on the sideline spends all his spare time breaking me down. If you want to challenge me, challenge me on the field, not on the sideline.

Communication: How important is it?

In a relationship, it is important to communicate one's thoughts and feelings to your significant other. The reason for this, is that your thoughts and feelings are not as clear to that person as they are to you. If you feel angry or sad, it may not be obvious to your significant other.

The same is true on the ultimate field. A player has to constantly make assumptions about his teammates and about his opponents. Is he going to huck it? Is he going to dump it? Or break the mark? Will my teammate see the switch, will she drop off her girl to get the poach d? Will she stay as a dump or will she clear up field? These questions could be constantly racing through each player's mind, but instead we usually assume what each person will do next. And then when we miscommunicate, then the tempers flare.

In order to stop these situations, it is important to communicate each others actions. We do this at practice by going over the flow of each offense. That way we can anticipate where each cutter will go next. We do this by pump faking to indicate we want an under cut, a break mark cut or a deep cut. And we do this by being constantly vocal on the field and on the sideline.

It takes a good amount of energy to be vocal while running hard. But with good communication comes less mental errors and less easy turnovers.

Good communication is the difference between a good team and a great team. A team that communicates on a high level, is one that reduces it's mistakes. We communicate with one another (both on and off the field) so that we can understand one another better. The better we understand each other, the better we can anticipate each others actions. Yet even the closest of lovers and the greatest of teammates will have times when they fail to anticipate the others action. That is why we must never stop being vocal. Never stop talking to your teammates. Not even if they offer you $100 to be quiet for the entire trip home.

The Mentality of Zone

Effective zones are great ways of putting lots of pressure on handlers. It puts handlers in precarious situations where they have small windows to throw through and will have to rely on some good fakes and good decision making to pull through. Inexperienced handlers will fail under pressure and will often make a mistake. They may try to bust the zone by trying the cross field hammer, or a scoober that's a bit too low, or a blade that catches the wind.

When I play zone defense, I tend to mark. With a tight cup (or a tight box if you will), handlers are left with the task of trying to break my mark for the dump or trying to work it through the gaps in the cup. Those who perform best against my zone, are those who will repeatedly break my mark the easy way. That is, they'll put the disc out to space for their dump and let the dump run it down. Then a couple dump swings later, the gap in the cup will open and suddenly we'll be on our own goal line.

When I play zone offense, I typically handle with Bob. Bob and I will handle while we have 4 poppers and 2 deeps. Our zone offense (when we set it up this way) destroys opponents' zones. And the reason is, Bob and I can both break the mark with ease, but we also are extremely patient with the disc (at least in zone). We know that we want the cup to run and we will take the simplest of throws. It may take us 40 throws to score, but every couple throws will make that cup work, make that cup run while we are completing the simplest of throws.

Zone acts in many ways, like a good marker should. It exerts constant pressure on the handlers. If the handlers are able to withstand the pressure, remain calm and avoid trying to do too much, then the zone will fall. If the zone can keep the pressure going, then the handlers will falter and the zone will get that D.

Post Cal States

The Polar Bears just finished the weekend at Cal States. We came into the tournament seeded 1st and left with a 7th place that felt sour. We went 4-2 with both of our losses coming off of double game point. Two of our four wins also came on dgp, so needless to say, we were disappointed with our play. I'll summarize the weekend on my next post, this post is not for that.

I played poorly this weekend. I felt, as one of the potential anchors to our defense, that I did not play my best game. I pride myself in my defensive ability. I have a strong mark and I stick with my guy tightly. I can shut the best down and get lay out Ds on many as well. But I was unable to do that this weekend.

I arrived at home, drank a full glass of milk and then proceeded to do planks, side planks, leg raises, cycling situps and then topped it all off with 150 crunches and 60 pushups. I am pissed that I was not playing my top game. I love my team, I love my teammates. It is important to them that I give it my all in every tournament, just like it is important for me that they give me their all in every tournament. When I cannot complete this simple task, then I must work harder outside of practice to make it up to them.

I got beat on double game point by a mediocre LA Metro player on a shitty huck. Come next tournament, I will have worked harder than that Metro player. And the result will not be the same. Next time, I will get the D.

The Best Orgasm You've Ever Had!

I'm going to tell you how to achieve an amazing orgasm by masturbating. I learned this method from somebody else and it gave me the best orgasm I've ever had. The best sex I've ever had gave me a weaker orgasm than this method. I will warn you ahead of time that this method I am teaching takes time. You can also use this method to make others have amazing orgasms, though there are slight changes to what you must do. This is not a lazy man's (or woman's) masturbation. This is not a quick string play. This isn't even the easy work it up the field type of play. This is the type of play where you swing the disc back and forth 30 times before you even start to work up the field. Which means you better lock your damn door and tell your roommate/mom/whatever that you are working on a very important project and should not be disturbed for a while.

There are 3 parts to this amazing orgasm.

Step 1
The first part is purely preparation. The last thing you want to happen during your special time, is to be interrupted by stray thoughts or worse, by somebody else. A good idea is to set aside a time in advance. If you live with somebody else, make damn sure they won't come close to your room during this whole process. Turn off your phone and/or unplug your home phone. Now, think is there anything major on your mind that might distract you? Are you dying to watch those CSTV streams that start in an hour? If you are, then stop now. You don't want stray thoughts of Eli Friedman skying bitches while you're in the moment, no matter how sexy that man is. Is there any leftover Chinese food in the room that you've been meaning to throw away? Throw it away now, before you start. You don't want your mind to be wandering. Do you smell? Make sure you shower. Do you need to take a dump? Do that and then take a shower.

Good, step 1 complete. Nothing should distract you from your task at hand. If you wish to, you can dim the lights, light some candle and/or play some music. Personally, i think the dimming of the lights is nice.

Step 2
It is amazing how many people (both men and women) have not completely explored their own bodies. Find yourself a mirror (preferably full length) and look at yourself in the mirror completely naked. Start with your toes and with your hands slowly move your hands over your feet, then your ankles then your shins and calves etc. Make sure you spend ample time on all parts of your body. This step has 2 purposes. The first is that you get to know your body's sensitivity a little better. Most people have spots around their body other than their genitalia that turns them on when properly touched. Think of the last beautiful woman who stroked your arm and you instantly felt turned on. This is similar. The second reason for this step is that it preps you for the main course. It gets you in the mood to fantasize.

Step 3
Make sure you have some lube/Vaseline and a warm towel for this. If I were to describe the feeling of euphoria felt by the average person's orgasm in the form of a graph, there would be a rising line which would flatten out, then take a sharp turn up and then have a big drop. What this means is that the body quickly adapts to the same rhythmic movement. If you are sitting in a chair, you are not always aware of the feeling of the chair, which is pressed to your body. But if you move a bit, your nerve endings fire off that something is changing and for the next little bit, there's an extra awareness of you feeling the chair. The same is said about masturbation (sex too). If you are doing the same rhythmic stroke over and over (or rubbing a clit in the same motion over and over), then the body will get used to the feeling and get bored of it. That's why in the graph i explained, there's the flat-lining. In order to combat this, what you need to do is prevent that flatline. So after you are going through the usual stroking of your clit (or the usual stroking motion of your dick... and you shouldn't be going at super speed for this) you're going to create a little valley in your euphoria graph. If you are a male a good way to do this is by putting your hand over the entirety of the head of your dick and giving a light squeeze (make sure you stop jacking off while doing this). If you are a woman, this can be done by pushing on your clit a bit.

After you do this for a second or two, return to your normal stroking. Each time you feel close to cumming, press on the head of your dick or press on your clit for another second or two. Do this as many times as you can. Seriously. Don't do this twice, or three times or even five times. You don't have to keep count, just do as many as you can before you lose patience.

Finally when you are actually climaxing try to "push" with your pc muscle. If you are a male this feels like pushing the last bit of piss out when you are pissing. If you are female this feels like pushing something out of your vagina. This will help the feeling of the orgasm to spread beyond the pelvic region. Meaning that euphoria you feel in your crotch will be felt in your stomach, chest and (if you are practiced enough) in your limbs too.

There, you've just had (hopefully) an amazing orgasm. It is important to note, that if you skip one of the steps, that it WILL weaken your orgasm. The same is true if you attempt to use this method on somebody else. If your girlfriend is thinking at all about the dirty laundry that's in your/her room, then it will take away from her orgasm. Although if you can successfully use this method on yourself, then you can look forward to trying it out on somebody else.

This method can also be used to create multiple orgasms in women... and in men (yes, it's possible). Happy masturbating.

Face Guarding is Bad!

Whenever I used to play against UCLA in college, their players would always faceguard the dumps. I wanted to laugh every time I saw this. Newer players get freaked out by faceguarding. When a defender is looking directly at you and nowhere else, he will be able to react to your cuts very easily, but he will not be able to see the thrower at all. An experienced thrower (and dump) knows that a throw into space, or over the head of the defender will work well against this type of defense.

When guarding dumps, I have three options on how to guard them.

The first one is the most common and the one I used to use the most. I usually give them a small window (either upline or into the backfield) and hope for a slightly errant throw while giving them as little as possible. I used to attempt to "bait the upline" but realized that I have to give them a lot less room for the upline then for the backfield. This method is great at forcing the dump to only have on direction. It is the safest of the dump defenses in that it will usually completely take on dump cut away, at the expense of allowing the open throw.

The second option is to try to take away the dump completely by placing your entire body in between the thrower and the disc. When this is done, you are forced to face guard. The few times I do this, I make sure to glance back as frequently as possible and (if possible) to get sideline help. Ideally, I want to know when the thrower is looking at the dump and try to determine what the thrower wants to throw (over the top, bending flick etc.). As noted in my opening paragraph, I believe this to be the poorest form of defense. The cutter has the ability to be the defender both backfield and upline and the thrower can throw the simple throw out into space.

The last option is one that I am a little new to, but am quickly learning to respect. This method is similar to the first where you give the dump a small window in one direction, but you have to basically place your nuts on the dump's thigh (this image will forever be in my mind thanks to one Davin Lyons). By positioning your body like this, especially at such close a proximity, the dump is forced to either go the direction you are already facing, or to try to maneuver around you to get upline. This method is the most effective method, but it is one, if used incorrectly is liable to create a lot of fouls.

Of the three, I will stick to my original claim that faceguarding is bad. It is an inferior way of playing defense. A knowledgeable defender knows that you should try to watch both the disc and your mark as much as possible. Whether you position your body so that you can see both or maybe you take quick glances to see where the disc is and if the thrower is looking at your guy, you are better off than if you just faceguard.

The Waking Point (Non Ultimate)

This is unedited. I knew that if I started to edit this, that I would just end up deleting everything. I would rather look back on this three years from now and see the unabridged, unedited version, even if it means that I sound like an extremely cheesy idiot or that my grammar is worse than Zip's.

Dreams are today's answers to tomorrow's questions. ~Edgar Cayce

What is the first thought to enter your head when you wake up in the morning? When the dream you just had has dissipated, when the thoughts from the night before are slipping away to recesses in your mind, this is when the present steps in and reminds you that you need to go to school, to work, to practice.

At the end of each day, I find myself on the verge of a great accomplishment. Sometimes the accomplishment is of self discovery, sometimes it is an idea that extends beyond my own life and sometimes it is something more tangible. And yet with each new morning, I find that the thoughts I had the night before are inconclusive. The work I thought I had finished is now incomplete.

As an ultimate player, I strive to be the best on my team. When I compete against another team, I strive to be the best on the field. This is the dream. To be a better ultimate player. To be... the best. The reality reminds me of the work I must put in to become the best. And all the times I put in extra effort off the field, only to follow it up with a period where I miss a workout, a practice or more. It is like an incomplete dream, a dream from which I wake up to face reality. I am not there yet.

As a student, I am in my last semester in my community college. I have one week of class left and then will continue my education at UC Santa Cruz. I strive to better my education in order to attain a degree. I strive to be the best in my class, to learn the most, to know the most and to enjoy it the most. I truly enjoy my bio classes sometimes. I feel a wave of contentment wash over me as I peer through a microscope. I will have periods where I put in so much effort and will receive so much happiness, but will shortly follow it up with periods where I feel unmotivated to listen to the lecture. I will feel unmotivated to attend class or read the textbook. The dream I have of attaining that degree is there. But it remains a dream, and therefor separate from reality. I am not there yet.

As a single guy, I have had multiple relationships with varying degrees of success (which I measure in the happiness both people received while in the relationship). I strive to be a better listener, a better lover and a better boyfriend overall. There have been moments where I walked away knowing that I have done a great deed for my significant other, but remained silent about it. And, there have been times when I have been so upset, that I had to use every ounce of willpower I had to stop myself from saying the most hurtful things I could think of. I believe myself to have a large amount of patience, but it is not enough. I will keep dreaming of becoming the better boyfriend. I am not there yet.

As a person, I believe my fellow people to be good at heart. I believe myself to be good at heart. I certainly don't want to inflict physical, emotional or mental pain on anyone. I do not follow any organized religion, but I wish to strive to Jesus' level of endurance.

"You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.

Matthew 5:38 Exodus 21:24; Lev. 24:20; Deut. 19:21

I wish to be able to turn the other cheek when someone slaps my face. That is what I strive for. But there is so much, that is wrong with the world. So much anger and pain that it makes me wonder how the people in charge can stomach it.

What's wrong with the world mama?
People living like aint got no mamas
I think the whole worlds addicted to the drama
Only attracted to the things that bring you trauma
Black Eyed Peas

When I come across someone who constantly vents anger, who needs that violence, that anger to go forward, I am unable to see their point of view. I want to give them the benefit of the doubt and believe that they, like myself, strive to turn that cheek. I want to see that in them, but I don't. And so, I do not have it yet, to put my full faith in either myself or my fellow person. We are not there yet.

I wake each day, to find that my dreams are not yet accomplished. The point at which I awaken, the waking point, is the time when my dreams flit away and I must work to make the dreams become reality. So work away I will. I will fall. I will rise. I will forever maintain my faith, that my dreams will someday become reality. And when that day comes, I will have new dreams waiting to replace them.

I hope the day will come when your dreams become reality too.