Eau Claire Chill Out

While I do not have much of a tournament write up from this weekend, I have a series of questions/comments that you should feel free to answer/comment on if you care to. I was captining the B team this weekend which was very productive, but at times frustraiting. I will start with why it was frustrating. A lot of it is my own fault, but I have not practiced/ scrimaged with a lot of these guys due to the fact that I have class during most of practice. It was also frustraiting to see guys not hustly/run, sorry guys but this is a sport where you have to run, you can't stand around and expect us to throw you the disc, just not going to happen, you also have to run through the disc, if you don't do that you will also not get thrown to. If you want to get more play time then you are going to have to do work outside of practice, get to the weight room, I will work with you, start running on your own, again, I will work out with you. I need to work on these same things, I am deffinatley above criticism this weekend either, at times my leadership sucked, your attitudes sucked, and that reflects upon my ability to lead. I know that it is tough to get excited to play sunday morning when we have 8 guys, it is 35 degrees out and raining/snowing. however, we still need to come out and run hard, I do not feel we did this as well as we could have on sunday. now on to the positives, we did for the most part run hard all weekend, and I do think that this really will help our conditioning as long as we continue to run outside of practice. I was very pleased to see how people started to read the disc by the end of this weekend, the wind deffinatly made things difficult but you guys responded pretty well, and your throws also made great progress. this is mostly due to the difficult wind and gusts of 25 mph. I will also give myself big ups for my first career Callahan, and big props to Matt, for his first spike against Eau Claire B it was nice to see you play with intensity this weekend. Thanks to Lane, and Tyler for picking up with us this weekend we really needed you guys.

on to questions:

How do you motivate guys that don't seem interested in playing anymore?

How do you coach guys that never seem to listen?

How do you get guys to hustle, and understand that the only way to get open is to run?
Part B of this question, is this part of Kill mode

Fro #23

No Wisconsequences recap

Well this weekend was a long time coming for Duluth, the moment this tournament was announced our entire team Knew we had to go, and make a statement. I personally had this date circled for a long fucking time. I was nervous for the bus ride down, because the first tournament we took a bus to people smoked and drank way too much. However, it was evident from the moment the bus left that we were extremely focused and were going to this tournament with our goal in mind which was to make a statement to the ultimate community that Duluth is for real, and is a team that needs to be taken seriously. Unfortunately we don't end up getting to or hotel until about 12:30 Am, which means we are going to get about 5 and half hours of sleep, that did not concern us we knew that we were going to be fired up and ready to go no matter what team we had in front of us.

Well due to the seeding we had a tough first round match up against University of Wisconsin Whitewater. We are 2 teams that are fairly equally matched up, and it definitely showed in this game. It was tight throughout, it was physical but spirited, both teams came to an unspoken agreement that it would be physical and we were not going to let calls drag us down or slow down the pace of the game. Early on we trade points and it is back and forth, I believe the score at half was 8-6 in favor of UW Whitewater, we had a couple of unforced errors that they were able to capitalize on. I think we saw a shift in our team mentality, I feel as though our team finally bought into the team philosophy of game to one, and it showed througout this weekend.
Eventually the score was 9-12, games were to 13 win by 2, and this meant we had to go on a 3 point run to even force the issue not just win. We score our O point and storm the field, the score is 10-12, we put out a super serious D line, I believe that UWW just turned it near there end zone and that made it 10-12, it seemed fairly evident from their body language that they were tired and that they just watned this game to be over regardless of the outcome. well we keep the same line out as before, and once again get the D and score, it is now 11-12 this gets us more fired up and UWW is more depressed I even commented to one of their players that it was fun to play in these tight games, and he gave me this look like I was smoking crack, they really did not want to be playing us anymore. I believe at this point we put out one of our freshman in place of Josh because he needed a breather but we still needed one more break to tie it up and keep playing. Well once again the D line delivers and gets the D, we score it is now 12's. At this pint all of us have the mentality that this is our game to lose, we have the all the momentum, and confidence. I believe they score their next O point to make it 12-13 UWW, we got out with chilly O and score to make it 13's, then proceed to break, and make it 14-13, they score to make it 14's it is now universe game to 15. we work it up to midfield Trosvergers gets the disc, sees creature deep and lets it rip, Creature runs it down GG nubs, Duluth wins in a close one 15-14 over UWW. This was an intense game and UWW is still a great team they are going to be a team to watch out for in the spring.

UNI Well this game should not have been as close as it was, we played down to there level and I think were still thinking about the Whitewater game, we keep lines pretty open for this game as well which I think may have contributed to a let down. Either way we end up beating this team 13-10 I believe and are 1 win away from winning our pool and getting our shot at one of the power pool teams

Illinois B. We open lines completely for this game and there was no let down, everyone played extremely well, I was in for the last 3 or 4 points this game and played well, it was D town the whole way as we get the 0atbag and beat them 13-0 I threw the game winner to Ryan Pekarna who got the D and busted deep right away, he took 2 defenders with him but I knew he had both them both beat, I did not have a mark so i picked up the disc and let it rip Deep, perfect put to the back of the end zone, Ryan runs it down, game over, Duluth now gets to play Michigan, one of the "C1" teams. We knew we couldn't come into this game intimidated, we knew we deserved to be in power pool, we knew we deserved to play Michigan and they were by no means out of our league and that this was our shot to show the ultimate world what Duluth was all about.

Michigan
Man was this a fun game, intense and close the entire way, and almost an exact replica of the Whitewater game. Our studs came into this game really well rested as they did not have to play at all the last game unless they just wanted to stay loose and not get too tight. They knew they were going to have to play a lot this game. The game starts with them breaking us right away, they seemed cocky and I overheard one of them say I only want play offense once and that is out of half when they pull to us. We didn't let this break fluster us and we scored our O point, they scored their O point and got another break, the score is 3-1 at this point we are still calm we know this game is not out of reach and that we need to value the disc and tighten up a little bit on D. We score our O point, and proceed to get a break; the score is now tied at 3 with Duluth still down a break. We keep playing intense physical D they are doing the same, they manage to go on a little mini-run to take half 7-5. At half we remind ourselves of the situation that we were in against Whitewater and how this is the exact same and how all we have to do is keep playing hard and things were going to work out we felt as though it was our game to lose. eventually we end up in the same position as before and the score is 10-12, game to 13, Jake calls a time out so the captains can talk, I am told to talk to the team and get them fired up, I don't remember what I said but I once again reminded them of the Whitewater game, I told them that sidelines need to step it up one more notch and really help our studs that are out there dying, the captains walk back tell us that we are going to try and make a run and puts out a stud O line. We score our O point fairly easily and now have to put out a sick D line to stop game point #2 for Magnum. We get the D, put it Deep it gets turned, we get the D again this time we deliver, and charge the field, score is tied at 12, Magnum is in shock they have no idea who we are or where we came from. Michigan calls a time out at this point we are all stoked but we know we have to once again keep the energy up, around this Time a small crowd has gathered as people are a little confused as to why Michigan is still playing this game, we got some help from the Whitewater boys (thanks guys) with our cheers. We score a break to make it 13-12, and we trade to 14's, prior to this point the captains had agreed to make the game hard at 15 meaning this was now once again universe point only this time we were pulling, but we still felt as though it was our game to lose. We manage to get the turn, Jeff recognizing that both Creature and Josh are deep in the end zone proceeds to rip it, josh extends his arms pulls it down game over 15-14 Duluth pulls the upset and beats Michigan in a barn burner. at this point we are going fucking nuts this was by far the biggest win we have ever had at this point in Duluth ultimate, it also meant that we can finish no worse than 12th in the tournament, the best Michigan can hope for is 13. It was a great end of the day I am so proud of everyone I still can't really believe that we pulled off 2 Universe point victories!

Saturday night some of us went to eat at the Brewhaus, it was a good meal with great beer, (they have an amazing Oktoberfest Beer.) We end up going back to the hotel, where most of us stay and chill and hang out and try to take in our win over Michigan, most of us are in bed a pretty decent time. Some people did end up making it to the party, apparently it sucked, but that doesn't really matter at a tourney like this.

Sunday: we open up with North Park, we have a little bit of a history with this team, and things can sometimes get heated between our two teams but this game was fairly clean, we didn't seem to have quite the same energy as on Saturday, and our sidelines were losing some intensity, partly due to the fact that I lost my voice, some of the Freshman were also not paying attention and I tweaked on them, however, they need to learn to pay attention to our game even if they are not playing and not play with a ball of FUCKING BREAD!! we end up losing this game 9-13 for a number of reasons sidelines being one of them, I think we also were still thinking about the win over Michigan a little too much and were still jerking off to that thought, hopefully we have learned our lesson to forget the big wins as well as the bad losses and focus on the the game at hand.

We go on to lose our next 2 games, we open up lines and get experience for the younger players on the team, I am glad we did this cause it is important that we have depth later on in the season. On a whole the tournament was a big success, Cultimate definitely knows how to run an a great tourney, plenty of water, and other amenities, although I was disappointed that they ran out of discs by the end of Sunday, my fault for not buying one sooner. Big ups to Yossi K. for making the Hodags, he definitely tore it up in the finals, I am excited to see what he will do with that team. The next tourney for Duluth is this weekend in Eau Claire Wisconsin, we are going as an A and B team, teams have not yet been announced, but both teams should be very competitive, everyone is going to get a lot of playing time which is good, I am excited to see how we do, (both teams), that’s all for now.

~Fro #23

No Wisconsequences

No Wisconsequences is this weekend, and needless to say I am pretty jacked up about this tournament, as is most of the team. I don't think that some of our freshman understand the magnitude of this game; and that is ok, I would rather have them relaxed than on edge we need them to play well and not get discouraged. I hope that they also understand that we are attending this tournament with the idea of doing well, and that will mean limited play time for some of the younger guys, as well as those of us older guys that still have yet to really break through and prove that we can be trusted in those pressure situations, and that we won't turn the disc or make stupid decisions. I hope that I am able to captialize on the playing time that I get and that our whole team manages to stay healthy, which then again is the goal for every tournament.

As far as seedings and pools go I really feel as though the Hodags/Cultimate got at least our pool a little messed up, I do not understand how in the world St. Olaf got into power pools when both Whitewater, and ourselves qualified and tied for 5th at regions, this is something that I think will become quite clear by the end of the tournament, I seriously doubt Olaf's capability of holding seed, above both Whitewater and ourselves but I hope that our team can use this as motivation to perform well and manage to break our seed by quite a bit. I know we are capable of this and I am confident that like at all the other tournaments we are going to rise to the occasion, our experience should be able to carry us through this tournament. One last note on pools we have Whitewater as the 1 seed Iowa Y as the 2 seed, UMD as the 3 seed, and Michigan State B as the 4 seed, if we win our pool then we would play the 2 seed from the B pool which will probably be Illinois. I do not want to get ahead of myself because we need to take care of our pool first. One game at a time, one point at a time. That is all for now

~ Fro #23

Exit 69 recap

Exit 69 ended up being a great tournament for our young guys, and I was really really proud of how they played, responded to criticism, and grew as players. I will only be able to recap half of the team cause as I mentioned in the previous post I was on the "Y" squad for the weekend.

We took a bus down to Northfield (props to Mckean for driving.) On the way down there was a lot of debaucherous fun. myself and several others consumed some beersss, others decided that they might indulge in an herbal remedy in preperation for the weekend. The ladies team was staying with the Durga captain (St. Olaf's womens team), which meant we had to drop them off before we were able to get to our camp site. By the time we reach our campsite it is dark out and we have to set up tents..not something that is fun to do in the dark but better than sleeping outside. All the guys on the team are pretty tired by the time we get our tents set up and are happy to crawl into our sleeping bags as we all know we have an early morning ahead of us.

Saturday:
Cold morning I was really glad I slept in my under armour Jake drops off the men's team at a gas station so we can get what we need for the tournament (red bull, 5 hour energy, energy/ protiend bars etc...) , and he picks up the women's team. The Y team got to our fields a little later than I would have liked for warm ups but it ended up being ok as I don't think it affected our team significantly and we still preformed well and played hard. We ran Jam as a warm up and prepared for our first game of the fall '08 season.

Game 1: GOP:
now, while UMD has some history with this team this is a new year and we are hoping to not let things get out of control with these guys as they are for the most part a pretty laid back group of guys, I can't remember who started on O or D this game, or any big highlights from this game with the exception of plays that I made. So here is a very short list of things that I actually remember. 1: second or 3rd point of the game I get a hand block on an around break. 2: this is the last thing I really remember and that was I had 2 assists this game, although I cannot remember to whom. We end up losing this game 15-12 in a pretty close battle especially considering our lines were open the entire way through.

Game 2: Northwestern NUT
Coming into this game I knew nothing about this team other than the fact that they came from the great lakes region. game plan is the same in this game as it was in the last, keep lines open, get the young guys PT, don't be intimidated, and make smart decisions. I really liked our intsensity for 90% of this game, we played hard, we take half on them 8-6, most of our returners played well, I was basically breaking my mark at will. we have minor lapses in our energy wich cost us the game we lost this game 15-12 as well. This was the first time we got the "ok" to spike the disc. not on someone but to use it as a tool to fire up your team and get people jacked up to make a play, so both teams spiked on eachother and there was nothing particularly malicious about it, but it was an odd thing for me to handle.

Game 3: Iowa Gold:
Many of us returners sort of looked at this game like a revenge game trying to avenge our season ending loss to IHUC, however due to a number of factors, conditioning being a big one we end up getting blown out of this game. This was one of the first 4 man zones I got to handle in this season and I was happy to. I will say this, if Iowa does not fix the holes in their cup our handlers our going to continue to break it, I was even able to throw my first hammer over the top of their cup, it was even easier to break their marks, both through the cup, as well as around it.

because we finished 4th in our pool we were given a by into the chumpionship quaterfinals and did not play another game saturday, I was a little frustrated by this because it meant that our freshman would get 1 less game, but it did give us a chance to watch our X team play a coed team that was very disorganized and they were able to role them, I was able to start drinking some PBR courtosey of Brett. We ended up eating at Perkins, and getting some Beer, as well as various other liquor. Some of the Sexy Laydsss ended up coming back to the camp sight with guys team and we got a little crunk, and celebrated the beginning of what is going to be a great season. Well apparently we were being too loud and the park ranger came over and told us that it is unlawful to consume alcholic bevrages in a state park, it was pretty comical but we did as we were told and finished our drinks and most of us went to bed.

Sunday:
We actually got ot sleep in, as a reslut thoug we ended up being incredibly late to the fields and had very limited time to warm up, thought this might hurt us but luckily both the X and Y team had games where they would be able to role teams right out of the gate so this luckily was a non issue

Game 1 sunday : St. Thomas
This is a very different team from a year ao, they don't really party, no Izzt, but Bubbles and Frogger are both still around. always a fun group of guys, suprisingly things get a little heated in this game but Y cruises to a victory. highlight of this game for me is a 70 yard huck from me to Josh for a goal. on the downside I played pretty shitty defense, and got involved in on field discussions when I wasn't on the feild, this is something I need to work to correct as it is 1 unspirited and 2 not helpful to the team. all of our rookies played well and it was a nice to finally get a win under our belts.

Game 2 sunday: X Vs Y
no one took this game seriously we all just ran around and looked like a bunch of stoned hippies no real highlights, we ended up just forming 1 team after this so all of our rookies could continue to get play time and we would be able to show them what disciplined ultimate looked like

Game 3 Sunday: Z vs St. Olaf Y (it might have been X who cares).
pretty tight game throughoutI get my defensive discipline back and up playing really quite well in this game, I am able to break a ton of my marks and played pretty tight D. We throw our junk 3-3-1 zone where 3 people sprint down on the handlers, and there is a 3 man wall behind it , this forces olaf to turn this disc quite often and we respond by scoring breaks. we are done at half I believe and were down 9-11. I believe score our O point to make it 10-11 and I get sent out to run to play D, I remember that Jay and Lt were also out there as well as Peter. we end up getting the turn at about midfield worked it up to about 25 yards outside the endzone, and we end up throwing a turn. we transition really well into our junk zone and they turn it right on their goal line. I pcik up the disc with a straight upish mark, and see LT cutting to the forehand side, I get real low and fire a low flick that LT lays out for and catches we are tied at 11's. the only other highlight I remember of myself was scoring to make it 13-11 I believe with a great throw from Stark, we end up winning the game 15-11 or 15-12, winners of the chumpionship bracket. It was a great weekend, I had a ton of fun, I was so impressed with a lot of our rookies, I can't wait to form up our whole squad for no wisonsequences.

~Fro #23 Northern Lights

Exit 69 preview

As I sit here in my Gen Psych class I can't help but let my wander towards this weekends tournament (Exit 69.) while it is deffinatley not the most important tournament of the year results wise it is deffinatley importnant for forming team unity, bonding, and determing Play time for the spring. While there will be a lot of time for lines to change this is the tournament for old and young guys alike to prove to the captains that they are going to step up be impact players this year. That being said UMD Northern Lights will be attending Exit 69 as a split squad. We are going as X/Y teams and I could not be more excited about the guys on my team, I am looking forward to seeing how the freshman respond to seeing guys other than their teammates mark them on the field and how they respond to the critism that is sure to come with the first tournament.

The pool for the mY team goes 1) Northwestern, 2) Iowa Gold, 3) GOP, and 4) Northern Lights Y. I am personally really excited for the GOP game becuase I know that if we beat them with this team there is no way in hell they will be able to fuck with our full team. The Iowa and Northwestern games I really don't know what to expect going into them, I hope that they keep the calls to a minumum and are working in their younger guys as well but I won't hold it against them if they are trying to roll teams. but they better be ready for a tough game against us because while our younger guys may lack experience they make up for in tenacity, and effort.

I hope to have a post on the tournament results from mY team as well as how the party went and how our freshman handle themselves on and off the field. It should be a great time, with lots of "male-bonding"

Fro #23