Nationals
Wow, I just checked and I haven't posted anything since 9/11. A lot going on in my life, but back to frisbee. Didn't go to sectionals for like the 4th out of the last 5 years. Missed the first game of Regionals so that I wouldn't have to leave the kids with a babysitter from 7 in the morning until 5 at night. Apparently I didn't miss much, as we won that game 15-0 AND they didn't put the O line in. I don't think I have played a single defensive point all season since the spring (when we go short-squad) at a real tournament and am probably the only person on the team that can say that. Hell, I think even Jim got in for a point somewhere. If you think it is because I play terrible D, then cover me this weekend, be a handler on the turn, and tell me how easy it is...
So DoG is going in as its highest seed since probably 2002. As Jim has mentioned in his verbose seeding posts, we don't 'deserve' the 3rd seed, but we don't deserve it less than any of the other candidates. Actually, it's pretty funny. Watching the betty bowl after our victory over Metal in the winner's bracket, I started thinking about seeding, initially figuring we would be somewhere 5-6, and then I a sudden realization that we were going to have to seeded 3rd. It was a very weird and sudden realization. Thank you Justice League, although that puts a nice target on us now.
So, according to Hector, I should start collecting my social security checks right about now. Hey, all I know is that when I checked yesterday, a few people BESIDES Jim had actually selected me for their fantasy team. Hopefully I'll have a personal nationals like last year, with a bunch of goals thrown, even a game-winning goal caught against Bravo (worth two points, right?) and only 3 turnovers for the entire tournament. Of course, then I noticed that it was just for the finals. Someone on rsd mentioned that people were hosing them selves by covering the bases with players from more than two teams, but that won't necessarily be a losing proposition. Yeah, the Shanks and Lugsdins of the world are getting a lot of play, but these big players can also have big turnovers. Just because you have a bunch of players on a team in the finals doesn't mean that you are best positioned. Maybe it's better to have two players each from 3 teams. We'll see after the tournament.
Speaking of fantasy, I wonder if it could also be a useful thought experiment. You know how they have 'markets' now in all sorts of events that have proven uncannily accurate in predicting real world events, like terrorist attacks, market setbacks, etc. The question to be asked is whether the people that are picking the fantasy teams are just basing it on the seeding, or actual knowledge of the underlying teams. And more importantly, does that even matter, or is there some sort of actualization going on with these markets (and the fantasy market). Based on my quick analysis, it seemed like the teams followed the seedings, with Furious having the most players, Sockeye next, and then DoG in a not so far third. There seemed to be a huge dropoff after the top 3 teams, deserved or not. It's been awhile since DoG has been considered anywhere in that upper pantheon despite the legacy of success. Interestingly enough, last year we were supposed to lose in the quarters, followed by starting a 3-year run of losing in the pre-quarters (2000,01,02 lose in semis, 2003, 04 lose in quarters, 2005 lose in ...semis). Fortunately we broke that pattern in 2005.
On a personal note, I'm feeling pretty good going into the tournament. I was nursing some left achilles and hip flexor problems in August/September, all stemming from a badly bruised left heel I suffered before the Boston Invitational. I ended up playing the invite while running around the entire time on the ball of my left foot, never putting any pressure on the heel. Naturally that caused significant calf and achilles problems (fortunately we had July off or I would have missed more practices than I have missed in the last 5 years total). And walking funny because of the calf problems caused the hip flexor problem, which got bad enough that at ECC I barely cut in the 3rd Saturday game against the Condors game, only really making some damage when I got my normal defender to switch off to somebody else after we turned it over and got it back. That subsequent possession I got the disc 4 times and threw the goal. That was about the sum total of my contribution. I ended up sitting out the last game on Saturday against Furious because of the pain (I had neglected to take my second round of ibuprofen, and it came to roost). By halftime I had recovered enough to play but felt it would be inappropriate to go in at that point, especially given the lead. Well, it was painful to watch as we ended up giving away a 10-5 lead to lose 16-14 or something like that. Then played fine Sunday now that I was remembering to fortify myself with ibuprofen. After we got back from ECC, I went to see Russ, the team massage guy for my hip who totally worked me over during our session. He recommended that I don't play at Tuneup two weeks later, but naturally I told him that it was the last major tournament before nationals, and I wanted to know how badly I could screw myself up. He said to play it by ear. I did, I hurt during warmups but was fine during play, and I ended up playing the entire tournament and playing reasonably well until a couple of late turnovers in the finals against Sub-Zero, as the cold affected my hands more it used to when I was young.
The captains had also pointed out in the individual emails (that everyone on the team got with roles, expectations, etc) that they noticed some turnovers at practice that they felt were not necessary, but that they expected I would 'expunge' from my game at Nationals. I took the words to heart and had maybe 2-4 turnovers total over the last 4 practices. I'm sure I will have the usual issues with playing time, especially considering the depth of the O team we have this year. I had similar concerns going into last year nationals, but played well enough that it was clear they had to keep me in. I hope to make it clear again, although it would be nice not to 'have' to play because the O is scoring every time we have the disc and the D is going on long runs. I definitely feel better about this team than in the last few years, in particular the potential of the defense. Interestingly enough, this is the first year that the O and D squads at practice were roughly equal in numbers, with the O actually having more players than the D sometimes. This hasn't happened since... well ever. Hopefully this depth will come in handy, assuming people can handle the reduced playing time.
Well, I think I'm done rambling for now. I can't wait to get down there. It will be the first time I get in to the airport before 6 or 7PM (arriving 10AM). I figure I'll head over to the Palm Bay for a quick hot tub... Deepdisc talks about getting to the fields on Thursday morning well in his 'The Transcendent Moment' blog. Of course, we know he is a Justice League player by now, but hopefully we'll hear something from him anyway.
I will attempt to do the daily summary that I did last year. We'll see how it goes.
Oh, final nauseating thought. If 1) we make the power pool, 2) end up 4th, 3) everything else holds to seed, the NW could have all 4 teams in the semis. Wouldn't that just be digusting? It's our job to make sure that nothing like that happens, or else we'll never hear the end of it.
So DoG is going in as its highest seed since probably 2002. As Jim has mentioned in his verbose seeding posts, we don't 'deserve' the 3rd seed, but we don't deserve it less than any of the other candidates. Actually, it's pretty funny. Watching the betty bowl after our victory over Metal in the winner's bracket, I started thinking about seeding, initially figuring we would be somewhere 5-6, and then I a sudden realization that we were going to have to seeded 3rd. It was a very weird and sudden realization. Thank you Justice League, although that puts a nice target on us now.
So, according to Hector, I should start collecting my social security checks right about now. Hey, all I know is that when I checked yesterday, a few people BESIDES Jim had actually selected me for their fantasy team. Hopefully I'll have a personal nationals like last year, with a bunch of goals thrown, even a game-winning goal caught against Bravo (worth two points, right?) and only 3 turnovers for the entire tournament. Of course, then I noticed that it was just for the finals. Someone on rsd mentioned that people were hosing them selves by covering the bases with players from more than two teams, but that won't necessarily be a losing proposition. Yeah, the Shanks and Lugsdins of the world are getting a lot of play, but these big players can also have big turnovers. Just because you have a bunch of players on a team in the finals doesn't mean that you are best positioned. Maybe it's better to have two players each from 3 teams. We'll see after the tournament.
Speaking of fantasy, I wonder if it could also be a useful thought experiment. You know how they have 'markets' now in all sorts of events that have proven uncannily accurate in predicting real world events, like terrorist attacks, market setbacks, etc. The question to be asked is whether the people that are picking the fantasy teams are just basing it on the seeding, or actual knowledge of the underlying teams. And more importantly, does that even matter, or is there some sort of actualization going on with these markets (and the fantasy market). Based on my quick analysis, it seemed like the teams followed the seedings, with Furious having the most players, Sockeye next, and then DoG in a not so far third. There seemed to be a huge dropoff after the top 3 teams, deserved or not. It's been awhile since DoG has been considered anywhere in that upper pantheon despite the legacy of success. Interestingly enough, last year we were supposed to lose in the quarters, followed by starting a 3-year run of losing in the pre-quarters (2000,01,02 lose in semis, 2003, 04 lose in quarters, 2005 lose in ...semis). Fortunately we broke that pattern in 2005.
On a personal note, I'm feeling pretty good going into the tournament. I was nursing some left achilles and hip flexor problems in August/September, all stemming from a badly bruised left heel I suffered before the Boston Invitational. I ended up playing the invite while running around the entire time on the ball of my left foot, never putting any pressure on the heel. Naturally that caused significant calf and achilles problems (fortunately we had July off or I would have missed more practices than I have missed in the last 5 years total). And walking funny because of the calf problems caused the hip flexor problem, which got bad enough that at ECC I barely cut in the 3rd Saturday game against the Condors game, only really making some damage when I got my normal defender to switch off to somebody else after we turned it over and got it back. That subsequent possession I got the disc 4 times and threw the goal. That was about the sum total of my contribution. I ended up sitting out the last game on Saturday against Furious because of the pain (I had neglected to take my second round of ibuprofen, and it came to roost). By halftime I had recovered enough to play but felt it would be inappropriate to go in at that point, especially given the lead. Well, it was painful to watch as we ended up giving away a 10-5 lead to lose 16-14 or something like that. Then played fine Sunday now that I was remembering to fortify myself with ibuprofen. After we got back from ECC, I went to see Russ, the team massage guy for my hip who totally worked me over during our session. He recommended that I don't play at Tuneup two weeks later, but naturally I told him that it was the last major tournament before nationals, and I wanted to know how badly I could screw myself up. He said to play it by ear. I did, I hurt during warmups but was fine during play, and I ended up playing the entire tournament and playing reasonably well until a couple of late turnovers in the finals against Sub-Zero, as the cold affected my hands more it used to when I was young.
The captains had also pointed out in the individual emails (that everyone on the team got with roles, expectations, etc) that they noticed some turnovers at practice that they felt were not necessary, but that they expected I would 'expunge' from my game at Nationals. I took the words to heart and had maybe 2-4 turnovers total over the last 4 practices. I'm sure I will have the usual issues with playing time, especially considering the depth of the O team we have this year. I had similar concerns going into last year nationals, but played well enough that it was clear they had to keep me in. I hope to make it clear again, although it would be nice not to 'have' to play because the O is scoring every time we have the disc and the D is going on long runs. I definitely feel better about this team than in the last few years, in particular the potential of the defense. Interestingly enough, this is the first year that the O and D squads at practice were roughly equal in numbers, with the O actually having more players than the D sometimes. This hasn't happened since... well ever. Hopefully this depth will come in handy, assuming people can handle the reduced playing time.
Well, I think I'm done rambling for now. I can't wait to get down there. It will be the first time I get in to the airport before 6 or 7PM (arriving 10AM). I figure I'll head over to the Palm Bay for a quick hot tub... Deepdisc talks about getting to the fields on Thursday morning well in his 'The Transcendent Moment' blog. Of course, we know he is a Justice League player by now, but hopefully we'll hear something from him anyway.
I will attempt to do the daily summary that I did last year. We'll see how it goes.
Oh, final nauseating thought. If 1) we make the power pool, 2) end up 4th, 3) everything else holds to seed, the NW could have all 4 teams in the semis. Wouldn't that just be digusting? It's our job to make sure that nothing like that happens, or else we'll never hear the end of it.
posted by Alex de Frondeville at 11:21 AM
10 Comments:
Alex,
I am having a sudden achilles attack and am terrified. Any short term suggestions? Can you wrap it?
It's very hard to tell whether this is serious or not. It could be interpreted either way. I'll assume serious for the moment.
For me, the achilles injury was debilitating. I couldn't even think of moving, unlike when I have calf problems.
I would think that your only hope might be one of those ankle supports. Other than that, ?
do we get three wild cards next year then?
just asking...
$
While I expect there would be the usual 'NW is best' clamor, I assume the most you will be able to get will be a laurel and hearty handshake.
Guess we'll just have to take care of business to make sure this doesn't happen.
good luck with that ;)
See ya Thursday.
$
The calf strengthening exercise that is recommended is, in fact, a miracle-worker. I found it to be very very helpful. Basically, stand on a step with both balls of feet on the step and the heels hanging off the edge. Lift up on both toes, then take away the not-hurt side and slowly come down on the leg with the bum achilles. 15 of these 3 times a day, helps strengthen the muscles that support the tendon. Good luck.
Looking forward to the "DoG View Daily!"
Especially when I work you over!
You say that deepdisc is on Justice League. How do you know this? He seems to mention Pike a lot, and seems to hold something against Truck Stop.
Well, their name is Truck Stop Glory Hole. I think that's pretty awful too.
Seems to me like enough of a reason to hold something against them.
(aside: I have no idea who ddt is, nor do I care.)
I have had long-term Achilles issues and they suck.
What turned the corner for me was wearing a boot at night (keeps toes from pointing). Took me a few days to notice that my first steps of the morning weren't painful.
The two-up and one-lowering mentioned above is the real deal.
Without the trainers at Potlatch, I would not have been able to play. Taped up could push out as hard as needed without any problems from the Achilles I'd tweaked about 4 weeks beforehand.
http://www.nismat.org/traincor/achilles_tape.html shows the tape job I'd been putting on myself after getting the tendons mostly whipped into shape. I'd had a trainer evaluate what I'd been doing and he suggested that I use regular tape for the anchors and something with a little bit of give for the X. Otherwise the calf anchor tends to slide down (or the toe anchor though that happened less often).
At the moment, I'm not taping. I'm concerned about sustained toe-strike for things like the 400 or 200. I miss training hills.
I'd given up on playing in the sand a few years ago but taped up I was able cut-n-run well enough that I would not hesitate to play at a beach tourney.
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