Ten Random Thoughts

First, pickup ultimate is boring. I believe that you play like you practice and when you practice lazy throws and bad decision making, a little bit of that pulls through to game situations. That being said, I need to start playing better defense in practice.

Second, I don't understand disc golf discs and the way they are supposed to be thrown. I think they are all basically supposed to be thrown in a particular way that is consistent, but being an ultimate player, I frequently try to manipulate the disc instead. Maybe that is why I'm not improving.

Third, I'm finding it really hard to keep going to work. Why have I become so lazy? I'm making more money than I ever have before and much more than I currently need. My current boss is probably the best boss I'll ever have. Yet, I'm struggling to show up and to want to stay there all day. This needs to change.

Fourth, Don Quixote is a great book, especially Part II. The first part starts off great with many interesting story lines and great character development and humor, but then digresses too many times. The second part seems much more fluid than the first. I read it over the winter and would consider it one of my top 10 favorite books.

Fifth, I don't dance very well and don't particularly enjoy it. Can that be considered a character flaw? I guess I'll never be friends with that guy from Men Without Hats.

Sixth, Kool-Aid and macaroni and cheese were great when I was a kid, but while still tasty, don't seem to have the culinary effect that they used to. I'll still eat and drink these things, though.

Seventh, I've been really blessed in my life in many different ways from the people I've been in contact with, to the things I've been able to do and experience, to the talents I've been given, to the many things that I don't even know about. I can't forget that.

Eighth, there doesn't seem to be a lot of creativity in ultimate frisbee. Also, a lot of ultimate players and teams don't seem to have the ability to adjust to the style of play of their opponents. Instead of determining the best way to beat an opponent and changing their strategies and focuses throughout the course of the game, teams seem to simply "stick to the gameplan" and try to muscle out a win.

Ninth, pretty soon Jon and Dave will be moving away from Ames, I think. People keep moving away. For most people I know, Ames will just be a city for passing through and moving on. For me, it's home. I like to be here when I can.

Tenth, stay positive out there. Mustard!

Taste the Rain

I've always been a pretty big supporter of all things Gatorade. Once, while in high school or early in college I went on a Powerade trip, probably because it was cheaper, but I eventually bettered myself and switched back to Gatorade.

One thing I like about Gatorade is their willingness to experiment with flavors. They have several lines of products out such as the "fierce" line, the "rain" line, the "lemonade" line, and the "ice" line. I think I've tried every Gatorade flavor there has ever been, even the wierd Intenso Mexican Gatorade or whatever it is. I think I've only seen that in the South, though. I think there was a Citrus and a Mango flavor. Plus, I think it gave me diarrhea.

The Gatorade Rain line is the newest line of products that the company has created. It is a softer tasting Gatorade that has a less intense taste and watery composition, but has enough flavor and substance to avoid being just a flavored water. While on that topic, though, the Propel Water made by Gatorade is also very good. They have that strange sucralose aftertaste though, which would be my only complaint. Back to the Rain products; they have a berry flavor, a lime flavor, and a tangerine flavor. I prefer the berry flavor, but I've seen many people opt for the lime flavor, especially my roomate Mike, that guy loves the lime Rain. I was reading a men's magazine last weekend and there was an article that ripped apart the new Gatorade Rain line. Sorry dude, you're wrong again. Rain is innovative, maybe even life-changing, try it.

I hope Gatorade continues to experiment with products and creates more line of products in the future and more flavors. Every once in awhile I'll find the Tropical flavor, bring back more of that. How about a cherry limeade flavor? How about some tree-fruit flavors? Peach? Pear? What about a strawberry banana, or even straight-up banana? What about cranberry? Maybe some of these wouldn't be good sports drinks, but Gatorade could pull it off.

I don't know how to finish this post now, so...Gatorade!

The Near Misses

Those who have been waiting for me to conclude my top-10 ultimate game list will have to wait just a little bit longer, but here are some of the near misses. I think there are some surprises on this list, some of them even surprise me and it is my list.

5 Most Surprising Snubs

1) CLX v. Hang Time--Quarterfinals of Nationals 2005
It seems like this game should be on the list and if it wasn't for one thing happening, I think it would be high up on the list, but it did happen. CLX played Hang Time in pool play and had a lead in the middle of the second half, but ended up losing the game. Hang Time had yet to lose and was one of only two undefeated coed teams at nationals. In fact, Hang Time had only lost to Donner Party in the last three or four years of coed play. This quarterfinal game was even more important because the winner of the game not only made it to semis of nationals, but was guaranteed a bid to world in Australia in 2006. We played a great game of ultimate, trading points almost the entire game. I got to catch some scores, including the final score of the game to win 15-13. There was a great upwind zone point right before half were the team took 40-50 passes to move it upfield, but never gave up the disc, and took half. Austin played great defense on Tom Etchison, Hang Time's monstrously tall goal scorer.

So why isn't this game in the top 10? We beat an incredible team, we made it to semis, and we made it to worlds. But, our women's captain got creamed on a layout attempt and got a concussion. She spent the rest of the game on the sidelines asking the same questions over and over again like she had some sort of dementia and the look in her eyes was really creepy and distant. It affected me a great deal and I was even tearing up on the field during the last couple of points, so it was a very emotional win, but lacking the lustre of a great win. I was just relieved to have the game over.

2) CLX v. Shazam--Finals of 2004 Nationals
Why isn't this game on the list you ask? We were playing for a national title against a team that had an abundance of talent. Shazam had knocked off Brass Monkey to make to the finals, while CLX had lost some games and won some games to make it to finals, some of them in dramatic fashion. CLX never really seemed into this game and the team as a whole played nervous. I especially did. I was recorded as having seven turnovers in the game (but still +1 fantasy!), which caused Brian Lucido to nickname me Kevin "The Seven" Seiler. Thanks Brian. Even if we won finals, I don't think it would have been high on the list, the game just didn't feel right.

3) CLX v. Flaming Moe--Semifinals of 2004 Central Regionals
CLX and Flaming Moe had an intense rivalry going in 2004. Moe beat us in the finals of Aquatennial, beat us in semis at Cooler, and destroyed us at sectionals. We, on the other hand beat them in pool play at Aquatennial 17-16, gave them their biggest loss of the season in pool play at CHCs 13-5, then beat them to win CHCs 15-13. The overall record was 3-3. This game was the "game to go" at Central Regionals because both teams in the finals were awarded bids to nationals. The game was intense, but short. A 14-team format had us playing every game to 11 at regionals. Thats right: 11. Ultimate games, especially elimination games at regionals should never be played to 11. I think we beat them 11-9 or 11-8. I played a great game and got into it with a Moe guy in particular, but this game could have been great if played to 15. Alas.

4) CLX v. Mr. Briefcase--Game to go to the game to go at 2005 Central Regionals
CLX was supposed to make nationals in 2005 after finishing second in the nation in 2004. Our road to nationals was lengthened by a loss to Meth in the semis. We then had to win two more games to qualify. The first was against Mr. Briefcase, a team from Chicago. This game had all sorts of spooky things about it. First, the loser of the game took fifth. In 2003, CLX was the number one seed at regionals and took fifth. Moe was the 1 seed at 2004 regionals and finished fifth. Now CLX was the 1 seed at 2005 regionals and we were down 12-9 in a game to 13. It looked like we were going to take fifth and an orca-talented team was about to have it's season ended. Also, Mr. B was a team that had some ex-Kaze members on it, the same team that knocked us out of 2003 regionals. Again, down 12-9, the disc goes up to a Mr. B player long. He's wide open for the win...he drops it. I have no idea how. We rattle off 4 points in a row to win the game, go on to beat Flaming Moe, take the 3rd spot to nationals, finish 3rd at nationals and qualify for worlds. Sweet. But, in the words of Jules Winfield "We should have been dead back there." I felt like we were dead and had a strange stay of execution feel after the game, not a feeling of excitement.

5) CLX v. Shazam and Meth at 2005 Nationals
Lastly, these two game were great wins, but nothing deserving of the top 10. We got revenge on Meth for our loss at regionals and knocked Meth into the bottom eight at nationals. We also beat Shazam and got revenge on them for the finals of the year before. But neither game was ever in question, so they weren't great games. We zoned Meth almost every point and they just threw stupid turnovers. We had a number of great plays in those games like RSheldahl's grab from Lana against Meth, Austin's toe-line grab against Zach from Meth, Abby's toe-line grab against Shazam, and I caught a toe-line hammer from Ross against Shazam. So, there was no shortage of amazing plays and intensity, but we beat them so bad that there was no question of us losing, so they aren't on the list. All of the games mentioned are in my top 20, but not top 10.

That's it. Later.

WUCC2006

The coed ultimate team that I play on, The Chad Larson Experience, qualified for 2006 worlds to be held in Perth, Australia. There was initial concern over the cost of the tournament, but it now seems that 90% of the team will make the trip. I was reading about the teams today that have been accepted in the mixed division and it looked like this:

USA (9 teams), Australia (7 teams), Canada (6 teams), Great Britian (5 teams), Japan (3 teams), Germany, Phillipines, and Singapore (2 teams), Italy, Netherlands, China, Finland, Thailand, New Zealand, India, and Korea (1 team).

To me, this is really exciting, to have the chance to play against teams from China, Japan, Thailand, India, Phillipines, Singapore, and Korea. Even though most of the players will probably speak English (which will be the "official language" of worlds), it would be cool to play a team where "ultimate" becomes the language that unites us together. Well, that and some shared "beer on the beach" after the game.

Another reason I'm so excited to play at worlds is the chance to win a world title. Even though CLX has now enjoyed continued success (2nd and 3rd place finishes at US Nationals), it still seems like were a bunch of misfit Iowa State alumni and friends who somehow keep living out the dream we were never supposed to have in the first place. It is really cool to not only have made it that far to play on a world stage, but to have made it there with all the friends that I've always been playing with.

Well, I'll keep dreaming. Shawn, I'm visualizing some sort of triple greatest at double game point in the gold medal game.

League Night

So, tonight was disc golf league night at the Carol Marty (Gateway) Course in Ames. Lana and I went and played and since we showed up right before they started, we got to play together.

One thing immediately annoyed me, which was how much time it took. Usually, eighteen holes of disc golf can be played in about 75 minutes. It took us about 130. I think I might have actually shot better, with more time to focus and think about shots, but not enough better to justify waiting that long all the time.

I was able to shoot a 7 under par from the regular tees, with 9 birdies and 2 bogies, the rest pars. I birdied 9 for the second time ever, also birdied 2, 3, 4, 10, 11, 14, 15, and 17. I birdied the ones that are easy to birdie, like 2, 3, 10, 14, and 15. Then stole some at 9 and 17. Also barely missed birdie on 5, 8, 16, and 18. I put myself in great position on almost every drive to birdie and it was simply a matter of making putts of various distances.

The discouraging thing about league now is that I probably won't be able to play with Lana anymore, because we will likely be in different divisions. I think I also have to play from the pro tees now, which will be considerably more difficult. I may stick around in the league for a few more weeks, but the amount of time it takes coupled with having to play by myself could have me walking away from the league.

Good night.

73

Last weekend I played a lot of disc golf, 73 different baskets of disc golf.

The weekend started with Jake, Lana, and I going "mountain" biking over at Peterson Pits and McFarland Park. It was really Jake speeding around and waiting for Lana and I to catch up. He still has fun, though, and I get a great workout.

Jake, Lana, Dave, and I went down to Des Moines to play some disc golf and meet with my brother and his wife and son for supper. The course we went to play was at Ewing Park on SE 14th street. I read recently that Ewing Park was the premier disc golf course in Des Moines. I think whoever wrote that was correct, BUT, it is not the most fun to play. I'll tell about that one later. We played the pro tees all day and at Ewing Park, that meant for a lot of bogies. The average hole distance was about 500 feet, whereas the average hole distance in Ames is only about 300 feet. There was only one birdie at Ewing Park, by me!, on a hole that was only about 260 feet long. The course had a lot of trees, but not so many trees that the course was ridiculously hard. It did require "pro" disc golf status to do well, though. I shot 16 over par, for third place in the group.

We then went to West Des Moines and played the Valley Southwoods Course. Just nine holes, but some challenges among them. I think I had 4 bogies, 3 birdies, and 2 pars, good enough for 1 over par and second place or a tie for second place, I can't remember what Jake had. I know Dave beat me by one throw by making birdie on the last hole.

Then we had a little intermission and ate at Buzzard Billy's. I had lots of Anduille sausage and spices. Yum.

Then over to Grandview. Grandview is my favorite course in Des Moines. The course is difficult with long holes and some trees to avoid, but the course also has a number of birdie-able holes. Some holes are over 400-450 feet, but are long, gradual downhill holes, still within birdie range. That is fun. I don't like the last couple of holes, it seems like they ran out of room, with four of the last five holes being under 250 feet in length. That's my only complaint, though. I played really well here, shot 3 under par, the only person under par.

The sun was already starting to set, but we decided to try to play Heritage Park in Ankeny on the way home. We we arrived in the park, the sun was already disappearing below the horizon, but we tried to play fast. I started quickly, getting three birdies on the first fives holes. Then, shot three double bogies in a row. By hole 10, it was too dark to play and we had to call it a day at 55 holes of disc golf. Ankeny wasn't very impressive and I don't really have a need to go back, but I would if others were going there.

On Sunday, I played the 13th street, or Iowa State course, in Ames. Played best shot with Jake on my team. We ended up shooting 2 under par, I think, beating Jon and Dave by a stroke. Mike and Lana were 1 over, I think. We were in a hurry to get to ultimate practice, though. The first of the year. I'm excited to play more.

Later.

Steppin'out

So, I'm a painter. I paint houses. In my daily routine I also scrape old paint off of them, sand them, and prime them. I'm able to paint both indoors and outdoors. Now that the weather is nice outdoor painting season has started and I'm being reintroduced to scaffolding, planks, and ladders.

As a painter, I'm put into many situations each day where I am in a position to experience extreme physical pain or death if something goes wrong. Over and over again, I walk out on planks 20 feet or more off the ground, or stand on ladders even higher. Today I spent 4 hours harnessed to a chimney as I scraped, sanded, and primed the siding around the chimney. The roof was steep enough that if I lost my balance, I would probably lose my life. I entrusted my life to a harness, clip, and rope. Basically, if at any point during a given day something fails, I fall and get hurt. Or even if I trip or stumble over something while working high up on a scaffold or plank, I risk falling to the ground.

Usually, I've been okay about these things, but recently I've been fairly nervous when I put myself in such situations. I know that the likelihood of such a catastrophe are slim, in fact, I've been working for 8 years and never experienced any serious injury nor have any of my co-workers. (Well, okay I've fallen off three or four ladders, but that's it). This year I've not been very confident up in the air.

Yesterday I was reading my Bible during breaktime and came across a helpful passage in Proverbs. I'm not sure if I've ever read through Proverbs. I've read through the New Testament once in succession and have read some individual books and passages many times, but I've yet to make it through the Old Testament. It is one of my goals this summer. Back to the point, I read these verses:

Proverbs 3:25-26--Have no fear of sudden disaster or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked, for the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being snared.

It really put me at ease to read this. I know this passage isn't specifically talking about a painter up on a plank, but reading this helped me to feel safer and less nervous even today. I believe the Holy Spirit recognized my worry and led me to read a passage yesterday that would help me deal with the anxiety I've been having at work. And now I'm reminded every time I step out on that plank: The LORD is my confidence!