A Short List

The Van Buren Boys headed east to Boston last weekend. As so many VBBs have already blogged on what happened, I'll steer this blog in a different direction.

A short recap of the action includes: 10-12 loss to GOAT, the eventual champions, a 11-15 loss to Truck Stop, which wasn't actually that close, a 4-15 loss to Boston, which wasn't actually that close..., a 11-13 loss to Pike, outnumbered in the seventh game of the weekend 9 to 30+ (at one point I counted 7 on the field, 7 on our sideline, and 15+ on their sideline), a win against Mephisto, Zebra Muscles, and HOV. Okay, so the wins are not that impressive, except maybe Mephisto, but only a little.

Thinking to myself on Sunday, I wondered whether The Van Buren Boys would possibly be the 17th best team in the country. So far, dating back to last year at Motown Throwdown, we've handled every non-nationals team, yet lost to all the national qualifiers. Not sure if GOAT even qualified last year, so maybe they are 17th, we're 18th.

Okay, so we only had 13 VBBs, far less than the 25 or 26 we'll have during the year.

So, why is this the short list? Well, on the flight home I thought of a short list of things that The Van Buren Boys need to work on to be more successful this year.

-Guarding dump cuts better
-Poaching without completely losing track of the player you are guarding
-Quit face-guarding in situations where it doesn't help you make a play
-Quit relying on "up" calls
-Play last back a little wiser, we were begging them to score on us at times, and they did
-Less frantic marks
-A better grasp for the rules and the current rules changes
-An unwillingness to allow backfield swings
-Better communication on switches
-More leadership before games, especially on the first one of the day
-Players realizing when they've played too many in a row
-Handlers either committing to cutting upfield, or staying put
-Offensive stacking
-Stack placement on the field
-Stopping roller pulls or letting them go out the back
-Making better throwing decisions
-Condescending to throw to upline 10-yard gainer instead of the 30/70 huck
-Not settling for the 50/50 huck, and even money here is generous
-Cutters not freaking out when they don't catch it in the endzone
-Dump cuts need to happen sooner
-Thowers need to lead the dump cut out into space instead of throw it directly to the dump
-Not side-stacking on the same side of the field that the disc is coming in on
-Attempting some shorter break throws
-More fluid cutting that keeps the disc moving
-Not throwing hammers when it is windy
-Reading the disc and catching it at the height of your jump
-Knowing when you need to attack a disc and when you can let it fall into your hands
-In zone offense, not making a thrower break a mark just to dump the disc backwards
-Not sending so many players deep in zone offense, we played a lot of 5 on 7

Well, that's just a short list of things we need to work on. Luckily, we have one round of practices before the next tournament.

So, that post seemed a little negative, well, it was supposed to be more of a joke. I think we're in good shape, but we do have a lot to work on. We are an athletic team, but not a very fundamentally based team. In a division full of pugilists and prizefighters, we're more of the backyard or bar-room brawler types. Not a whole lot of technical skill, we'll just try to beat you into the ground or get beat trying.

Do, a dear, a female deer

Remember that song from The Sound of Music that starts Do, a dear, a female dear, Re, a something something light.......then ends, which brings us back to Do? I had a train of thought yesterday that reminded me of that song while at Hickory Park for my nephew's third birthday party. It went as follows:

Do: I was thinking about crying stories. I used to share crying stories with friends, that is, stories where the conclusion is always me crying at the end. I always seemed to have more than anyone else I knew. Hmm.

Re: The waiter came and asked about our ice cream orders. My nephew's mom was asking about peanut allergy information for the different types of ice cream. My nephew has bad peanut allergies, so the ice cream choice is a matter of life and death. Well, not that bad, she does have an epi-pen.

Mi: That made me think of something rather morbid, that is, kids in elementary school trying to trick him into eating peanuts, not really understanding that it would be very dangerous for him to do so.

Fa: That made me think of this kid from my class in elementary school named Umer. I couldn't remember his last name. It also confused me for a moment why I suddenly remembered a kid from 20 years past that I probably hadn't thought of for just as long.

So: Then I got it. I remembered that some kids had invited him over to their house once and offered him some pizza. Umer was from an Islamic family, so they didn't eat pork. Well, the pizza had pork on it, and the kids tricked him into eating some. This memory must have been triggered by my daydream about my nephew.

La: That made me think about the fact that Umer and I had the same lunchbox. A blue lunchbox that had a Transformers picture on the front. A big picture of Optimus Prime, with the Transformers logo next to him.

Ti: That made me think about the time I was walking home from school by myself and accidently tripped and fell, smashing my lunchbox upon the ground. The impact forced the lunchbox open, revealing a lot of food that certainly was not mine, with a note from a mother who was not my own. I remember it smelling fairly strong and spicy and there was a lot of half eaten food inside.

Do: Which brings me right back to crying stories. I don't know why, but when that happened, I stood there right out near one of the busiest streets in Ames, just bawling that I didn't have the correct lunchbox. I don't know if the fall mixed with the surprise of weird food made me cry, or if I thought I'd get into trouble for having the wrong lunchbox or what, but I stood there confused and crying for two or three minutes before trekking the last block home.

Well, that's my song.

Captain's Log: 61107

Captain's Log: 61107

The Chad Larson Eggs-perience rolled through Raper country over the weekend (that's Tom Raper country, proud owner of Raper RV center near Indianapolis) on the way to Versailles, Ohio. This Chad team was a little lighter than previous years, as we had 11 guys/6 ladies, a little lower than the 22+ we usually have.

Playing as CLX, the team had a combined 12-0 record in Saturday play. Sunday's record a miserable 0-3. We knew our pool would be somewhat easy, and started out accordingly.

Saturday had us playing Cooler by the Lake, an Ohio State alum team, a Chicago team, and some other team I didn't know. We got scored on a total of 14 times on the day. 13-3, 13-4, 13-4, 13-3. Kind of a boring day. Tried to remember to sit in the shade a lot. Not a whole lot of memories about Saturday, there was some great play and some very sloppy play. Surprise!

Late Saturday night we found out we would play Team USDA, the same team that had knocked us out of the tournament the two previous years. We started out strong, with great defense, and rolled to a 7-3 halftime lead. Second half was more of the same, except for a small glitch in the middle where we let them score a couple in a row. I believe the final score was 13-8. The monkey is off our backs!

Next game, we played what somebody said was a Rare Air/Truck Stop combo team. These guys had just played a double game point against an Oklahoma Alumni team and we were able to watch the last couple of points. We quickly fell behind 1-4, but stormed back to take half 8-5, I think? Second half, more of the same, and I believe we won 13-7 or 8. They started making some major mistakes near the endzone, giving us short fields.

In semis, we played a Wisconsin/Colorado Alumni team. This team was certainly the best we've played in Poultry Days history with Andrew Brown, Tyson Park, Rodrigo Valdivia, Jim Foster, Richter, Adam Simon, Jolian Dahl, Drew Mahowald, among others. I guess I don't know any of their ladies, nor where they came from. I think our team was a little anxious about the game, because we dropped a lot of passes in the first half that were perfect chest high passes. The game was more contested, with more defensive layouts, and even though we weren't getting blocked, I think the potential for getting D'd was there in our heads, causing us to simply drop the passes. We trail at half 3-7. We fight back to 7-9 and have many opportunities to score, but drop some scores and overthrow receivers. The play is fairly frantic at this point. Instead of 8-9, it's 7-10, and we have to score upwind. I forgot the next sequence of points, but the game gets to 11-12, but they don't turn and win 11-13. Kind of a bummer that we played so poorly in the first half, but it was a great game to play. I always thought that Poultry Days finals was something that CLX couldn't really make, but here we were just 2 points from finals, and we could have played well enought to win. It was a pleasant surprise.

-Lana was playing great, especially on Sunday. She just kept making the same cut off the back of the stack and repeatedly getting open, even catching some passes that were difficult to grab. Her play was a big reason we stayed in the game.

-Joe Brisbois and Matt Ellsworth contributed some bigtime defense over the weekend. It's going to be great having those two on the same defensive line for The Van Buren Boys. Matt was a player that I wasn't even sure I wanted on the team, but even in the last two months, he has improved tremendously. I'm eager to see how Boston goes for him, when we have a number of tough games and players to guard.

-Dave was throwing fairly well through Sunday's games, but it looked like he was getting tired by the third game, a thought which he offered up after the game. He was hucking as well as ever for 2.5 games there. A number of first or second throw hucks for scores, which was just crushing other teams' defensive spirits. The Wiscolorado team was freaking out about him every time he had the disc. "He's going to run! He's going to run after he throws it! Make sure he doesn't huck!" Funny stuff.

-Jenny played great on Saturday, catching a number of scores and getting some deflections up in the air on defense. Seemingly tireless, she would D a score on one end of the field and be catching a score unguarded on the other end of the field seconds later. I think she was a little outmatched against Sunday's women, but she will be a great contributor to One Trick Pony.

-Jon Staron is one tough dude. There, I said it. He always injured, yet plays so solid. He'd probably make a good soldier. Tough as nails, with a nearly unflappable demeanor and confidence on the field, yet he knows his limits, and doesn't let his confidence convince him to make mistakes.

I'll write about my own progress later. It's lunchtime.

This tournament was a lot of fun and the most competitive we've been at a Poultry Days tournament. It could go down as my favorite one, but I'd have to do some reflection. I didn't participate in too many off-field activities. No drinking, I apparently missed out on karaoke by going to bed early, and wasn't there for Friday night festivities, arriving at 4:15 in morning.

I'm all the more excited for practice this weekend. And Boston in less than two weeks now.

My First Pseudo-Rant

I feel a little too much like Andy Rooney here, but do you want to know what bugs me? Those credit card commercials recently where all sorts of people are shopping and buying all sorts of things and they’re all dancing around the store and swiping their cards and everything is happy, right? Then some dope comes up with cash and stalls everybody because he isn’t just swiping a card. He gives this apologetic look to everybody like “gee whiz, I’m really sorry guys, I’ll have a credit card next time. I’m sorry I wasted your precious time.”

It’s an interesting tactic by the credit card companies. The basic message is that it is more polite to use a credit card instead of any other form of payment because it is “faster”. Not only should you use it for your own good, but for the good of others, too. Right, does anybody really believe this? Take cash somewhere, use it as payment (by the way, it is still accepted in monetary transactions anywhere), and see what happens. I’ll save you the time. You give them the money, they give you the change. Done. Where’s Lorry when you need him?

I saw another commercial for either Home Depot or Lowes. They have a store credit card where you don’t have to make any payments for a year if you spend over $300 at the store. Some dopey husband and his wife are in the store and they find out they don’t have to pay for anything for a year so they talk about buying all sorts of things and getting extra carts, and remodeling this and replacing that like everything is free. You’re paying for it sooner or later, so just pay for it now. You aren’t saving any money using a credit card, and the credit card companies do not have you, the consumer, in mind when they try to get you to use their cards. Would you rather pay for 100% of it now, or 20% of it 6 times?

Here’s my financial advice: Buy only what you can pay for. Carry cash. Use it as needed.

Musical Thoughts

Random Thoughts 1001-1010

1001. Do you know that song at the end of Abbey Road, the untitled song after The End, is possibly the greatest of all the Beatles songs? Isn’t it the greatest of all love songs? “I want to tell her that I like her a lot, but I’ve got to get a belly full of wine.” Isn’t that true of all of us? Isn’t this the basic human condition so succinctly written into a ten-second song? Thank you Paul.

1002. I’ve been having some thoughts recently about marriage. Namely, that if were a carpenter instead of a painter, and Lana was a lady instead of a woman, would she marry me anyway? Would she have my babies?

1003. “Blinded by the light, wrapped up like a deuce…” That’s deuce people, as in deuce coupe. Like the Beach Boys song.

1004. “I’d like to be under the sea, in an octopus’s garden with you.” Really… You want to be deep under the sea, probably in pitch black waters, in the absence of light, under extreme pressure from the depth of the water, in a garden inhabited by an octopus, an eight-tentacled, beak-wielding monstrosity. Nice Ringo. It wasn’t enough to just enjoy the ride, was it?

1005. The only song that has ever been enhanced by whistling is Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay…ever. Yes, people, I’ve heard GNRs “Patience” more than I would ever wish upon anybody.

1006. On Odelay there’s a track, I believe it is “New Pollution”, where there is a weird yelling noise, I think after the lyrics “Rock and roll, you know what I’m saying, everywhere I look there’s a dead end waiting”. Even when I knew it was coming, I would always think it was my dad yelling at me from downstairs. It sounded eerily like “Kevin!” yelled from downstairs, by my dad, muffled by my closed bedroom door. I still get that “what am I in trouble for now” feeling when I hear it.

1007. Once I was in Target and I wanted Nirvana’s new album In Utero. Only problem was there was that naked hospital mannequin thing on the cover and a song called Rape Me on it. I gave the cassette (that’s a cassette tape for those born youngins’) to my mom who suspiciously eyed the cover and said “What is this?” Then, she flipped it over and said “What is this Rape Me song?” I thought my chances of getting the tape were shot. I said “I don’t know, I think it’s a joke or something. He’s not serious.” She was skeptical, but for some reason bought me the tape. Thanks for caring mom. I mean that.

1008. I’m usually not a fan of silly music, but the Aquabats were seriously dumb. They had a song about a cat with two heads called The Cat With Two Heads. I couldn’t get enough of it. Maybe I had to draw the line at Lobster Bucket.

1009. I actually purchased Elephunk by The Black Eyed Peas. What was I thinking? Let’s get (it started) in here, indeed.

1010. Green Day’s album Dookie, what a masterpiece of self-satisfying songs. I remember staring at the album cover for hours like a stoner, like it was a Where’s Waldo picture. I can still put that album in the stereo and sing along to every song.