We played in Coffee Cup on 11/8, a while ago, I know. We had 8 players (2 returners and 6 rookies). Considering our low numbers and our rookie-heavy team, we did really well. :) I don't remember too much of specific games, but I remember playing deep deep for the first time, which is really scary. But deep deep - handler is pretty convenient, I must say.
Our rookies are awesome this year. They're fast, heads up, and they learn quickly. I'm super excited for the spring :)
http://www.upa.org/scores/tourn.cgi?div=34&id=5689
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Friday, November 7, 2008
Huck-O-Ween
Last Thursday we had a co-ed round robin with the men's team that we called Huck-O-Ween. We had four teams:
It was a LOT of fun. More pictures can be found on Liver's picasa:
http://picasaweb.google.com/oliviacheo/HuckOWeen#
Definitely have to do that again... :)
Cereal Killers
Robots
Oompa Loompas
Emo
It was a LOT of fun. More pictures can be found on Liver's picasa:
http://picasaweb.google.com/oliviacheo/HuckOWeen#
Definitely have to do that again... :)
Lemony Fresh (Cape Cod Edition)
So sMITe didn't get into Huck-A-Hunk, which was a huge surprise to us (I was mad for a little bit but I got over it), so we scrambled to get into Lemony Fresh for Nov. 1.
We went with 1o people (4 returners and 6 newbies). It was a pretty windy day so we played lots of zone, both O and D. Our zone O looked really good. It would be me/Trish/Amy handling and we would have new people as our poppers, wings and deep. Our poppers learned really quickly and caught a lot of throws through the cup. It was really exciting to see! We would be able to work it up the field just by swinging it around the cup and then finding poppers through the cup.
Our zone D looked pretty good as well. We're starting to learn how to cup more effectively, to cut off the next throw. We're also working on our communication more. This year (or I guess every year?) sMITe is a pretty quiet team so we have to keep reminding ourselves that we need to talk a lot in zone.
Three of our players left half-way through because they had other commitments, and another person was injured, so we played savage, and eventually 6s during our last 2.5 games. You would think that playing savage would really tire us out, but we really stepped it up during those last 2.5 games. We had a lot of run-through Ds from our new players and I think everyone had a lot of fun :)
http://www.upa.org/scores/tourn.cgi?div=34&id=5532
We went with 1o people (4 returners and 6 newbies). It was a pretty windy day so we played lots of zone, both O and D. Our zone O looked really good. It would be me/Trish/Amy handling and we would have new people as our poppers, wings and deep. Our poppers learned really quickly and caught a lot of throws through the cup. It was really exciting to see! We would be able to work it up the field just by swinging it around the cup and then finding poppers through the cup.
Our zone D looked pretty good as well. We're starting to learn how to cup more effectively, to cut off the next throw. We're also working on our communication more. This year (or I guess every year?) sMITe is a pretty quiet team so we have to keep reminding ourselves that we need to talk a lot in zone.
Three of our players left half-way through because they had other commitments, and another person was injured, so we played savage, and eventually 6s during our last 2.5 games. You would think that playing savage would really tire us out, but we really stepped it up during those last 2.5 games. We had a lot of run-through Ds from our new players and I think everyone had a lot of fun :)
http://www.upa.org/scores/tourn.cgi?div=34&id=5532
Beaver Fever
I think I just forgot about my blog for a while. Forgive me...
On Oct. 25 we had our own round robin mini-tournament thing on Briggs Field. We had 13 players total but the numbers fluctuated throughout the day so we had about 10 people there at any given time.
We started off playing Harvard. We traded possessions and points throughout the whole game. We worked on vertical stack and we would have a few nice cuts where the disc would flow nicely, but then we'd get close to the end zone and turn it. I think sMITe lost on universe point or something close to that.
Our next game was against Northeastern. We worked on horizontal stack, which I thought looked pretty good after not practicing it for a while. Some of our cutters are looking really good and really fast. It's really exciting to see. :) We lost by a not-so-close score that I don't remember.
Our last game was against Wellesley and their team was probably the closest in skill/experience to us (we both had tons of new players). I think we win by a not-so-close score that again, I don't remember. All in all I think we had a lot of fun and we had some fans that came to cheer us on.
Afterwards we tried to use Andrew, Meri's nephew, to sell discs to the other teams. C'mon, who wouldn't buy a disc from this little guy:
On Oct. 25 we had our own round robin mini-tournament thing on Briggs Field. We had 13 players total but the numbers fluctuated throughout the day so we had about 10 people there at any given time.
We started off playing Harvard. We traded possessions and points throughout the whole game. We worked on vertical stack and we would have a few nice cuts where the disc would flow nicely, but then we'd get close to the end zone and turn it. I think sMITe lost on universe point or something close to that.
Our next game was against Northeastern. We worked on horizontal stack, which I thought looked pretty good after not practicing it for a while. Some of our cutters are looking really good and really fast. It's really exciting to see. :) We lost by a not-so-close score that I don't remember.
Our last game was against Wellesley and their team was probably the closest in skill/experience to us (we both had tons of new players). I think we win by a not-so-close score that again, I don't remember. All in all I think we had a lot of fun and we had some fans that came to cheer us on.
Afterwards we tried to use Andrew, Meri's nephew, to sell discs to the other teams. C'mon, who wouldn't buy a disc from this little guy:
Thursday, October 23, 2008
sMITe recent happenings
Practice attendance has been low last week and this week... probably due to midterms and other school-related stuff. Does this happen every year? Or just the years that I've been on sMITe?
- On Tuesday we had dinner together at Simmons. My first time with dorm food since undergrad. It wasn't too bad. I think we decided dorm food is generally overpriced but Simmons food was pretty good at least. :)
- Throwing clinics every Friday at 5pm on Killian! Come join us if you're around. Teach us how to throw! :)
- We started zone today but we only had 10 people so some of the boys + coaches had to fill in positions.
- We're hosting our own tournament this weekend - it's really a round robin with Harvard, Northeastern, and Wellesley. Sat Oct 25 from 9-2pm on Briggs Field. Come cheer us on!
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Lemony Fresh
sMITe played savage on day 2 of Lemony Fresh and went 2-1. I hear the rookies are really excited about ultimate now :)
Other half of club regionals
We played Ambush on Sunday morning. There was still dew (and frost!) on the ground. Hatch started off on defense: one of the Ambush girls dropped the pull and we scored in one throw. Things got more difficult after that =P I don't know how other people on the team were feeling but I was feeling nervous and was throwing stupid crap that I shouldn't have thrown. Ambush had one main handler and one main receiver and they just kept sending it long. We weren't able to stop their breaks and their deep looks and Ambush took half at 8-3. Hatch kept up the intensity through the second half and did better, with the final score at 15-8 Ambush.
Our next game was against Middlebury. It should've been an easy game but we were being dumb. I think the score was 2-5 at some point. Our O-line scored easily: catch to hitch, to in-cut, dish, then huck to Doris/Jenny deep (almost every point). Then our D-line would not cover their deep looks so Middlebury just kept sending it. It was a pretty messy/ugly game with lots of turnovers and not being able to convert Ds to scores. I'm not blaming one line or the other because I played both but it was a much more tiring game than it needed to be. A couple people got injured this game: Doris getting kneed in the jaw (again), Michelle and Jenny colliding full-force into each other to get a D. We won 15-10 but it was definitely the most frustrating game of the day.
Next game against Sugar Shack was ok. I think we played pretty well but we weren't able to pull it together. I actually don't remember much from this game. But I feel like I should because it was a pretty important game. The game to the game to go? Anyway, Sugar Shack won 12-8.
After the game we circled up and Gretchen pulled out two bottles of champagne. We were sitting around and drinking and then MissCONNduct told us that we had another game (for 6th place). We settled on a shortened game to 11. So we played fun lines: all handlers, birthdays in the first half of the year, all college players + oldest player, etc. Btw our all-handler line *almost* scored... and then we turned it at our endzone and MissCONNduct won the point. Anyway, with 4-5 people injured and not playing this game, and our crazy lines, I was almost certain that we were going to lose this game. We found ourselves at 8-10 receiving the pull. We scored that point to make it 9-10. Then we broke them twice to win on universe point 11-10. The last point was Mabo hucking to Chelsey who had an amazing grab in the endzone.
So at the end of the day we held seed at 6th, made friends with some Valks, Ewo, and Pilots, and played some awesome ultimate together. We've definitely come a long way since 4 months ago (we started playing together in July) and I'm really proud of this team.
Hatch withdrawl...
Our next game was against Middlebury. It should've been an easy game but we were being dumb. I think the score was 2-5 at some point. Our O-line scored easily: catch to hitch, to in-cut, dish, then huck to Doris/Jenny deep (almost every point). Then our D-line would not cover their deep looks so Middlebury just kept sending it. It was a pretty messy/ugly game with lots of turnovers and not being able to convert Ds to scores. I'm not blaming one line or the other because I played both but it was a much more tiring game than it needed to be. A couple people got injured this game: Doris getting kneed in the jaw (again), Michelle and Jenny colliding full-force into each other to get a D. We won 15-10 but it was definitely the most frustrating game of the day.
Next game against Sugar Shack was ok. I think we played pretty well but we weren't able to pull it together. I actually don't remember much from this game. But I feel like I should because it was a pretty important game. The game to the game to go? Anyway, Sugar Shack won 12-8.
After the game we circled up and Gretchen pulled out two bottles of champagne. We were sitting around and drinking and then MissCONNduct told us that we had another game (for 6th place). We settled on a shortened game to 11. So we played fun lines: all handlers, birthdays in the first half of the year, all college players + oldest player, etc. Btw our all-handler line *almost* scored... and then we turned it at our endzone and MissCONNduct won the point. Anyway, with 4-5 people injured and not playing this game, and our crazy lines, I was almost certain that we were going to lose this game. We found ourselves at 8-10 receiving the pull. We scored that point to make it 9-10. Then we broke them twice to win on universe point 11-10. The last point was Mabo hucking to Chelsey who had an amazing grab in the endzone.
So at the end of the day we held seed at 6th, made friends with some Valks, Ewo, and Pilots, and played some awesome ultimate together. We've definitely come a long way since 4 months ago (we started playing together in July) and I'm really proud of this team.
Hatch withdrawl...
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Club Regionals
Hatch held seed, beating high school team 15-0 and Enigma (Canadian team) 15-1. Then lost to Capitals 5-15 and beat MissCONNduct 15-9. I was pretty happy with our play against Capitals. They're a really good team and we put pressure on them on D and we were getting some nice flow on O. This is the game where Doris got cleated on her thigh and her D kneed her jaw. But Doris got the disc :)
The MissCONNduct game was interesting. Came out strong, went up at half 8-2. Then MissCONNduct turned up their play and eventually Hatch won 15-9.
Ambush game tmr at 8:30. Should be pretty exciting. Gonna be a long, exciting day. :) Yay ultimate. :)
Smite did well today at Lemony Fresh (according to Liver and Meri). Newbies learning really fast and also had a lot of fun. I'm glad. :)
The MissCONNduct game was interesting. Came out strong, went up at half 8-2. Then MissCONNduct turned up their play and eventually Hatch won 15-9.
Ambush game tmr at 8:30. Should be pretty exciting. Gonna be a long, exciting day. :) Yay ultimate. :)
Smite did well today at Lemony Fresh (according to Liver and Meri). Newbies learning really fast and also had a lot of fun. I'm glad. :)
Friday, October 10, 2008
So sMITe is going to Lemony Fresh this weekend and Hatch is going to NE Regionals! I'm so excited and nervous I haven't been able to get any real work done the last 3 days.
Here are the websites so you can keep up with us this weekend:
Lemony Fresh
NE Regionals
Wish us luck!! :)
Here are the websites so you can keep up with us this weekend:
Lemony Fresh
NE Regionals
Wish us luck!! :)
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Is it sad that ultimate dictates so many different aspects of my life?
- how short I cut my hair (short enough so that it doesn't whip my face when I pivot/fake, but still long enough to be put up in a ponytail)
- when I cut my hair (before sectionals or regionals)
- what kind of underwear I put on after my shower, depending on whether i have practice in the afternoon (patagonia active hipsters, thanks to darlene's enthusiasm for patagonia undergarments)
- when I schedule my classes (MWF mornings so I can go to practice TTh afternoons)
- when I schedule sMITe practices (TTh afternoons so it doesn't conflict with Hatch practices on Wed evenings)
- when I do my laundry (after tournaments, esp wet and rainy ones)
- what kind of backpack I buy (last year I had an Adidas backpack that had a convenient disc-storing pouch)
- what kind of snacks I crave for (Life cereal, Cheez-its, Triscuits of all different varieties have their own shelf in our house now)
What about you?
- how short I cut my hair (short enough so that it doesn't whip my face when I pivot/fake, but still long enough to be put up in a ponytail)
- when I cut my hair (before sectionals or regionals)
- what kind of underwear I put on after my shower, depending on whether i have practice in the afternoon (patagonia active hipsters, thanks to darlene's enthusiasm for patagonia undergarments)
- when I schedule my classes (MWF mornings so I can go to practice TTh afternoons)
- when I schedule sMITe practices (TTh afternoons so it doesn't conflict with Hatch practices on Wed evenings)
- when I do my laundry (after tournaments, esp wet and rainy ones)
- what kind of backpack I buy (last year I had an Adidas backpack that had a convenient disc-storing pouch)
- what kind of snacks I crave for (Life cereal, Cheez-its, Triscuits of all different varieties have their own shelf in our house now)
What about you?
Sunday, October 5, 2008
O-Line, D-Line
Yesterday Hatch scrimmaged Brute Squad at the end of our practice. I have to confess, playing on both O-line and D-line is like having a multiple personality disorder. They have different mentalities from the start of the point. Jin would come up to the line to give a little pep talk.
To the D-Line she says, "You guys are the heart and fire of the team. You guys have to want that disc, bring up the intensity of the game."
To the O-Line she says, "You guys are on the O-Line because you are calm and cool and can value the disc, working it up the field. You guys are reliable and can score every time."
I guess they're not that contradictory but I feel like I have pretty different mentalities as an O-line handler and defender.
The scrimmage was ok. There were a lot of soft turns, unforced errors, whatnot. There were a lot of great things from individual people, like Christina going up for and catching my huck in the midst of two other Brute defenders. And Doris getting a handblock. And nice flow/swings from Shira/Michelle/Lauren in zone O. Between Doris and I, we either caught or threw the 3 scores in the game. =P Final score 3-15.
To the D-Line she says, "You guys are the heart and fire of the team. You guys have to want that disc, bring up the intensity of the game."
To the O-Line she says, "You guys are on the O-Line because you are calm and cool and can value the disc, working it up the field. You guys are reliable and can score every time."
I guess they're not that contradictory but I feel like I have pretty different mentalities as an O-line handler and defender.
The scrimmage was ok. There were a lot of soft turns, unforced errors, whatnot. There were a lot of great things from individual people, like Christina going up for and catching my huck in the midst of two other Brute defenders. And Doris getting a handblock. And nice flow/swings from Shira/Michelle/Lauren in zone O. Between Doris and I, we either caught or threw the 3 scores in the game. =P Final score 3-15.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Scrimmage against BC
It was pretty windy and cold for the first Friday of October. We had about 13 people come out for the scrimmage, 5 returners and the rest rookies. Since we've only seen ho-stack in practice, playing defense against BC's vertical stack took a little getting used to. With all the soft turns from both teams, and BC playing more aggressive O and D than us, we were down the first half 0-7. During half time Meri and I explained defense positioning in the stack and tried to get everyone pumped up about play aggressive D, and our second half looked a lot better. Final score 2-13.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
New Jerseys?
I want new jerseys for Smite but I actually don't want to own more jerseys because I have too many already. But what do people think of this (Eugene's mock-up).
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Defense
I've been learning a lot about defense the last two days... Hatch yesterday and sMITe today. We did the backpedaling drill for the first time and people looked pretty good. We also did the offense/defense drill with one cutter and one defender. Defense is hard and it takes lots of practice.
Our first tournament is this Saturday and the weather forecast says 90% chance of precipitation and high winds. There's a chance that it'll get canceled but I really hope it doesn't. Currently sMITe only knows ho-stack so this is especially going to apply to us:
http://www.the-huddle.org/issues/1/ho-stack-in-wind/
Our first tournament is this Saturday and the weather forecast says 90% chance of precipitation and high winds. There's a chance that it'll get canceled but I really hope it doesn't. Currently sMITe only knows ho-stack so this is especially going to apply to us:
http://www.the-huddle.org/issues/1/ho-stack-in-wind/
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Practice
Practice was pretty entertaining today. We worked more on ho stack - which cutters are supposed to be cutting depending on where the disc is on the field. We had a scrimmage at the end and it looked pretty good... even though there were a lot of turnovers people knew when they were supposed to be cutting at a stopped disc. If the disc was dumped or swung that was a different story. :)
We're going to our first tournament this Saturday at Wellesley! I have Hatch practice in the afternoon so I can't make it to the tourney but Smeri will be there to relay all the details :)
We're going to our first tournament this Saturday at Wellesley! I have Hatch practice in the afternoon so I can't make it to the tourney but Smeri will be there to relay all the details :)
Monday, September 22, 2008
100 Pushups!
http://hundredpushups.com/index.html
59 Elm is going to be extremely ripped in about 6 weeks. Anyone want to join us? :) We're doing Day 1 tonight while watching Heroes. :)
59 Elm is going to be extremely ripped in about 6 weeks. Anyone want to join us? :) We're doing Day 1 tonight while watching Heroes. :)
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
TIM the Beaver
Dear CAC,
The women’s ultimate frisbee team (sMITe) is playing in a tournament at Wellesley College on Sat. Sept. 27 under the name “Beaver Fever.” We would be very grateful if CAC allowed us to bring TIM the Beaver off campus to Wellesley College to show our school spirit at this tournament. sMITe has done very well in past tournaments, even making it to the College National Championships this past May. Our team would be proud and honored to show our school spirit with TIM the Beaver in this tournament. Thank you for considering our request.
Sincerely,
Karen & Meri
sMITe Co-Captains
The women’s ultimate frisbee team (sMITe) is playing in a tournament at Wellesley College on Sat. Sept. 27 under the name “Beaver Fever.” We would be very grateful if CAC allowed us to bring TIM the Beaver off campus to Wellesley College to show our school spirit at this tournament. sMITe has done very well in past tournaments, even making it to the College National Championships this past May. Our team would be proud and honored to show our school spirit with TIM the Beaver in this tournament. Thank you for considering our request.
Sincerely,
Karen & Meri
sMITe Co-Captains
Monday, September 15, 2008
Club Sectionals Day 2
Smite started off the second day of club sectionals playing Brute Squad and scored a point!! (The only other team to do that in their pool was Wellesley. And actually now that I'm looking on score reporter it says that they scored two points). Anyway, I wasn't personally there to witness this but apparently it was Shan's high release backhand to Veena in the endzone. Questionable choice in throws but I guess it works sometimes it... Good job guys :) Props to you guys for playing savage for an entire weekend.
Hatch rolled through the college teams in the morning and then played Godiva for 2nd/3rd. We dropped the first three points pretty quickly. I personally felt really nervous for this game, which doesn't bode well for an O-line handler. =P The second point was turnover heavy and I remember just being so tired during that point. We took a time out and refocused ourselves and were able to score a few points in the first half.
I remember the first point we scored: Godiva put a strange zone on us, kinda like a 2-4-1 or 2-3-2 and I threw a few to Jenny who was popping and then I suddenly see Doris wide open behind the deep deep so I just launched a backhand huck and she caught it in the endzone. :) In another point, Shira, Michelle and I were handling in zone O and we were able to work it around and through their cup. There was some nice swinging action and I even threw a hammer to Doris and eventually we scored that point. But we had dropped too many points in the beginning of the half so Godiva took half 8-3.
Our D-Line saved our butts in the second half, getting lots of Ds and then scoring the point. We had a lot of trouble taking away the around throw. We need more active marks and better positioning. We both got broken twice and we actually tied the second half 7-7 so the final score was 15-10 Godiva.
http://www.upa.org/scores/tourn.cgi?div=36&id=5137
I'm beginning to like ho-stack a lot more. Especially side line plays :)
And we finally had a whole team!
Hatch rolled through the college teams in the morning and then played Godiva for 2nd/3rd. We dropped the first three points pretty quickly. I personally felt really nervous for this game, which doesn't bode well for an O-line handler. =P The second point was turnover heavy and I remember just being so tired during that point. We took a time out and refocused ourselves and were able to score a few points in the first half.
I remember the first point we scored: Godiva put a strange zone on us, kinda like a 2-4-1 or 2-3-2 and I threw a few to Jenny who was popping and then I suddenly see Doris wide open behind the deep deep so I just launched a backhand huck and she caught it in the endzone. :) In another point, Shira, Michelle and I were handling in zone O and we were able to work it around and through their cup. There was some nice swinging action and I even threw a hammer to Doris and eventually we scored that point. But we had dropped too many points in the beginning of the half so Godiva took half 8-3.
Our D-Line saved our butts in the second half, getting lots of Ds and then scoring the point. We had a lot of trouble taking away the around throw. We need more active marks and better positioning. We both got broken twice and we actually tied the second half 7-7 so the final score was 15-10 Godiva.
http://www.upa.org/scores/tourn.cgi?div=36&id=5137
I'm beginning to like ho-stack a lot more. Especially side line plays :)
And we finally had a whole team!
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Club Sectionals Day 1
So I wasn't actually at club sectionals today because I was with my family in NY but I sat around with Meri and Doris enough afterwards that I almost feel like I was there...
Smite played savage, beating Brandeis, and losing to Northeastern, Bentley, and Wellesley. Meri handled with Amy, Trisha, and they kinda trained Kelly to be a handler as well. They ran a vert stack during the beginning of the day and then spread later in the day, which worked out pretty well. Meri said that the flow got a lot better throughout the day. I think they're getting another player tomorrow. Hopefully no one is scared by the low numbers... yay PT! :)
Hatch beat all the college teams and were pretty competitive with Lady Godiva. Hatch won the first point and the two teams traded points until half time. Then something happened in the middle (that's how Doris described it), and they traded points again until the end, 13-9 Godiva. Doris said we looked pretty good... I can't wait to play them tomorrow!
http://www.upa.org/scores/tourn.cgi?div=36&id=5137
Smite played savage, beating Brandeis, and losing to Northeastern, Bentley, and Wellesley. Meri handled with Amy, Trisha, and they kinda trained Kelly to be a handler as well. They ran a vert stack during the beginning of the day and then spread later in the day, which worked out pretty well. Meri said that the flow got a lot better throughout the day. I think they're getting another player tomorrow. Hopefully no one is scared by the low numbers... yay PT! :)
Hatch beat all the college teams and were pretty competitive with Lady Godiva. Hatch won the first point and the two teams traded points until half time. Then something happened in the middle (that's how Doris described it), and they traded points again until the end, 13-9 Godiva. Doris said we looked pretty good... I can't wait to play them tomorrow!
http://www.upa.org/scores/tourn.cgi?div=36&id=5137
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Second practice!
Today was fun, we added another cut in our ho-stack offense, learned the go-to drill, and scrimmaged. My favorite part was go-to just because it's so encouraging to see people going to the disc. The scrimmage was still chaotic but much better than Tuesday's practice. It was awesome to see some people make nice sharp cuts - Darlene would've been proud. :)
I think Smite is playing with 7 or 8 each day for club sectionals... yay, the best number to play club sectionals with. =P (I'm sure Doris would completely agree.) I'm bummed that I can't make Saturday (will be at West Point visiting family) but I'll be there Sunday, playing with Hatch. You should come watch!
http://www.upa.org/scores/tourn.cgi?div=36&id=5137
Does anyone still read this?
I think Smite is playing with 7 or 8 each day for club sectionals... yay, the best number to play club sectionals with. =P (I'm sure Doris would completely agree.) I'm bummed that I can't make Saturday (will be at West Point visiting family) but I'll be there Sunday, playing with Hatch. You should come watch!
http://www.upa.org/scores/tourn.cgi?div=36&id=5137
Does anyone still read this?
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
First Practice!
Smite had it's first fall practice yesterday. We learned how to throw backhands and forehands, and make diamond cuts in preparation for ho stack. Then we had a scrimmage and huck drill at the end of practice. We had about 14 newbies come out to the first practice. I was pretty impressed, considering it had poured earlier in the day. Even though the scrimmage was a bit chaotic, there was definitely talent there and I can't wait to see how Smite develops in the fall season. :)
This evening Doris, Smeri and I put up our wall of discs. Actually it spans two walls: 5 discs over two entryways, including:
- two nationals discs (from 2005 and 2008)
- two smite discs (blue sparkle and neon yellow - misprint!)
- a BUDA disc
- a Chicago Heavyweight Championship disc
- a Gungho disc
- a Life is Good disc
- Smeri's high school disc
- Doris and Michael Vartan disc (if you haven't seen it yet, it's one of those things you have to see)
Club Sectionals this Saturday!
This evening Doris, Smeri and I put up our wall of discs. Actually it spans two walls: 5 discs over two entryways, including:
- two nationals discs (from 2005 and 2008)
- two smite discs (blue sparkle and neon yellow - misprint!)
- a BUDA disc
- a Chicago Heavyweight Championship disc
- a Gungho disc
- a Life is Good disc
- Smeri's high school disc
- Doris and Michael Vartan disc (if you haven't seen it yet, it's one of those things you have to see)
Club Sectionals this Saturday!
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Quote of the Day
"If I had a kid, I would name him Huckleberry. Then people would call him 'Huck Ng'."
-Bryan Ng.
-Bryan Ng.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Graduated sMITers :(
So I started this post in May after Nationals because I realized how many great players sMITe is losing this year and I had to blog about SOMETHING now that the season was over. I think I stopped because I got kinda emotional while writing. :( Now I feel kinda weird writing this post because it's already September, we're in the middle of orientation, and graduation was three months ago, but hey, writing about these people inspires me to become a better player.
So here's to all who left sMITe after Spring '08:
Catherine - I don't know what I would do without you. Thanks for teaching me how to throw, fake, handle, huck, hammer, dump cut, make smart decisions, basically everything except pulling =P j/k your pulls are amazing now :) You're this 5'2" ball of energy and I'm always inspired by your enthusiasm and ability to keep sMITe upbeat and motivated. I love seeing you excited when we're huddling up and you always remind me that ultimate is fun and we play better when we're having fun. When it seems like everyone has given it their all, you have that extra sprint, that extra push to do what's needed on the field and everyone is convinced that they can run a little bit harder because of your example. You've been a great leader on and off the field (or as Smeri would put it, "In ultimate and in real life") and you'll be sorely missed. Best of luck in London and I'm excited that I'll have a place to crash when I visit :) Too bad you're not going to be around when I perfect my spin-pull :)
Daphne - "But she's so small!" - everyone's reaction when you D someone >6 inches taller than you. We should've put 12'6" for you on the roster because you play so much taller and you inspire others to play taller than they really are. Thanks for introducing me to sMITe and for being a great leader on the team. You're always so cheerful and you have such a great attitude about everything. And I'll forever remember you as our fearless Captain Planet :)
Doris - You're amazing on so many different levels. You're the most reliable deep deep I've ever played with and this position was basically created for you to exemplify your speed and acceleration, boxing out and reading abilities, and laziness. :) You get numerous run through Ds and you have the uncanny ability to get grass stuck in random places (your mouth, your underwear, your nose...) I'm so glad that I still get to play ultimate with you on Hatch. :) And you can huck now! You better come to some sMITe practices so our team can learn how to play good defense. Just don't teach them to throw backhands like you do. :P
Erika - Erika you were a great example to the team, as a defensive all-star and physical fitness coach and strategy consultant. One of my favorite zone plays is always going to be "Erika's Choice" just because it screws with the other team and works so well every time!! Let's just say that I'm really glad that you were on our team. This picture is a typical Erika-being-awesome-and-better-than-everyone-else image:
Jenny - Man were we glad to have you on our team this year :) You do realize that you probably bring up our average height at least three inches, right? One of the most vivid images of you is when there are three people vying for the disc in the air and then you just come out of nowhere to bring the disc down. I am also glad that I still get to play ultimate with you on Hatch.
Coaches Jin and Darlene - Well, Darlene left us already but Jin will still be around for the new version of sMITe! Individually, you guys are great players and coaches but together, you guys are were as hilarious and entertaining as you were great explainers of everything. :) I'll always remember our three goals of the year: efficient offense, shutdown defense, and AWESOME. Thanks for teaching us and motivating us and coaching us to Nationals :)
An end of one chapter of sMITe and the beginning of another...
So here's to all who left sMITe after Spring '08:
Catherine - I don't know what I would do without you. Thanks for teaching me how to throw, fake, handle, huck, hammer, dump cut, make smart decisions, basically everything except pulling =P j/k your pulls are amazing now :) You're this 5'2" ball of energy and I'm always inspired by your enthusiasm and ability to keep sMITe upbeat and motivated. I love seeing you excited when we're huddling up and you always remind me that ultimate is fun and we play better when we're having fun. When it seems like everyone has given it their all, you have that extra sprint, that extra push to do what's needed on the field and everyone is convinced that they can run a little bit harder because of your example. You've been a great leader on and off the field (or as Smeri would put it, "In ultimate and in real life") and you'll be sorely missed. Best of luck in London and I'm excited that I'll have a place to crash when I visit :) Too bad you're not going to be around when I perfect my spin-pull :)
Daphne - "But she's so small!" - everyone's reaction when you D someone >6 inches taller than you. We should've put 12'6" for you on the roster because you play so much taller and you inspire others to play taller than they really are. Thanks for introducing me to sMITe and for being a great leader on the team. You're always so cheerful and you have such a great attitude about everything. And I'll forever remember you as our fearless Captain Planet :)
Doris - You're amazing on so many different levels. You're the most reliable deep deep I've ever played with and this position was basically created for you to exemplify your speed and acceleration, boxing out and reading abilities, and laziness. :) You get numerous run through Ds and you have the uncanny ability to get grass stuck in random places (your mouth, your underwear, your nose...) I'm so glad that I still get to play ultimate with you on Hatch. :) And you can huck now! You better come to some sMITe practices so our team can learn how to play good defense. Just don't teach them to throw backhands like you do. :P
Erika - Erika you were a great example to the team, as a defensive all-star and physical fitness coach and strategy consultant. One of my favorite zone plays is always going to be "Erika's Choice" just because it screws with the other team and works so well every time!! Let's just say that I'm really glad that you were on our team. This picture is a typical Erika-being-awesome-and-better-than-everyone-else image:
Jenny - Man were we glad to have you on our team this year :) You do realize that you probably bring up our average height at least three inches, right? One of the most vivid images of you is when there are three people vying for the disc in the air and then you just come out of nowhere to bring the disc down. I am also glad that I still get to play ultimate with you on Hatch.
Coaches Jin and Darlene - Well, Darlene left us already but Jin will still be around for the new version of sMITe! Individually, you guys are great players and coaches but together, you guys are were as hilarious and entertaining as you were great explainers of everything. :) I'll always remember our three goals of the year: efficient offense, shutdown defense, and AWESOME. Thanks for teaching us and motivating us and coaching us to Nationals :)
An end of one chapter of sMITe and the beginning of another...
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Smite discs for sale!
They're the same ones as a few years ago, the crazy cuts design. Same colors as well: white, blue sparkle and nite-glow. Let me know if you want one. $10 each for all three colors.
If you're out of town, I can mail them to you. Just mail a check for $10 + shipping (I guess that depends on how far you are) to 59 Elm Street, Cambridge MA 02139, made out to me (because I'll be doing the mailing). Then I'll put the $10 and any leftover shipping money into our account.
If you're out of town, I can mail them to you. Just mail a check for $10 + shipping (I guess that depends on how far you are) to 59 Elm Street, Cambridge MA 02139, made out to me (because I'll be doing the mailing). Then I'll put the $10 and any leftover shipping money into our account.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Log Jam
So I've been playing ultimate with Hatch, the new Boston women's team. We finally decided on a name just this past week, which is very exciting because considering we've been calling ourselves the New Women's Team for the past month. The name is supposed to be from the Hatch Shell on the Esplanade and hatching eggs but we were getting a lot of strange questions about our name this weekend, such as, "Does your name come from a spaceship hatch?"
Anyway, this weekend we played in Log Jam, a small tournament in Vermont (there were only six teams). And I drove up with Jin, Jenny and Doris in Doris' new car. Unfortunately it rained for part of Saturday and all of Sunday so Doris' car didn't smell or look very new after we sat in it.
We went 3-1 on Saturday in pool play, losing to Ambush 10-12 during the first game of the day. I felt like we played pretty well considering we're still learning how to play with each other. Personally I threw a lot of horrible uncatchable throws because I haven't really played ultimate for the last three weeks. As a team we only got better throughout the day and we learned different zone defenses.
It rained all day on Sunday. We started off the first game against MissCONNduct who had recruited six Storm players. We came out strong during the first half and at one point I think we were up 6-3. We started making a lot of dumb turns but squeaked away with 8-7 at half. I personally think this team cheated a lot by making up their own rules: calling stall when they didn't even say "ten", making the disc go back to someone even though it stays, etc... Granted it was our fault for not stopping them at the time.
Anyway, somehow the game progresses to 10-10 during hard cap, universe point, and one of our handlers throws a backhand to a cutter in the endzone for the score. But the handler was fouled during the "wind-up" motion of her throw (at which point she called a foul) but still released the disc, which was caught. The path of the throw was obviously affected by the foul, but the mark argued that the foul was called before the disc was up and that the foul was not on the throwing motion. Anyway, after 5 minutes, the disc went back and there was a turnover, and then more turnovers, and then MissCONNduct scored, 11-10. AGH such a frustrating game.
Our next game was the "semis" against Ambush again. And we lost again 10-12. Another frustrating loss, but I think my best play was during these two games on Sunday. Except when I dropped a pull during this game. I know it happens to everyone, but it still sucks when it happens.
Anyway, I feel like I need to learn how to do dump cuts again. I think whenever I don't play ultimate for a long time my dump cuts are the first to go. I need to start doing track workouts again, and I need to learn to recognize when my disc space is violated, and how to fake and pivot with an aggressive mark. And I want to work on pulling because pulling is fun. And I need to lift again because my shoulder and back are sore from pulling this weekend... how sad. :(
But yay for ultimate, I missed playing.
Anyway, this weekend we played in Log Jam, a small tournament in Vermont (there were only six teams). And I drove up with Jin, Jenny and Doris in Doris' new car. Unfortunately it rained for part of Saturday and all of Sunday so Doris' car didn't smell or look very new after we sat in it.
We went 3-1 on Saturday in pool play, losing to Ambush 10-12 during the first game of the day. I felt like we played pretty well considering we're still learning how to play with each other. Personally I threw a lot of horrible uncatchable throws because I haven't really played ultimate for the last three weeks. As a team we only got better throughout the day and we learned different zone defenses.
It rained all day on Sunday. We started off the first game against MissCONNduct who had recruited six Storm players. We came out strong during the first half and at one point I think we were up 6-3. We started making a lot of dumb turns but squeaked away with 8-7 at half. I personally think this team cheated a lot by making up their own rules: calling stall when they didn't even say "ten", making the disc go back to someone even though it stays, etc... Granted it was our fault for not stopping them at the time.
Anyway, somehow the game progresses to 10-10 during hard cap, universe point, and one of our handlers throws a backhand to a cutter in the endzone for the score. But the handler was fouled during the "wind-up" motion of her throw (at which point she called a foul) but still released the disc, which was caught. The path of the throw was obviously affected by the foul, but the mark argued that the foul was called before the disc was up and that the foul was not on the throwing motion. Anyway, after 5 minutes, the disc went back and there was a turnover, and then more turnovers, and then MissCONNduct scored, 11-10. AGH such a frustrating game.
Our next game was the "semis" against Ambush again. And we lost again 10-12. Another frustrating loss, but I think my best play was during these two games on Sunday. Except when I dropped a pull during this game. I know it happens to everyone, but it still sucks when it happens.
Anyway, I feel like I need to learn how to do dump cuts again. I think whenever I don't play ultimate for a long time my dump cuts are the first to go. I need to start doing track workouts again, and I need to learn to recognize when my disc space is violated, and how to fake and pivot with an aggressive mark. And I want to work on pulling because pulling is fun. And I need to lift again because my shoulder and back are sore from pulling this weekend... how sad. :(
But yay for ultimate, I missed playing.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
What my parents think of me
When my dad picked me up from the airport, the first three things he said were:
1. Wow you got so dark.
Me: Yeah Dad, I've been playing lots of ultimate outside.
2. You look skinnier
Me: That's strange.
3. You have so many pimples.
Me: Yeah...
My mom came home from work a few hours later and said the exact same thing. Yay home :)
1. Wow you got so dark.
Me: Yeah Dad, I've been playing lots of ultimate outside.
2. You look skinnier
Me: That's strange.
3. You have so many pimples.
Me: Yeah...
My mom came home from work a few hours later and said the exact same thing. Yay home :)
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
A trip through sMITe's (recent) history
A few weeks ago I went through the box labeled "SMITE STUFF" passed down to me from Daphne. I must say, she's a very organized little one. There were binders of team meeting notes, "How to Build a Successful Ultimate Program" notes, blog posts about marking, defense, etc. I also found Lori's gift from her secret wisher of tournament cheer: An A-Z book on how awesome Lori is. (Man, you guys spent a lot of time working on these back in the day...)
There was also old sMITe jerseys (red with "MIT Women's Ultimate" on the corner), random t-shirts, tons of peoples' awards that never got picked up, and all the sign-up sheets from CPW and the activities midway. It was fun to see when people signed up and started playing for sMITe. It also made me kinda sad because out of the hundreds of people who are interested in playing ultimate, only a handful actually become committed to the team. I think this past year I had a sign-up sheet for the activities midway that had 27 names, and only 2 of them on the list joined the team and stayed for the entire year.
Anyway, I'm leaving for L.A./Taiwan/Japan tomorrow. Be back in 2-1/2 weeks :)
There was also old sMITe jerseys (red with "MIT Women's Ultimate" on the corner), random t-shirts, tons of peoples' awards that never got picked up, and all the sign-up sheets from CPW and the activities midway. It was fun to see when people signed up and started playing for sMITe. It also made me kinda sad because out of the hundreds of people who are interested in playing ultimate, only a handful actually become committed to the team. I think this past year I had a sign-up sheet for the activities midway that had 27 names, and only 2 of them on the list joined the team and stayed for the entire year.
Anyway, I'm leaving for L.A./Taiwan/Japan tomorrow. Be back in 2-1/2 weeks :)
Monday, July 7, 2008
Jazzfest
Jazzfest was pretty fun. I don't go on many road trips but Jazzfest hasn't failed to be an adventure yet. It was really fun to play with people much better than me and learn from them and play some low-pressure frisbee. I also met James of the James Drill. And I heard stories of how he wooed his girlfriend-now-wife Stacy by chasing a pickpocket in London. "Now that's marriage material," says Stacy =P
I also learned the international sign for crumbling fudge:
I also learned the international sign for crumbling fudge:
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Wuwu vs. Capture The Dream
Last night Wuwu fielded 7 girls and 6 guys to play against Capture the Dream on MIT Turf. (This game reminded me of the finals in regionals when sMITe played Northeastern - a lot of the girls on Capture were from Northeastern.) I wasn't there for the first point in this game because I forgot the cones at my house and Shawn had to drive me back to get the cones. When we arrived back on the turf, we found out that the other team had cones after all (they originally told us they didn't). But then they only had 7 cones so we used a pylon for the 8th cone. =P
Anyway, Capture put a zone defense on us right away but Shawn's amazing handling and scoober skills discouraged them from playing any more zone for the rest of the game. During one of the points there was a nice dump swing from Shawn to Daphne and we scored on the break side. Darlene would've been proud.
In another point Brian Wu had an amazing full-field huck to NG in the endzone. Oh wait, it couldn't have been Brian Wu, because he wasn't there... Right...
Anyway, we traded the next few points and soon the score was tied at 4-4. Capture took a time-out while Wuwu sat on the sideline and made fun of MattyB who wasn't even there. Capture took the next several points, capitalizing on Wuwu's drops and they took half 8-5.
After a hearty "Woo-wooooo" cheer at half-time, Wuwu came back strong. Shawn threw it deep to Smeri in the endzone for a score. In another point, he hucked it to NG, who made a sliding grab on the turf. During one endzone play, NG made a great in-cut, only to slide underneath the disc. I guess that's what happens when old running shoes meet a wet crappy turf.
As first-time players for Wuwu, Chenxia, Jess, and Zach made some really nice cuts. Foote played amazing defense and was an all-around solid player for Wuwu. On the contrary, Eugene Wu played lazy man defense until I yelled at him to play tighter D and then he got a D. What d'ya know... (Maybe all Wu's play lazy D.)
Amy had an incredible one-handed grab way above her head. Daphne played tight defense and got a run-through D. Liver cut break for Shawn for a score. Smeri made amazing Asian-stutter-step cuts and got open as usual. And Brian Wu's lightning fast reaction scored him a hand-block... wait wait wait... he wasn't there.
Anyway, Capture rolled through Wuwu the second half (probably because we only had one Wu) and won the game 15-7.
Note: All the disparaging remarks about Wu was because he said (twice!) that he would show up for the game but ended up flaking out.
Anyway, Capture put a zone defense on us right away but Shawn's amazing handling and scoober skills discouraged them from playing any more zone for the rest of the game. During one of the points there was a nice dump swing from Shawn to Daphne and we scored on the break side. Darlene would've been proud.
In another point Brian Wu had an amazing full-field huck to NG in the endzone. Oh wait, it couldn't have been Brian Wu, because he wasn't there... Right...
Anyway, we traded the next few points and soon the score was tied at 4-4. Capture took a time-out while Wuwu sat on the sideline and made fun of MattyB who wasn't even there. Capture took the next several points, capitalizing on Wuwu's drops and they took half 8-5.
After a hearty "Woo-wooooo" cheer at half-time, Wuwu came back strong. Shawn threw it deep to Smeri in the endzone for a score. In another point, he hucked it to NG, who made a sliding grab on the turf. During one endzone play, NG made a great in-cut, only to slide underneath the disc. I guess that's what happens when old running shoes meet a wet crappy turf.
As first-time players for Wuwu, Chenxia, Jess, and Zach made some really nice cuts. Foote played amazing defense and was an all-around solid player for Wuwu. On the contrary, Eugene Wu played lazy man defense until I yelled at him to play tighter D and then he got a D. What d'ya know... (Maybe all Wu's play lazy D.)
Amy had an incredible one-handed grab way above her head. Daphne played tight defense and got a run-through D. Liver cut break for Shawn for a score. Smeri made amazing Asian-stutter-step cuts and got open as usual. And Brian Wu's lightning fast reaction scored him a hand-block... wait wait wait... he wasn't there.
Anyway, Capture rolled through Wuwu the second half (probably because we only had one Wu) and won the game 15-7.
Note: All the disparaging remarks about Wu was because he said (twice!) that he would show up for the game but ended up flaking out.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
It's official!
We're moving in tonight! I met up with my landlord yesterday and he handed me three sets of keys to our new place. My friend Jen is lending me her furniture for the summer so we moved it all in yesterday. We have a nice dining table, couch, I have a bed, desk, and dresser. And we have a keyboard and a roomba for the summer as well :)
Tonight my friend Chris is renting a Uhaul and we're moving his stuff (he's subletting from Smeri), my stuff, and Dorphne's stuff over to 59 Elm and hopefully we can start living there this weekend.
So yesterday Bryan and I played pick-up with some SidPac people (they posted a flyer). I think I'm becoming a frisbee snob because pick-up just isn't as fun anymore. Here are some funny rules that can be bent/broken in pick-up (granted this is pick-up in the extreme sense, but still):
Tonight my friend Chris is renting a Uhaul and we're moving his stuff (he's subletting from Smeri), my stuff, and Dorphne's stuff over to 59 Elm and hopefully we can start living there this weekend.
So yesterday Bryan and I played pick-up with some SidPac people (they posted a flyer). I think I'm becoming a frisbee snob because pick-up just isn't as fun anymore. Here are some funny rules that can be bent/broken in pick-up (granted this is pick-up in the extreme sense, but still):
- When you drop the pull, you can pick it up and keep playing.
- Strips are allowed.
- Here's a funny scenario that happened:
Guy, let's call him Bob, picks up the disc at the back of the endzone and starts "faking"
Me: stall 1, 2, 3...
Random guy on Bob's team: you can walk it up to the line
Me (meanwhile): ...6, 7, 8...
Bob walks it up to the line.
Me: TRAVEL!
Bob: C'mon, this is pick-up!
Me: You're right, rules don't apply in pick-up... Play on! - The one-bounce rule: if you drop the disc but still catch it before it bounces twice, it's still good. (It's like tennis! - no double bounce)
- Boundaries are fences that separate the field from the street.
- Fouls are allowed. In every sense. It's even a strategy! On the line, my teammate said, "Let's just foul them." =P
- If offense and defense both grab the disc at at the same time, it's a jump ball. I mean, jump disc. Whatever.
Me: If both of you guys grabbed it at the same time, the disc goes to offense.
My teammate: But a jump disc would be more interesting.
Me: True. Ok jump disc it is. (They actually did it.)
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Whistles go whoo whoo!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nnzw_i4YmKk
We're going to get jerseys that have Brian Wu's face on one side and Eugene Wu's face on the other. Just kidding...
On Thursday we played against Tubbs in South Boston. The heat wave finally broke so it was really nice weather for the game. It was fun to play zone O: their mark was really good so we put MattyB and Tait as handlers and Daphne and I played wing. And we were able to work it up the field to score. There's just something really satisfying in playing zone O :)
We ended up losing 13-15 but it was a really good game. I was practicing to be aggressive on the field, demanding the disc more. I hope I didn't come off as a disc-hog. :P I can't wait to play at JazzFest... only 3 more weeks!
I called my landlord yesterday and he said that we can move in a few days early (Sunday June 29). So for the people who are coming into Boston early, you guys can stay with me and Daphne in our new place and help us get settled in :)
We're going to get jerseys that have Brian Wu's face on one side and Eugene Wu's face on the other. Just kidding...
On Thursday we played against Tubbs in South Boston. The heat wave finally broke so it was really nice weather for the game. It was fun to play zone O: their mark was really good so we put MattyB and Tait as handlers and Daphne and I played wing. And we were able to work it up the field to score. There's just something really satisfying in playing zone O :)
We ended up losing 13-15 but it was a really good game. I was practicing to be aggressive on the field, demanding the disc more. I hope I didn't come off as a disc-hog. :P I can't wait to play at JazzFest... only 3 more weeks!
I called my landlord yesterday and he said that we can move in a few days early (Sunday June 29). So for the people who are coming into Boston early, you guys can stay with me and Daphne in our new place and help us get settled in :)
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Summer League
We had our first game of summer league yesterday. Our team name is Wuwu. Don ask.
In yesterday's game against Fetch, Wuwu started off really well, especially considering that most of the team hadn't played ultimate in about a month and playing with boys takes some getting used to. Handling were Keith, NG, Karen and Smeri, our "Not-A-Handler Handler," and there were some nice deep looks to MattyB and Smeri (she didn't throw to herself).
Ben "the flying squirrel" Moss got mad air on his layouts as always. In one point, Karen threw an I/O break to NG in the endzone, which almost got D'ed by MattyB because he wasn't CLEARING WIDE. =P In another point, Smeri hucked to Liver, who's defense didn't know how to read, so Liver caught it in the endzone for a score. Natasha had some awesome grabs up high; way to be tall, Natasha! Wuwu took first half 8-6. (Omg! We won the first half!) =P
In the beginning of the second half, Wuwu dropped a few points because they were still learning how to exploit Fetch's poachy D and their defense was slowing down a little as well. In one point, MattyB caught a huck from Karen a few yards from the endzone and called a time-out. His plan: Smeri go up the line. And after the disc was tapped in, that's exactly what happened, yay for plans that work.
In another point, NG lays out for MattyB's weird floaty forehand. A few points later, NG lays out for a disc coming at shoulder-height and his calf cramps. Liver to the rescue: she runs to his bag for TUMS and throws them to NG who's still in pain on the ground. The TUMS bottle breaks open and berry-flavored TUMS fly all over the field. NG eats them off the ground and he's good to go the next point. Many turnover-heavy points later, Fetch wins 16-15 on universe point.
In yesterday's game against Fetch, Wuwu started off really well, especially considering that most of the team hadn't played ultimate in about a month and playing with boys takes some getting used to. Handling were Keith, NG, Karen and Smeri, our "Not-A-Handler Handler," and there were some nice deep looks to MattyB and Smeri (she didn't throw to herself).
Ben "the flying squirrel" Moss got mad air on his layouts as always. In one point, Karen threw an I/O break to NG in the endzone, which almost got D'ed by MattyB because he wasn't CLEARING WIDE. =P In another point, Smeri hucked to Liver, who's defense didn't know how to read, so Liver caught it in the endzone for a score. Natasha had some awesome grabs up high; way to be tall, Natasha! Wuwu took first half 8-6. (Omg! We won the first half!) =P
In the beginning of the second half, Wuwu dropped a few points because they were still learning how to exploit Fetch's poachy D and their defense was slowing down a little as well. In one point, MattyB caught a huck from Karen a few yards from the endzone and called a time-out. His plan: Smeri go up the line. And after the disc was tapped in, that's exactly what happened, yay for plans that work.
In another point, NG lays out for MattyB's weird floaty forehand. A few points later, NG lays out for a disc coming at shoulder-height and his calf cramps. Liver to the rescue: she runs to his bag for TUMS and throws them to NG who's still in pain on the ground. The TUMS bottle breaks open and berry-flavored TUMS fly all over the field. NG eats them off the ground and he's good to go the next point. Many turnover-heavy points later, Fetch wins 16-15 on universe point.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Nationals!
Nationals was so much fun :) Boulder had beautiful weather, beautiful fields with snow-capped mountains in the distance, and sMITe played some amazing ultimate. The one game that I remember the most is our game against Wake Forest on Friday. It was our last game in pool play. The first half Wake played man defense and we would work it up the field and turn it over. There were a few points where I would huck it to Jenny going deep (surprise surprise) and we overhead the Wake coach saying, "There she goes again..." haha :)
I think Wake took half at 8-5 and during the second half they played a lot of zone defense. But their cup was HUGE and Catherine, Daphne, and I were having a field day swinging it around the cup and hitting poppers through the cup. It was probably the most satisfying and fun zone offense I ever played. and I reeeally like zone O. :) sMITe did a little better the second half but at one point we found ourselves down 10-14 in the game to 15.
"Then, all of the sudden, MIT loosened up and started playing with nothing but heart. The women sprinted to the line and played the nose game to see who got to play; they stopped stressing and started to score. In a surprising and gutsy comeback, they tied the game at 14s before Wake Forest scored again. Then the teams traded, and finally Wake Forest won, at the cap, squeaking out a 17-16 victory over a very spirited MIT squad."
We're definitely a team that plays better when we're happy and playing for the love of the game. I was really sad that we lost this game against Wake but it was one of the best games that sMITe has played (aside from the games against Dartmouth in Regionals) and it was really fun.
Sunday's weather was a lot warmer and some of our team were getting dehydrated and nauseous. We played Maryland, Michigan State, and Oregon which were all semi-close games but not really. During our last game against Oregon we were getting schooled because the legs just weren't there: no one was cutting and when we were, we weren't running through. At half we were down something ridiculous and then we started playing fun lines: Asian line, white line, odd course # (Catherine: "I'm both 1 and 11!"), even course # (Catherine: "1 plus 11 is 12!!!), graduating line, rookie line (+ Karen or else there would be no handlers), etc. The rookie line did very well I might add. :) Very promising for next year :)
Anyway, it was all in all a great time at Nationals. :) Thanks to all the alums and boys who came out to support us:
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Dear Smeri,
I can't believe it's snowing in Boulder. I know you're not going to Nationals because you have to stay here to kick some quals butt, but can you take a study break and move some clouds in Boulder? Consider it your biggest feat, controlling the weather 2000 miles away. Thanks Smeri! You're the best!
Sincerely,
Karen
I can't believe it's snowing in Boulder. I know you're not going to Nationals because you have to stay here to kick some quals butt, but can you take a study break and move some clouds in Boulder? Consider it your biggest feat, controlling the weather 2000 miles away. Thanks Smeri! You're the best!
Sincerely,
Karen
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Practice and Brute Squad Scrimmage
You can tell it's the end of the semester... people stop showing up to practice and when they do, they just look so stressed out. Yesterday we had practice where some of the men's team came to play zone D on us. At first I was afraid that sMITe wouldn't even have 7 people, but I think we ended up with 8 and the men's team had a full zone D line as well. It was a rough practice with the rain making it really hard to catch or get good footing. We practiced FM, trap zone, box, and 1-3-3. We did pretty well with the FM, but pretty poorly with the other types of zone. We would do pretty well once the disc was swinging across the field so that the cup couldn't catch up, but we were getting stuck on the sideline while it was trapped. And the guys are really big too... most people who were in the cup were over 6 feet tall. =P I know this isn't meant to be funny, but some funny instances from practice:
- Doris cowering into a fetal-position when the disc was coming at her because she saw two huge guys running towards her.
- Keith (6'4") hand-blocked Catherine's hammer
- Cody (6'5") completely skying everyone (who was at least a foot shorter than him). Every time it happened it was like, "well okay then... now what?" Completely unrealistic... :P
Anyway, it was a fun practice because I love zone O. It was like Christmas Day :)
Today we had a scrimmage against Brute Squad. It was kinda sad because we only had 11 people show up to begin with. Erika's hand is still injured. Daphne got a little dizzy and her ankle was strained a little during warm-up. Rosa was sick. Then Doris extended her elbow a little too far. Trish got cleated during one point. And then we were down to 6... we had to borrow some Brute people so we didn't have to play 6's or savage. We got a lot better throughout the course of the scrimmage: we weren't dropping as much stuff and we were playing better D and better zone O. I'm just glad no one got seriously injured. And yay Smeri came to play today even though she was still studying on the sidelines.
I have two finals on Tuesday and then a meeting with my advisor on Wednesday and then I'm off to Boulder!!! Can't wait!
- Doris cowering into a fetal-position when the disc was coming at her because she saw two huge guys running towards her.
- Keith (6'4") hand-blocked Catherine's hammer
- Cody (6'5") completely skying everyone (who was at least a foot shorter than him). Every time it happened it was like, "well okay then... now what?" Completely unrealistic... :P
Anyway, it was a fun practice because I love zone O. It was like Christmas Day :)
Today we had a scrimmage against Brute Squad. It was kinda sad because we only had 11 people show up to begin with. Erika's hand is still injured. Daphne got a little dizzy and her ankle was strained a little during warm-up. Rosa was sick. Then Doris extended her elbow a little too far. Trish got cleated during one point. And then we were down to 6... we had to borrow some Brute people so we didn't have to play 6's or savage. We got a lot better throughout the course of the scrimmage: we weren't dropping as much stuff and we were playing better D and better zone O. I'm just glad no one got seriously injured. And yay Smeri came to play today even though she was still studying on the sidelines.
I have two finals on Tuesday and then a meeting with my advisor on Wednesday and then I'm off to Boulder!!! Can't wait!
Friday, May 9, 2008
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
sMITe Heads to Nationals After Regionals Win Over Dartmouth
http://www-tech.mit.edu/V128/N24/smite.html
Daphne L. Wang ’08 flicks the disc past her defender in sMITe’s (Women’s Ultimate team) semi-final match against Dartmouth College at New England Regionals in Lancaster, MA. on Saturday.
Daphne L. Wang ’08 flicks the disc past her defender in sMITe’s (Women’s Ultimate team) semi-final match against Dartmouth College at New England Regionals in Lancaster, MA. on Saturday.sMITe Heads to Nationals After Regionals Win Over Dartmouth
STAFF WRITER
May 6, 2008
The MIT women’s ultimate team (sMITe) took second place at the New England Women’s Regionals last weekend, securing a place at the College Nationals in Boulder, CO this May 16–18.
The team was seeded fifth going into the tournament, after a third place finish at the Metro Boston Sectionals two weeks ago. In bracket play, MIT beat no. 12 Connecticut College 15-6, and no. 4 Wesleyan University 15-5, to make it into the semi-finals on Saturday. There they upset top seed Dartmouth, traditionally the best team in the region, in a close, tense game, winning 15-13.
Dartmouth took the first point, but MIT quickly caught up and the teams traded points before MIT took half 8-7. When play resumed, Dartmouth pulled ahead and the teams traded points again. MIT finally scored two in row to take the lead 14-13 as a time cap was called.
With MIT needing one more point to reach the finals, Dartmouth dug its feet in. The point lasted over fifteen minutes and had many turnovers, as both teams pushed the disc to within a few yards of the end zone, only to lose possession before scoring.
After Dartmouth lost the disc on a stall (failing to pass the disc within ten seconds of receiving it), Jennifer L. Barry G finally caught a long throw from Doris Lin G just outside the end zone and called a timeout. When sMITe set up again with an end zone play, none of the handlers were able to get open to receive, until Barry threw a backhand floater with the stall count at eight to co-captain Erika M. Swanson G who was standing by herself in the middle of the field for the score.
Swanson and the rest of the team initially didn’t realize that she was within the end zone; it was only when the observer (similar to a line referee) called her in with the game-winning point that MIT rushed the field.
“I wasn’t surprised to catch it, I actually was looking for it,” said Swanson. “I was just really surprised to be in the end zone, and almost shocked by what that meant.”
“We peaked at just the right time,” said coach and sMITe alum Darlene E. Ferranti ’06, referring to MIT’s relatively short spring season. “Dartmouth is a very talented team, but no team is unbeatable.” Ferranti spotted a weakness early on: Dartmouth was less comfortable being forced to throw backhand instead of forehand.
On Sunday morning, sMITe lost to no. 2 Northeastern University in the finals, 15-8. The loss put MIT in a rematch against Dartmouth in the backdoor game-to-go for second place and a place at Nationals. MIT regrouped to keep the game close in the first half. sMITe then took half, 8-7, and never looked back, giving up only one point in the second half to close out the final 15-8.
“This is the tournament where sMITe really came together as a team,” said coach Jin Ding. “Players were focused and aggressive — on the field and on the sidelines. Nationals is an event most teams can only dream of attending, and sMITe earned their spot.”
“They showed great composure by putting [the] loss [to Northeastern] aside to defeat Dartmouth,” wrote Kendra Frederick, regional coordinator for the tournament, in an e-mail. “I was impressed by sMITe’s athleticism and conditioning, and their solid fundamentals. Catherine Seaborn, Erika Swanson, and Doris Lin lead the team with their stellar abilities, but the real reason MIT is going to Nationals is the depth of their roster.” sMITe has 22 players, of whom 11 are new to the team this year.
MIT did not get the chance to face no. 3 Tufts University in the tournament, a team they have yet to beat this year. Tufts was upset by no. 6 Boston University in bracket play, and then lost to Dartmouth on Sunday.
“Dartmouth and Tufts have been strong teams the past couple of years, and [many] assumed they would be representing our Region again this year at Nationals,” wrote Frederick. But, she added, “MIT has had a strong team in the past,” and Northeastern “has been an up-and-coming program for a couple of years now.”
Monday, May 5, 2008
sMITe yearbook
From L to R:
Top Row: Coach Darlene, Trisha (G), Jess ('10), Jenn ('11), Jenny (G), Kelly ('11), Natasha ('11), Veena ('09), Coach Jin
Middle Row: Amy ('10), Karen (G), Smeri (G), Adele (G), Anne ('11), Shan (G)
Bottom Row: Catherine (G), Erika (G), Doris (G), Daphne ('08)
Not pictured: Svetlana ('11), Rosa (G), Chenxia ('10)
Looks like a winning team to me :)
Top Row: Coach Darlene, Trisha (G), Jess ('10), Jenn ('11), Jenny (G), Kelly ('11), Natasha ('11), Veena ('09), Coach Jin
Middle Row: Amy ('10), Karen (G), Smeri (G), Adele (G), Anne ('11), Shan (G)
Bottom Row: Catherine (G), Erika (G), Doris (G), Daphne ('08)
Not pictured: Svetlana ('11), Rosa (G), Chenxia ('10)
Looks like a winning team to me :)
Another commentary from RSD: http://groups.google.com/group/rec.sport.disc/browse_thread/thread/e2e8caf1def73ede#
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Dream come true... NATIONALS!!!
I know everyone heard already, but sMITe is going to Nationals!!! :)
We had the final game against Northeastern this morning. It was drizzling a little bit with some wind. Both teams played a lot of zone. The off-point in the cup sometimes drew away from the cup to cover the other handler, which threw us off a little bit. There were some great hammers/around the cup from Amy, Catherine, and I but our zone offense seemed pretty stagnant. There was a lot of issues with the poppers working with each other and with the wings. So it seemed like Catherine and I were just swinging it back and forth, get pushed back and losing yards because the off-point kept biting on the other handler. This should have left a huge hole in the cup but we weren't filling it.
When it wasn't zone, our offensive flow looked really good. Everyone was really open, the dumps were able to get open, and we had a few really nice dump-swing-score-on-the-break-side points. The first half was neck and neck. At one point they had a run going until 7-4, but we caught up to tie it 7-7. Then they took half 8-7. The second half of the game things just kind of fell apart for us and Northeastern played a very good game as well. They had a lot of run-through Ds and really great catches. They also had some really awesome pulls that landed in the endzone (I want to learn to pull like that!!). I think this is the half where Doris got slide-tackled by someone, injuring her elbow/arm (its her left, so its ok). She also got bowled over by Jenny. Anyway, sMITe managed to get a point in at game point to bring the game to 8-14, but Northeastern pulled away with the win at 15-8.
We licked our wounds and psyched ourselves up for the backdoor game-to-go against Dartmouth. We looked at each other and told ourselves that this is OUR GAME. WE WANT IT MORE.
They played a lot of zone D on us but we were able to throw it around and through the cup. Our man defense looked really good. There were a lot of high stall-counts and we even stalled them a few times because nothing was open upfield and the dump was pretty well-covered. I told myself that my girl was not gonna get open, and I think the entire game, my girl only got it once or twice. It's a pretty satisfying feeling shutting down cutters. There were a few ridiculous calls this game. One time I D-ed a huck and my girl called a foul on me. I should've gone to the observer, who would've ruled in my favor. But it was a contested foul and went back to the thrower. I felt robbed of a D... it's not every day where I block a deep throw. :( Some other ridiculous calls: Doris' awesome layout grab in the endzone for a score and her defense tried to say the disc was down. Wtf? Another time: Erika and her D grabbed the disc at the same time and her D tried to say that she was there first. Observer ruled in favor of offense. (Go Erika!)
Another time: I was guarding their dump and my girl tried to run through me and stomped on my foot - I called a foul and she contested (her reason: you were in my way... I can't help it if you're in my way and I'm trying to go there). This time I was smart and went to the observer, who called an offensive foul on her so the stall count stayed where it was. (What would've happened if the it was ruled against me though??)
Anyway, the first half was neck and neck and we took half at 8-7. The second half our offense looked really really good, both man and zone. Again, there were a lot of high stall counts and even stalls - our downfield D did such a great job of covering people. I remember being especially psyched when I got a run-through D and then hucked it to Jenny for a score. The last point of the game we were so psyched that we were one point away from going to Nationals... we worked it up the field and got a little too over-excited and threw the disc away. Dartmouth worked it towards their endzone and it got D-ed by someone awesome. And again, sMITe worked it up the field (everyone touched the disc in amazing offensive flow). Soon Smeri had the disc and dumped it to me. But I was like 5 feet from the endzone and there was so much clogging in the endzone because again, everyone was too overexcited for the disc. Suddenly Catherine made a great cut up the line and I made an easy 10-foot pass to Catherine for the score :) We came away with 15-8, only letting them score one point in the second half.
Holy crap I can't believe it... sMITe is going to Nationals!!! I feel like I can write that over and over again... sMITe is going to Nationals!!! Nationals!!! I'm so proud of everyone this weekend. Everyone really stepped it up, kept each other motivated, and communicated to each other. One of the things that struck me about this team, is that even though during the Saturday Dartmouth game, they had a ton of fans (most of them annoying and some of them dressed up as dinosaurs and teletubbies) who erupted in cheers when they scored. But sMITe didn't let that faze them; they just kept their heads up and played their game.
Some quotes from this weekend:
"Let's do to Dartmouth what Northeastern did to us." - Anne, right before the start of second half of the game-to-go against Dartmouth. (which we did).
"I really want to go to Nationals, but I'm afraid then I'm not going to graduate on time." -Catherine, after our first win against Dartmouth
"GRRGGGGRGGGGGARHGHARHGHHGHH" -Coach Jin with her biker gloves because Smeri wanted a T-rex impression
"Throw a hammer next time!!" -Darlene/Jin, to Karen after she threw a crappy blade to Doris who caught it. :/ (I was trying to do a bendy throw.)
"OMYGOD" -Doris, right before she caught the crappy blade from Karen.
"Does anyone want to drive with someone with a mild concussion??" -Daphne, when we were getting ready to drive back
"I'm just happy we get to play another tournament together" -Amy, on the ride back to MIT
"OMG I LOVE YOU DORIS!! And I haven't even said that to NG yet!" -Karen, when Doris laid out in the endzone for the score
"Yet... she said 'yet'. There's hope for you." -Yang, to NG.
Thanks to all our fans who came out to cheer us on this weekend: Liver, Shuang, Genevieve, Yang, MattyB, NG, Nurit, Ali, Erika's mom, Mr & Mrs. Barry :) And I heard that Liver was updating the score on her away message during the games for far-away sMITe fans :) You guys are amazing :)
And finally, a picture of Doris looking pregnant:
We had the final game against Northeastern this morning. It was drizzling a little bit with some wind. Both teams played a lot of zone. The off-point in the cup sometimes drew away from the cup to cover the other handler, which threw us off a little bit. There were some great hammers/around the cup from Amy, Catherine, and I but our zone offense seemed pretty stagnant. There was a lot of issues with the poppers working with each other and with the wings. So it seemed like Catherine and I were just swinging it back and forth, get pushed back and losing yards because the off-point kept biting on the other handler. This should have left a huge hole in the cup but we weren't filling it.
When it wasn't zone, our offensive flow looked really good. Everyone was really open, the dumps were able to get open, and we had a few really nice dump-swing-score-on-the-break-side points. The first half was neck and neck. At one point they had a run going until 7-4, but we caught up to tie it 7-7. Then they took half 8-7. The second half of the game things just kind of fell apart for us and Northeastern played a very good game as well. They had a lot of run-through Ds and really great catches. They also had some really awesome pulls that landed in the endzone (I want to learn to pull like that!!). I think this is the half where Doris got slide-tackled by someone, injuring her elbow/arm (its her left, so its ok). She also got bowled over by Jenny. Anyway, sMITe managed to get a point in at game point to bring the game to 8-14, but Northeastern pulled away with the win at 15-8.
We licked our wounds and psyched ourselves up for the backdoor game-to-go against Dartmouth. We looked at each other and told ourselves that this is OUR GAME. WE WANT IT MORE.
They played a lot of zone D on us but we were able to throw it around and through the cup. Our man defense looked really good. There were a lot of high stall-counts and we even stalled them a few times because nothing was open upfield and the dump was pretty well-covered. I told myself that my girl was not gonna get open, and I think the entire game, my girl only got it once or twice. It's a pretty satisfying feeling shutting down cutters. There were a few ridiculous calls this game. One time I D-ed a huck and my girl called a foul on me. I should've gone to the observer, who would've ruled in my favor. But it was a contested foul and went back to the thrower. I felt robbed of a D... it's not every day where I block a deep throw. :( Some other ridiculous calls: Doris' awesome layout grab in the endzone for a score and her defense tried to say the disc was down. Wtf? Another time: Erika and her D grabbed the disc at the same time and her D tried to say that she was there first. Observer ruled in favor of offense. (Go Erika!)
Another time: I was guarding their dump and my girl tried to run through me and stomped on my foot - I called a foul and she contested (her reason: you were in my way... I can't help it if you're in my way and I'm trying to go there). This time I was smart and went to the observer, who called an offensive foul on her so the stall count stayed where it was. (What would've happened if the it was ruled against me though??)
Anyway, the first half was neck and neck and we took half at 8-7. The second half our offense looked really really good, both man and zone. Again, there were a lot of high stall counts and even stalls - our downfield D did such a great job of covering people. I remember being especially psyched when I got a run-through D and then hucked it to Jenny for a score. The last point of the game we were so psyched that we were one point away from going to Nationals... we worked it up the field and got a little too over-excited and threw the disc away. Dartmouth worked it towards their endzone and it got D-ed by someone awesome. And again, sMITe worked it up the field (everyone touched the disc in amazing offensive flow). Soon Smeri had the disc and dumped it to me. But I was like 5 feet from the endzone and there was so much clogging in the endzone because again, everyone was too overexcited for the disc. Suddenly Catherine made a great cut up the line and I made an easy 10-foot pass to Catherine for the score :) We came away with 15-8, only letting them score one point in the second half.
Holy crap I can't believe it... sMITe is going to Nationals!!! I feel like I can write that over and over again... sMITe is going to Nationals!!! Nationals!!! I'm so proud of everyone this weekend. Everyone really stepped it up, kept each other motivated, and communicated to each other. One of the things that struck me about this team, is that even though during the Saturday Dartmouth game, they had a ton of fans (most of them annoying and some of them dressed up as dinosaurs and teletubbies) who erupted in cheers when they scored. But sMITe didn't let that faze them; they just kept their heads up and played their game.
Some quotes from this weekend:
"Let's do to Dartmouth what Northeastern did to us." - Anne, right before the start of second half of the game-to-go against Dartmouth. (which we did).
"I really want to go to Nationals, but I'm afraid then I'm not going to graduate on time." -Catherine, after our first win against Dartmouth
"GRRGGGGRGGGGGARHGHARHGHHGHH" -Coach Jin with her biker gloves because Smeri wanted a T-rex impression
"Throw a hammer next time!!" -Darlene/Jin, to Karen after she threw a crappy blade to Doris who caught it. :/ (I was trying to do a bendy throw.)
"OMYGOD" -Doris, right before she caught the crappy blade from Karen.
"Does anyone want to drive with someone with a mild concussion??" -Daphne, when we were getting ready to drive back
"I'm just happy we get to play another tournament together" -Amy, on the ride back to MIT
"OMG I LOVE YOU DORIS!! And I haven't even said that to NG yet!" -Karen, when Doris laid out in the endzone for the score
"Yet... she said 'yet'. There's hope for you." -Yang, to NG.
Thanks to all our fans who came out to cheer us on this weekend: Liver, Shuang, Genevieve, Yang, MattyB, NG, Nurit, Ali, Erika's mom, Mr & Mrs. Barry :) And I heard that Liver was updating the score on her away message during the games for far-away sMITe fans :) You guys are amazing :)
And finally, a picture of Doris looking pregnant:
Saturday, May 3, 2008
We're in the finals!!!
Holy crap I'm so happy/excited/high-on-life-and-ultimate right now because we're in the NE Regionals Finals tomorrow!!!! Today was truly a great day for ultimate for sMITe...
We started off against Conn College. We were a little stagnant in the beginning of the game. It was difficult getting people to initiate cuts and continues. There would be a cut, and then no continuation so the dump would have to work to get it back. And then it would happen again and again. But a few points into the game we got into the flow of things and our offense started looking pretty good. There were a lot of great points this game. A few that I remember distinctly were Chenxia making some amazing cuts and grabs in the endzone for 3 points in a row. I remember putting it to Jenny in the endzone a few times. MIT came out 15-6.
Next game was against Wesleyan. We were so pumped up: this was the game we needed to win. We played a lot of trap zone and FM zone and clam and it worked pretty well for us. Our offense flow looked amazing. There were continuation cuts, both in and away, and lots of dump swing and scoring on the breakside. We also had a lot of fans (Shuang came, and some of Doris' and my friends came out - thanks guys!) and it was just a really exciting game. I couldn't stop smiling and jumping around. In the end MIT came out 15-5.
Semi-finals game was against #1 seed Dartmouth. We started off with zone defense but they just walked right through our zone, throwing many hammers and working it through and around the cup to score the first point. The next point Dartmouth put zone D on us as well and we answered their point with one of our own: we worked the disc up the field and scored without a turnover. After that neither of us played zone anymore. The rest of the game was man defense, which was awesome. They played a lot of horizontal stack but we did a pretty good job of covering their downfield, and Erica/Anne/Jenny/Smeri and many others covered their handlers pretty well. There was this one point where Smeri didn't have a dump, we were a few yards away from the endzone, and she threw a hammer, which was caught by Jenny. That was weird (in the sense that Smeri doesn't throw hammers). The whole first half we were either tied or sMITe was up by 1-2 points, and we took half at 8-7. From half, we took the next few points 10-7. We traded more points and we found ourselves at 14-13. Then it was the longest point ever. I think it was about 15 minutes long. There was one point in time, when we were on D and Jenny's girl threw it to someone in the endzone for the score. And then we found out it was an uncontested stall and it went back to Jenny's girl. Dartmouth and sMITe took turns working it up the field and then getting D-ed. Doris and Erika made a lot of awesome Ds in the endzone, and we would keep turning it at our endzone too. Daphne laid out for a disc and her head hit the ground and had to call and injury. I think she said it was probably a minor concussion... I hope she's okay. And then Smeri caught the disc and keeled over because her calf cramped. So she had to take an injury as well. After a few more passes, Jenny had the disc a few yards away from our endzone, and she called a time-out. When we re-set Catherine and I were the dumps but neither of us got open because we didn't give ourselves very much room to begin with, and Jenny threw a stall-8 floaty backhand to Erika who was in the middle of the field to score. All of us looked at the observer, who called it in and then we all rushed onto the field to hug/cry/jump up and down/scream at each other. It was the biggest rush ever. The greatest part was that everyone played in this game. Yes, we did sub competitively, but every teammate got to play in at least a few points and all contributed to our victories today.
Holy crap we're in the finals. I am so proud of this team and all the great plays that people accomplished today. I'm super excited for the finals tomorrow.... ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!! :) Good job everyone and get lots of rest :)
And thanks Shuang and Liver for coming out to watch and support us :) Yay yay yay...!!!!!
http://www.upa.org/scores/tourn.cgi?div=34&id=4424
We started off against Conn College. We were a little stagnant in the beginning of the game. It was difficult getting people to initiate cuts and continues. There would be a cut, and then no continuation so the dump would have to work to get it back. And then it would happen again and again. But a few points into the game we got into the flow of things and our offense started looking pretty good. There were a lot of great points this game. A few that I remember distinctly were Chenxia making some amazing cuts and grabs in the endzone for 3 points in a row. I remember putting it to Jenny in the endzone a few times. MIT came out 15-6.
Next game was against Wesleyan. We were so pumped up: this was the game we needed to win. We played a lot of trap zone and FM zone and clam and it worked pretty well for us. Our offense flow looked amazing. There were continuation cuts, both in and away, and lots of dump swing and scoring on the breakside. We also had a lot of fans (Shuang came, and some of Doris' and my friends came out - thanks guys!) and it was just a really exciting game. I couldn't stop smiling and jumping around. In the end MIT came out 15-5.
Semi-finals game was against #1 seed Dartmouth. We started off with zone defense but they just walked right through our zone, throwing many hammers and working it through and around the cup to score the first point. The next point Dartmouth put zone D on us as well and we answered their point with one of our own: we worked the disc up the field and scored without a turnover. After that neither of us played zone anymore. The rest of the game was man defense, which was awesome. They played a lot of horizontal stack but we did a pretty good job of covering their downfield, and Erica/Anne/Jenny/Smeri and many others covered their handlers pretty well. There was this one point where Smeri didn't have a dump, we were a few yards away from the endzone, and she threw a hammer, which was caught by Jenny. That was weird (in the sense that Smeri doesn't throw hammers). The whole first half we were either tied or sMITe was up by 1-2 points, and we took half at 8-7. From half, we took the next few points 10-7. We traded more points and we found ourselves at 14-13. Then it was the longest point ever. I think it was about 15 minutes long. There was one point in time, when we were on D and Jenny's girl threw it to someone in the endzone for the score. And then we found out it was an uncontested stall and it went back to Jenny's girl. Dartmouth and sMITe took turns working it up the field and then getting D-ed. Doris and Erika made a lot of awesome Ds in the endzone, and we would keep turning it at our endzone too. Daphne laid out for a disc and her head hit the ground and had to call and injury. I think she said it was probably a minor concussion... I hope she's okay. And then Smeri caught the disc and keeled over because her calf cramped. So she had to take an injury as well. After a few more passes, Jenny had the disc a few yards away from our endzone, and she called a time-out. When we re-set Catherine and I were the dumps but neither of us got open because we didn't give ourselves very much room to begin with, and Jenny threw a stall-8 floaty backhand to Erika who was in the middle of the field to score. All of us looked at the observer, who called it in and then we all rushed onto the field to hug/cry/jump up and down/scream at each other. It was the biggest rush ever. The greatest part was that everyone played in this game. Yes, we did sub competitively, but every teammate got to play in at least a few points and all contributed to our victories today.
Holy crap we're in the finals. I am so proud of this team and all the great plays that people accomplished today. I'm super excited for the finals tomorrow.... ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!! :) Good job everyone and get lots of rest :)
And thanks Shuang and Liver for coming out to watch and support us :) Yay yay yay...!!!!!
http://www.upa.org/scores/tourn.cgi?div=34&id=4424
Friday, May 2, 2008
One Day until Regionals!
I don't remember the last time I've been so antsy for such a long period of time. (Well, maybe except when I was studying for qualifying exams last year, but that's totally different.) I feel like we've been preparing for this weekend for the entire school year. We're so prepared for this, I know we are. We had a record number of people at practice on Wed (I think 18 people) and even though injuries kept some of them from playing, it was great seeing everyone come out to support each other and the team. :)
During my freshman year in college I took this class called Engineering Design and Communication. One day we learned about teamwork (I thought it was really cheesy at the time.) We learned that when some teams got together, their productivity is the sum of the individuals:
1+1+1+1=4
And then there are some teams that are very inefficient, don't get along, or whatever, so
1+1+1+1=2
And then there are some teams that get along great and they utilize each others strengths and they're on top of things:
1+1+1+1=6
And then there are the few teams where the teammates motivate each other and they play for each other. They want it individually but when they see their teammates wanting it, they want it all the more, not just for themselves, but because their teammates depend on them. They spur each other on and don't let people give up on themselves or the team:
1+1+1+1=infinity
Smite is that team. There's no other team I would rather play for or run my butt off for or get grass in my underwear for. This weekend we need to play as a team and win as a team. Yes there will be awesome plays by each individual, and I know everyone is going to step it up and play harder/more focused/more intensely than she have ever played, but if we're going to do well this weekend, it's going to be because we played as a team: offensive flow, shut-down team defense, communicating to each other, listening to the sideline, and motivating each other.
So excited for regionals :)
During my freshman year in college I took this class called Engineering Design and Communication. One day we learned about teamwork (I thought it was really cheesy at the time.) We learned that when some teams got together, their productivity is the sum of the individuals:
1+1+1+1=4
And then there are some teams that are very inefficient, don't get along, or whatever, so
1+1+1+1=2
And then there are some teams that get along great and they utilize each others strengths and they're on top of things:
1+1+1+1=6
And then there are the few teams where the teammates motivate each other and they play for each other. They want it individually but when they see their teammates wanting it, they want it all the more, not just for themselves, but because their teammates depend on them. They spur each other on and don't let people give up on themselves or the team:
1+1+1+1=infinity
Smite is that team. There's no other team I would rather play for or run my butt off for or get grass in my underwear for. This weekend we need to play as a team and win as a team. Yes there will be awesome plays by each individual, and I know everyone is going to step it up and play harder/more focused/more intensely than she have ever played, but if we're going to do well this weekend, it's going to be because we played as a team: offensive flow, shut-down team defense, communicating to each other, listening to the sideline, and motivating each other.
So excited for regionals :)
Monday, April 28, 2008
Everyone's injured or sick
Ok maybe not everyone, but a lot of sMITe has some sort of ailment, some more major than others. Why can't everyone just be healthy...
Saturday, April 26, 2008
They're talking about us :)
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.sport.disc/browse_thread/thread/de9b88911bdfa011/22dfdae1c4018b92?lnk=gst&q=new+england+regionals#22dfdae1c4018b92
3. Is MIT going to peak at just the right moment? Their season hasn't been too long, nor impressive, up until sectionals. MIT is a team with a long history of success, though, and know what it takes to do well.
Yeeahhh :) Let's show 'em what we're made of!
3. Is MIT going to peak at just the right moment? Their season hasn't been too long, nor impressive, up until sectionals. MIT is a team with a long history of success, though, and know what it takes to do well.
Yeeahhh :) Let's show 'em what we're made of!
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Sectionals
We placed third at sectionals this past weekend. Pool play on Saturday went well. We beat every team in our pool except for Tufts. We had a lot of good runs against Tufts but we dropped 0-4 pretty quickly, and then came back 3-4. And then after that they were just always 3-4 points ahead of us. We kept getting broken by one of their handlers, which hurt us a lot. On Sunday we had another chance to play Tufts, who had lost to Northeastern in the championship game, so we were playing them for second place. We were leading most of the first half, but lost 6-8. And then we just ran out of juice the second half and lost 8-15.
In any case, we saw some pretty amazing things this weekend, in individuals as well as in the team as a whole. Doris made this sick layout grab in the endzone for Erika's huck. She was wide open but the huck went pretty far. But Doris caught it one-handed, full body extension and everything. I ran over to her and as she got up, she had a blade of grass sticking out her nose. :P Chenxia was cutting aggressively as usual, making some great catches, even some low ones where she slid on her knees. Amy made some amazing layouts as well (come to think of it, this is the first tournament where I saw Amy layout so much) :) Natasha and Rosa were making some really great cuts and grabs as well. All our rookies have improved so much over the course of the season. :) And as always, Erika and Catherine made some really amazing hucks to Smeri and Doris.
I'm really excited for regionals. Right now it's anyone's game. Over the last few weeks Dartmouth has beaten Tufts, Northeastern has beaten Tufts, we have beaten Northeastern (in a scrimmage but whatever, we showed ourselves that we can do it). It's just going to come down to who wants it more and who has the deeper team.
In any case, we saw some pretty amazing things this weekend, in individuals as well as in the team as a whole. Doris made this sick layout grab in the endzone for Erika's huck. She was wide open but the huck went pretty far. But Doris caught it one-handed, full body extension and everything. I ran over to her and as she got up, she had a blade of grass sticking out her nose. :P Chenxia was cutting aggressively as usual, making some great catches, even some low ones where she slid on her knees. Amy made some amazing layouts as well (come to think of it, this is the first tournament where I saw Amy layout so much) :) Natasha and Rosa were making some really great cuts and grabs as well. All our rookies have improved so much over the course of the season. :) And as always, Erika and Catherine made some really amazing hucks to Smeri and Doris.
I'm really excited for regionals. Right now it's anyone's game. Over the last few weeks Dartmouth has beaten Tufts, Northeastern has beaten Tufts, we have beaten Northeastern (in a scrimmage but whatever, we showed ourselves that we can do it). It's just going to come down to who wants it more and who has the deeper team.
Friday, April 18, 2008
Sectionals this weekend!
Omg I can't believe sectionals is tomorrow! We're playing in Lancaster, MA if anyone wants to come out and cheer :) Here's the schedule and seedings:
http://upa.org/scores/tourn.cgi?div=34&id=4499
Go SMITE! :)
http://upa.org/scores/tourn.cgi?div=34&id=4499
Go SMITE! :)
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Photos
From Scrimmage against Northeastern
Also, my claim to fame:
http://www-tech.mit.edu/V128/N19/graphics/smite.html
Easterns pics:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ironalchemy/sets/72157604402682087/
Also, my claim to fame:
http://www-tech.mit.edu/V128/N19/graphics/smite.html
Easterns pics:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ironalchemy/sets/72157604402682087/
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Scrim against Northeastern
It was a pretty fun game. Our goal was to come out strong and play hard and get our heads in the game from the get-go. I personally felt guilty for showing up late because I was coming from church... I told the team to be cleated by 11:30 to for warm-up, but I came at 11:50 and felt like a hypocrite. :( I'm sorry guys.
sMITe came out strong in man defense and nice flow on offense. We had 9 players so everyone had plenty of playing time. Natasha was making some nice cuts, getting wiiiide open on her girl, which was really awesome to see. I thought my dump cuts were a lot better this game; I made it a point to drive really hard in one direction and then cut for the disc. There were some nice dump-swing action going on.
Northeastern also put on a strange zone defense where they had a mark and three defenders in a vertical wall so they forced a sideline and as the disc was swung back and forth the force changed. (Like 1-3-3 but the middle three were vertical), or maybe it was just a really non-curved cup... anyway, it doesn't matter because our zone O looked really good; Catherine and Erika were crashing well and kept the disc moving. There were a few misthrown hammers early on in the game, but in general, we were able to work the disc up the field easily, going around and through the cup. Also, it started to rain which made some of our throws a little off, but overall it didn't affect our game too much.
Northeastern liked to dump it and give-and-go. We had some trouble with our dump defense, especially with getting beat up the line or just not getting our mark on. It got better throughout the game though but it's something that we should work on during practice. Personally I need to work on getting my mark on faster and close my shoulders to cut off the swing.
There were some deep throws that were hard to read because the wind was bouncing the disc up and down but everyone was pretty heads up. There was one huck that was supposed to go to Meri but she and her two defenders missed the disc and Stephanie ended up catching it for the score.
I think I learned how to play wing (D) during a few key points this game. They had three handlers back so it was basically man downfield but Darlene told me to take away the biggest threat, either the wing or the third handler. I don't know, but something seemed to make sense about that comment this time and I ended up getting three Ds, one of them *almost* a callahan... should've laid out for it better =P
There was this one long point where I had hucked it to Smeri and we were about 20 yards from our endzone. She dumped it back to me and I called a timeout. We called a standard endzone play - open side cut (Steph), dump (Catherine), swing (Erika), but after we set up our offense, they set a zone on us. So the off-point guarded Catherine, leaving Erika wide open so I threw through the cup to Erika and she made an easy pass to someone cutting breakside (probably Smeri) Yay. :)
Final score 15-5.
The men's team also won their scrim against BU 15-8.
sMITe in the Tech for Yale Cup on Friday: http://www-tech.mit.edu/V128/N18/smite.html
I can't believe sectionals is in 5 days... eeek
sMITe came out strong in man defense and nice flow on offense. We had 9 players so everyone had plenty of playing time. Natasha was making some nice cuts, getting wiiiide open on her girl, which was really awesome to see. I thought my dump cuts were a lot better this game; I made it a point to drive really hard in one direction and then cut for the disc. There were some nice dump-swing action going on.
Northeastern also put on a strange zone defense where they had a mark and three defenders in a vertical wall so they forced a sideline and as the disc was swung back and forth the force changed. (Like 1-3-3 but the middle three were vertical), or maybe it was just a really non-curved cup... anyway, it doesn't matter because our zone O looked really good; Catherine and Erika were crashing well and kept the disc moving. There were a few misthrown hammers early on in the game, but in general, we were able to work the disc up the field easily, going around and through the cup. Also, it started to rain which made some of our throws a little off, but overall it didn't affect our game too much.
Northeastern liked to dump it and give-and-go. We had some trouble with our dump defense, especially with getting beat up the line or just not getting our mark on. It got better throughout the game though but it's something that we should work on during practice. Personally I need to work on getting my mark on faster and close my shoulders to cut off the swing.
There were some deep throws that were hard to read because the wind was bouncing the disc up and down but everyone was pretty heads up. There was one huck that was supposed to go to Meri but she and her two defenders missed the disc and Stephanie ended up catching it for the score.
I think I learned how to play wing (D) during a few key points this game. They had three handlers back so it was basically man downfield but Darlene told me to take away the biggest threat, either the wing or the third handler. I don't know, but something seemed to make sense about that comment this time and I ended up getting three Ds, one of them *almost* a callahan... should've laid out for it better =P
There was this one long point where I had hucked it to Smeri and we were about 20 yards from our endzone. She dumped it back to me and I called a timeout. We called a standard endzone play - open side cut (Steph), dump (Catherine), swing (Erika), but after we set up our offense, they set a zone on us. So the off-point guarded Catherine, leaving Erika wide open so I threw through the cup to Erika and she made an easy pass to someone cutting breakside (probably Smeri) Yay. :)
Final score 15-5.
The men's team also won their scrim against BU 15-8.
sMITe in the Tech for Yale Cup on Friday: http://www-tech.mit.edu/V128/N18/smite.html
I can't believe sectionals is in 5 days... eeek
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Yale Cup Recap
Yale Cup was pretty fun. It didn't end up raining at all and actually turned out to be a pretty nice day on Sat. (Good job weather captain!) It was a little windy and cold, but I'm not complaining because I expected it to pour. And even though we had a late start with our first game at noon, we played all 4 games that were originally scheduled on Saturday.
First game we lost pretty badly to Cornell (2-11), who put a ridiculous 5-man cup on us (4-man cup and boxing a handler) and it was super windy and we were having a hard time working the disc up the field. We should've been more pro-active about throwing hammers and bendy throws. Our man defense was really off; we kept getting broken and beat to the open side. Personally I felt like all my throws were not there, partly because I didn't get to warm up my throws, partly because I didn't feel mentally in the game yet. We had a lot of good runs and flow but we just had to string them together. Everything was there, we just had to focus and get our mind into the game.
Ok now I have to be honest and say that the only games I really remember are our first game against Cornell, and our last game against BU. And everything else in between was a blur for me (Smite, you're going to have to help me out with remembering some of these games.) Anyway, we won our next three games on Sat against Williams (10-7), Brown (11-3), and Vermont (?), during which our defense got progressively better and we gelled a lot better as a team. I saw some really amazing things from all our players: Chenxia making some really aggressive cuts and catches, good deep cuts from Jenny and Smeri as always, good defense from Rosa as a wing in zone, a lot of nice I/O throws from Daphne and Erika, and a never-tiring cup consisting of some combination of Jenny, Smeri, Shan, Veena, and Catherine.
On Sunday, we lost our first two games to Tufts and Wesleyan. Personally I think we played really well against Tufts. We were a lot more mentally in the game than when we started out Saturday. Our man defense was really good - Tufts had to keep dumping it because their upfield looks just weren't open. We ended up losing 7-13. I think we took that loss pretty hard and it showed in the first few points in the next game against Wesleyan. It took us a few points to shake off the previous loss and get our heads in the game again and although we won the second half of the game (I think), it wasn't enough to beat Wesleyan. Final score 7-11.
Despite tired legs and the cold weather, Smite played really really well against BU, our last game on Sunday. I have never seen Daphne lay out so much in a game. She was an incredible mark in the cup, shutting down the handler in our zone D. She had at least two layout Ds and several blocks in the endzone. Smeri and Jenny also played very well in the cup with Smeri taking away many of the crashes that BU tried. Doris was an amazing deep deep as always, tipping many discs away from BU's deep looks.
As handlers and wings, Karen, Erika, Daphne, Trisha, and Catherine tore up BU's cup, swinging the disc across the field and through and over the cup to Doris/Veena/Smeri as poppers. Our zone O looked really good. The disc was always moving and everyone on the field had the disc at some point in time. I don't remember for sure, but I think we played some spread in this game and were able to work it up the field nicely. MIT won 9-5. It was also nice to have the men's team watch and cheer us on. :)
Two things stood out to me this weekend: First, I'm glad that we play with flat marks rather than angled ones. Personally, I can huck SO much better/easily with an angled mark and I don't want other teams to have the same pleasure. Second, we really need to get our heads in the game starting with cleating up when we arrive on the field. It is so so important to be mentally prepared and competitive for our first game. Espeially during warm-up, it's so important to psych each other up and stay positive and bring up the intensity and carry that intensity through our first game.
Sorry, no photos/videos from this tournament.
I'm so psyched for sectionals! I can't believe it's April already!
First game we lost pretty badly to Cornell (2-11), who put a ridiculous 5-man cup on us (4-man cup and boxing a handler) and it was super windy and we were having a hard time working the disc up the field. We should've been more pro-active about throwing hammers and bendy throws. Our man defense was really off; we kept getting broken and beat to the open side. Personally I felt like all my throws were not there, partly because I didn't get to warm up my throws, partly because I didn't feel mentally in the game yet. We had a lot of good runs and flow but we just had to string them together. Everything was there, we just had to focus and get our mind into the game.
Ok now I have to be honest and say that the only games I really remember are our first game against Cornell, and our last game against BU. And everything else in between was a blur for me (Smite, you're going to have to help me out with remembering some of these games.) Anyway, we won our next three games on Sat against Williams (10-7), Brown (11-3), and Vermont (?), during which our defense got progressively better and we gelled a lot better as a team. I saw some really amazing things from all our players: Chenxia making some really aggressive cuts and catches, good deep cuts from Jenny and Smeri as always, good defense from Rosa as a wing in zone, a lot of nice I/O throws from Daphne and Erika, and a never-tiring cup consisting of some combination of Jenny, Smeri, Shan, Veena, and Catherine.
On Sunday, we lost our first two games to Tufts and Wesleyan. Personally I think we played really well against Tufts. We were a lot more mentally in the game than when we started out Saturday. Our man defense was really good - Tufts had to keep dumping it because their upfield looks just weren't open. We ended up losing 7-13. I think we took that loss pretty hard and it showed in the first few points in the next game against Wesleyan. It took us a few points to shake off the previous loss and get our heads in the game again and although we won the second half of the game (I think), it wasn't enough to beat Wesleyan. Final score 7-11.
Despite tired legs and the cold weather, Smite played really really well against BU, our last game on Sunday. I have never seen Daphne lay out so much in a game. She was an incredible mark in the cup, shutting down the handler in our zone D. She had at least two layout Ds and several blocks in the endzone. Smeri and Jenny also played very well in the cup with Smeri taking away many of the crashes that BU tried. Doris was an amazing deep deep as always, tipping many discs away from BU's deep looks.
As handlers and wings, Karen, Erika, Daphne, Trisha, and Catherine tore up BU's cup, swinging the disc across the field and through and over the cup to Doris/Veena/Smeri as poppers. Our zone O looked really good. The disc was always moving and everyone on the field had the disc at some point in time. I don't remember for sure, but I think we played some spread in this game and were able to work it up the field nicely. MIT won 9-5. It was also nice to have the men's team watch and cheer us on. :)
Two things stood out to me this weekend: First, I'm glad that we play with flat marks rather than angled ones. Personally, I can huck SO much better/easily with an angled mark and I don't want other teams to have the same pleasure. Second, we really need to get our heads in the game starting with cleating up when we arrive on the field. It is so so important to be mentally prepared and competitive for our first game. Espeially during warm-up, it's so important to psych each other up and stay positive and bring up the intensity and carry that intensity through our first game.
Sorry, no photos/videos from this tournament.
I'm so psyched for sectionals! I can't believe it's April already!
Friday, April 4, 2008
Monday, March 31, 2008
Easterns
Saturday: Pool Play
vs. UNCW: 9-12
vs. NYU: 7-11
vs. Emory: 11-10
vs. App State: 13-0
Sunday: Bracket Play
vs. Duke: 9-10
vs. UVA: 8-9
During our first game we learned how to play with our "outdoor legs" on real grass. It was kinda like learning how to play real ultimate all over again. It was windy, but we focused on man defense and flow during our first game. We dropped the first half 2-7 pretty quickly; we kept getting beat to the open side and things just weren't clicking for us. Then things started coming together during the second half: Rosa made a lot of great cuts and catches; zone O was looking a lot better. We upped our intensity, and took the second half 7-5, but it still wasn't enough to win the game. Final score: 9-12.
UNCW's giant 4-man cup is no match for Daphne!
sMITe zone O working the disc up the field
Nice cut from Rosa, several passes later,
I/O break from Daphne to Smeri for the score.
Then we played NYU, which was a really fun, intense game. We tried clam, which worked really well because they had no idea what was going on. They kept yelling at each other to make cuts - "There's like 3 people poached!! Someone make a cut!!!" and eventually turned the disc. It was a very upwind/downwind game with gusty wind, which made throwing frustrating for some, fun for others. We also put on some zone, and they played with three handlers back, so it was basically man downfield. Our dumps - mainly me, had a hard time getting open. I think I get intimidated by bigger/faster people covering me as a dump. During this game we also had a lot of good dump-swing-break progressions and nice I/O breaks. We won the last two points, but not enough to win the game because it was time-capped. Final score: 7-11.
Our game against Emory was pretty intense. The wind had picked up, so we traded downwind points, each got an upwind break, and we lost the first half (6-7). We had several huck plays downwind (me to Smeri or Jenny) with the purpose of setting a zone, but many of those huck plays worked so we didn't even have to put on zone. But when we did, we put on a lot of trap, which was pretty effective. Then we won a key upwind point which tied the score and then we won 11-10 on universe point. :)
Against Emory, Jenny catches the swill, throws to Doris for the score!
Against App State we practiced trap zone and spread. It took a while to get people to cut in spread, but eventually Shan, Jenn, and Chenxia and some other people made some really good cuts (not all at the same time of course) and we had some good looks downfield. Chenxia made a few really awesome low catches and in general she's really aggressive on the field, which is really exciting to see :) Jenn is also really good at getting open and solid with her claw-catching. Final score: 13-0.
More efficient way of massaging... :)
Sunday was much colder and rainier than Saturday, but there was much less wind. During our first game against Duke there were a lot of drops because of wetness. Erika and Daphne had a lot of run-through Ds. And we also boxed one girl - their main handler and receiver ("funny how that works" says Daphne). At the beginning of the game, they put on zone and I kept dropping it within the first few passes or throwing hammers unnecessarily. :( There also wasn't much movement downfield on zone O, which made it hard to move the disc upfield. Duke took half at 5-7.
There was one instance where Daphne threw a hammer to Smeri, which came up short and was caught by Rosa, who was then trapped in a four-man cup on the sideline and because handlers weren't crashing for her, she threw a stall-9 hammer which went almost straight up in the air, which Catherine caught(!!!), and a few passes later, Rosa cut in the endzone for the score! There was another point where Daphne threw a nice I/O pass in the endzone to Erika for the score. Anyway, the second half looked a lot better; we had much better throw and fewer drops, but we lost the game because of not defending deep throws. Shan was cutting really well and getting open at will - always 10-feet from her defender, and making lots of nice catches. We battled back to tie it 9-9 but lost on universe point 9-10.
Our last game against UVA was played on the world's crappiest field; I think there were more non-grass patches than grass patches. And there were no cones and a big mud puddle in the middle of the field. This was the only game where I scored - and I scored twice! Once going deep for Daphne and another sliding catch when I was a dump going up the line for Veena. Smeri decides she can't let me have all the fun in the mud, so the next point she also lays out to score. UVA threw 1-3-3 defense, which confused us, but Daphne, Catherine, and Erika had a lot of nice up-the-line passes. We won the first half 7-6. During the second half, we kept getting beat deep (again), and we lost on universe point (again) 8-9.
What looked good: clam - maybe because a lot of teams haven't seen it?, quick handler movement, flow, cutter movement and getting open improved immensely over the tournament
Things we need to improve on: defending against deep cuts, transitioning between zone D and man D and clam, defending dump cuts, being heads up in the cup (constantly being aware of where the other team is), clearing WIDE... we know what we're doing for the next couple practices...
Does anyone else get post-tournament depression?
Quote of the day:
"I wish I were good enough to play professional ultimate. And then I wish professional ultimate would pay me." - NG
vs. UNCW: 9-12
vs. NYU: 7-11
vs. Emory: 11-10
vs. App State: 13-0
Sunday: Bracket Play
vs. Duke: 9-10
vs. UVA: 8-9
During our first game we learned how to play with our "outdoor legs" on real grass. It was kinda like learning how to play real ultimate all over again. It was windy, but we focused on man defense and flow during our first game. We dropped the first half 2-7 pretty quickly; we kept getting beat to the open side and things just weren't clicking for us. Then things started coming together during the second half: Rosa made a lot of great cuts and catches; zone O was looking a lot better. We upped our intensity, and took the second half 7-5, but it still wasn't enough to win the game. Final score: 9-12.
UNCW's giant 4-man cup is no match for Daphne!sMITe zone O working the disc up the field
Nice cut from Rosa, several passes later,
I/O break from Daphne to Smeri for the score.
Then we played NYU, which was a really fun, intense game. We tried clam, which worked really well because they had no idea what was going on. They kept yelling at each other to make cuts - "There's like 3 people poached!! Someone make a cut!!!" and eventually turned the disc. It was a very upwind/downwind game with gusty wind, which made throwing frustrating for some, fun for others. We also put on some zone, and they played with three handlers back, so it was basically man downfield. Our dumps - mainly me, had a hard time getting open. I think I get intimidated by bigger/faster people covering me as a dump. During this game we also had a lot of good dump-swing-break progressions and nice I/O breaks. We won the last two points, but not enough to win the game because it was time-capped. Final score: 7-11.
Our game against Emory was pretty intense. The wind had picked up, so we traded downwind points, each got an upwind break, and we lost the first half (6-7). We had several huck plays downwind (me to Smeri or Jenny) with the purpose of setting a zone, but many of those huck plays worked so we didn't even have to put on zone. But when we did, we put on a lot of trap, which was pretty effective. Then we won a key upwind point which tied the score and then we won 11-10 on universe point. :)
Against Emory, Jenny catches the swill, throws to Doris for the score!
Against App State we practiced trap zone and spread. It took a while to get people to cut in spread, but eventually Shan, Jenn, and Chenxia and some other people made some really good cuts (not all at the same time of course) and we had some good looks downfield. Chenxia made a few really awesome low catches and in general she's really aggressive on the field, which is really exciting to see :) Jenn is also really good at getting open and solid with her claw-catching. Final score: 13-0.
More efficient way of massaging... :)Sunday was much colder and rainier than Saturday, but there was much less wind. During our first game against Duke there were a lot of drops because of wetness. Erika and Daphne had a lot of run-through Ds. And we also boxed one girl - their main handler and receiver ("funny how that works" says Daphne). At the beginning of the game, they put on zone and I kept dropping it within the first few passes or throwing hammers unnecessarily. :( There also wasn't much movement downfield on zone O, which made it hard to move the disc upfield. Duke took half at 5-7.
There was one instance where Daphne threw a hammer to Smeri, which came up short and was caught by Rosa, who was then trapped in a four-man cup on the sideline and because handlers weren't crashing for her, she threw a stall-9 hammer which went almost straight up in the air, which Catherine caught(!!!), and a few passes later, Rosa cut in the endzone for the score! There was another point where Daphne threw a nice I/O pass in the endzone to Erika for the score. Anyway, the second half looked a lot better; we had much better throw and fewer drops, but we lost the game because of not defending deep throws. Shan was cutting really well and getting open at will - always 10-feet from her defender, and making lots of nice catches. We battled back to tie it 9-9 but lost on universe point 9-10.
Our last game against UVA was played on the world's crappiest field; I think there were more non-grass patches than grass patches. And there were no cones and a big mud puddle in the middle of the field. This was the only game where I scored - and I scored twice! Once going deep for Daphne and another sliding catch when I was a dump going up the line for Veena. Smeri decides she can't let me have all the fun in the mud, so the next point she also lays out to score. UVA threw 1-3-3 defense, which confused us, but Daphne, Catherine, and Erika had a lot of nice up-the-line passes. We won the first half 7-6. During the second half, we kept getting beat deep (again), and we lost on universe point (again) 8-9.
What looked good: clam - maybe because a lot of teams haven't seen it?, quick handler movement, flow, cutter movement and getting open improved immensely over the tournament
Things we need to improve on: defending against deep cuts, transitioning between zone D and man D and clam, defending dump cuts, being heads up in the cup (constantly being aware of where the other team is), clearing WIDE... we know what we're doing for the next couple practices...
Does anyone else get post-tournament depression?
Quote of the day:
"I wish I were good enough to play professional ultimate. And then I wish professional ultimate would pay me." - NG
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