Stevinson Open Preview

Our schedule is tough, but full of goodness. We play UCSD, SDSU, Arizona, and Davis, in that order. I wish Stanford had varied up the schedule a little bit so we got more than one out of region game (and a rematch at that), but I'm not complaining too much about that.

A few thoughts on the games:

1. UCSD - The Squids are legit this year. The guys that they lost last year have been more than made up for by the addition of 3 grad students/transfers. They're also benefiting from the experience of 2 nationals appearances, college and club for the guys that played with Streetgang. Their players are big dudes, and are playing with a lot of confidence.

2. SDSU - SDSU has looked very good this year, beating some good teams and playing very tough games with some good teams like Cal. We really can't overlook this game because SDSU is definitely a team on the upswing. They've beaten Tide twice, something we haven't managed to do yet.

3. Arizona - I really don't know what to expect out of them this year. I'm pretty sure they graduated Gregerson and Gaffni (unless they're back for 5th years). Regardless, they're a quality program and have lots of athletic guys. They're a fun team to play and this should be a very good game.

4. Davis - Rematch from SB Invite. We we went up 3 breaks on them and then blew the lead in the second half. I hope our guys are hungry for some revenge. They're very good this year, and well coached. They move the disc quickly and are smart players.

This is going to be a big weekend for us. I'm expecting us to take a step up after our first full tournament 2 weeks ago. We've gotten some experience under our belts and our squad should be at full strength (minus myself of course). I smell an upset or two in our future.

Ankle Update

I finally got through to my doctor and got his opinion on my MRI. It's what we suspected it to be, a torn peroneal retinaculum. There are signs of a bad sprain, but not much else beyond that.

My doctor thinks that there's a 60-70% chance that my ankle will heal on its own without surgery. Of course, that leaves a significant chance that I will spend a bunch of time in a cast, and then in rehab only to find that it didn't heal properly and then have to start over again. However, my doc thinks that the best course is to try to let it heal on it's own, and I guess I agree with him.

The thought of another 4 weeks in a cast if it doesn't work out is really scary, but I'm pretty optimistic about my healing powers. I guess the best thing I can do is try to stay off of it, eat well and get plenty of rest.

Ankle Injury

In our last game at Prez Day, I rolled my ankle awkwardly landing on someone's foot. A few points later, I was making a cut and I heard a "pop" in my ankle. I went down, and it was pretty clear that I had done something really bad.

The next day I noticed that the tendons on the side of my ankle popped out of place very painfully when I everted my foot. I went to the doctor, and he thinks i tore the peroneal retinaculum in my ankle that holds down the peroneal tendons.

I had an MRI on Wednesday, but I'm still waiting for the doctor to get back to me with the results. For now, I have a lower leg cast on and it sounds like the chances of it healing on its own without surgery are about 50%. I'm also hoping that there was no tendon damage either, which would make it more severe.

I have my fingers crossed, and I'm trying to stay optimistic about it. I'm super bummed that I'm going to be missing most, if not all, of Smaug's season. Right now I'm just trying to deal with basic problems like getting myself to school, getting disabled parking, switching cars with someone in my family (so I dont have to drive my stick). I've always relied on my bicycle to get me everywhere at school, and now I have to sit and watch my new bike gather dust after getting to use it for about three days.

I'm hoping that the doctor will call tomorrow, but not during my mid-term that I should be studying for right now. Regardless, I'm going to have a long rehab ahead of me, and the possibility of surgery if it doesn't work. A part of me just wants to have the surgery and avoid the possibility of spending 3 total months in a cast instead of 4-6 weeks, but I suppose it's best to avoid cutting if possible. It's all speculation anyway until I know the results of the MRI.

Anyway, I'm going to try to keep leading Smaug as best as I can from the sidelines, starting by going to all our practices this week. All of this news really bums me out, so let me focus on the bright side of my injury for a moment:

• I get a disabled parking placard, which apparently allows you to park at meters for free. How baller is that?
• I can focus more on school now that I'm not focusing on improving myself as a player. This is a good (and needed) thing.
• I got to see Andrew Bird last night in Bovard at USC. FO FREE.
• There's an awesome black fixie waiting to be ridden as soon as I'm rehabbed enough.
• I have an excuse to sit around on my ass and watch nature documentaries on Netflix.
• Finally, and most importantly, I'm very grateful for my friends, family and girlfriend that have done a ton to help me out during the past week. I really appreciate everyone that's offered me help, rides, notes, etc. Thank you!

Anyway, this injury has led to bit of an identity crisis in my life. For a full week, I did nothing Smaug or ultimate related with my days. I've always identified myself as an ultimate player who happens to be doing other things with my life. Without a team and season to focus on, where should I put my attention and energy? Smaug can still use my help, true, but in reality my role on the team is much smaller now. If I'm not playing, I'm just another assistant coach, and if there's anything Smaug doesn't need more of, it's opinions.

Anyway, I'll keep updating the blog with news about my ankle, Smaug, the upcoming club season, and whatever else in my life needs talking about.

My Letter to the SW Regional Coordinator

Hey Cambell,

I'm writing you on behalf of UCLA Utimate. We think that you should reconsider your decision to host regionals in Colorado for a second year in a row. Traditionally, regionals has moved around each year, and I think somewhere else, either in SoCal or Arizona, would be more fair.

I've been working with Frankie Rho to help get a bid together to host regionals around here. We've been working on locking down a couple different sites that would work for both men's and women's regionals. I've heard a rumor that the bid deadline has passed. I can't seem to find any announcements on RSD or any other public forum calling for bids or announcing a deadline. If I'm wrong, please send me the link.

I realize that it sucks for Colorado teams to have to fly to tournaments most of the time, but locating regionals in an area with a higher density of teams is a much more efficient solution. Last years regionals were extremely expensive for our team, between flights, rental cars, hotels, etc. I'm sure the facility in Ft. Collins is very nice, but it's very difficult and expensive for 25ish of the 32 teams to get to.

We're trying to get our team to fly out to Centex for the first time this year, and we're working hard to fundraise for the expenses. We were relying on the fact that college regionals is usually not in the same place two years in a row, but this announcement has a very good chance of killing our chance to go to Centex.

One last point: the last two Colorado regionals that I've been to have been cold, wet, and miserable. I promise our weather will be better.

Please give our Southern California bid a fair look, and consider the interest of the majority of the SW ultimate players that you represent as RC.

Thanks,
Dan Oettinger
Co-Captain, UCLA Smaug

Sideline D Help

I wrote up some short instructions for Smaug after this weekend. Our sideline D talk can be much more productive. These are few of my favorite ways of helping. If you know of any other ways to help from the sidelines, please let me know in the comments section.

1. The most important thing is to just be saying something. Even just yelling to run hard is better than saying nothing.

2. Tell your guy where the disc is on the field. Tell him whether it's far side from your voice or near you. This is a good thing to do when your defender is on a cutter so he knows how to adjust his positioning. He knows to play tighter or to sag off a little bit because the disc is not in a threatening position. You can yell "HOT" at the person when he is clearly the focus of the handler or when you can see a dangerous situation developing. eg FAR SIDE, FAR SIDE. MIDDLE. NEAR SIDE. HOT.

3. If you are talking to the dump defender, tell him what the handler is doing. The most important thing is to tell your guy whether the guy with the disc is looking at his offender or not. Echoing the stall count is helpful, and also saying where the disc is going (up, break, etc.) eg: NOT LOOKING, NOT LOOKING, STALLING 4, 5, LOOKING, LOOKING.

4. If your guy is on the mark, be sure to tell him where the receiving threats are on the field and where his marking emphasis should be. The words INSIDE or AROUND are the standard. Also, as you see the stall count get above 5, remind the person on the mark to shift his emphasis on taking away the around and pressure the dump throw.

5. Old school: yell "UP" calls. Yell HUCK or BREAK if it applies. Also, if a person is in power position, yell "POWER, POWER"

6. If there is one dude who is hucking a lot, every one should echo the call "HUCKER" when he gets his hands on the disc.

7. Special situation: If a team is being very successful with their huck looks, 1 person should stand at each of the front cones of the endzone that we're defending and help out the defenders as they come into the deep area. Make sure to tell them where the huck is going when it goes up. ie: LEFT LEFT or RIGHT RIGHT or SHORT or BLADEY. This is the only situation in which you are excused from following the play on the sidelines.

SB Invite Preview

Tomorrow morning we drive up the 101 to Santa Barbara. The tournament is notorious for having bad weather. This year, it rained for a week straight, from sunday at Leiout until Friday night. Weather reports say that there is only a small chance of rain over the weekend, but I know better than to believe them. I'm bringing all my tights and trash bags in preparation.

Black Tide lost all of their grass fields because of the week of rain, so only 12 men's teams are playing this weekend. Fortunately, we were seeded high enough to make it in, but CSULB got screwed over again, getting un-invited from their second tourney this year. That really sucks.

Because they're going to have to shoehorn in all the men's and women's games onto the artificial turf fields, the schedule is going to be pretty wacky. We're playing Colorado and Davis in pool play, with cross over games until 10 PM at night. One nice thing about losing the fields, at least, is that we get our first game at 10:40 instead of 8 AM.

Colorado and Davis. I'm excited about playing both of them, but they will be tough games. It's time to see what we've got.

A few more...

I'll write something about it soon.