Winter Training

Started the CUT winter break training regiment yesterday. Today, sore.

Picture: From Madison, corner of the fine arts building on State St. used to be a mall

The Plane

Back in Anchorage, Finally. Not much going on yet, hoping to work on my frisbee skillz, maybe at Barney's too. When does Bill get back???

Picture: From the plane to Chicago, Her dad has four Ferrari's that he keeps in the neighboor's house which he tore down and turned into a two story garage.

Long Road Home

• Driving to the Cities: 40 Minutes
• Flight to Chicago: 1 Hour
• Flight to Seattle: 4.5 Hours
• Flight to Anchorage: 3.5 Hours
• Drive Home: 10 Minutes

Total Travel Time: 9 Hours 50 Minutes

Picture from the Jet to Chicago

I-35

From the drive back to Northfield. The house is cold for my final night in the Midwest; thank god. Next post from Alaska

Put Your Hands Up IN Detroit

After a year hiatus at the top spot, Detroit was once again named the most dangerous city in the US for 2007. So here again is "Put Your Hands Up For Detroit" by Fedde Le Grand

Madison

Just the beginning of shots from a great trip, that's not over. Last night the Badgers beat the Georgia Bulldogs, leading to much carousing, and again, a lesson in pool from funcle Dan.

Picture: The Capitol building in Madison. Gold "Forward" figure above

Disc Golf with Funcle Dan

Finally got some exercise, playing disc golf, if that counts. Today I am going to the Badgers vs Georgia bball game. Uncle Dan is taking me downtown to check out the campus, should be fun. I have been doing nothing, watching movies on their big screen, eating, etc. Monday night is Teni's party, much anticipation.

Picture: Uncle Dan putting

The Day After

Friday... Looking forward to leftovers. Construction at St. Olaf

D3 XC Running Nationals at St. Olaf

Olaf Snack Bar

Runners

Vine covered building at St. Olaf

Everybody Running

Near the Finish

Some Guy

Nationals were last Saturday. Everybody was wearing running shoes, and they ran everywhere. I saw my xcrunning captain from highschool, Nana, he was out cheering on his team Haverford, they ended up second overall. The Packers play today, I am ready to be uncomfortably full.

Chicago

I met Sallie yesterday at Northwestern and she took me out for Cajun lunch. Then a trip around downtown Evanston in which Sallie got lost (usual), a train ride to Lincoln Park to meet cousin Mike. Then a trip to the Other Side, local hotspot, for some drinks and some LuckyStrike.

Picture: Sallie and me next to a big red thing, Evanston

Finals Binge

Last day of Finals, I'm done at 6pm. Tonight the "Finish It" party, half empty bottles/bags etc.

Pictured: Jerome, Mammel, Myself cramming in the CAMS lab.

Nothing like November

Congrats to the Chaos ladies on their OFUC win over archnemisis UW.

360 panorama of Hannah Summiting Arctic Valley in July. The right and left edges would just touch.

Finals

Tomorrow is the last day of winter term! Nothing going on here but rain and studying. The WWU ladies team went 4-0 during day one of Oregon Fall Ultimate Classic, no updates today though.

Picture from MLC: The State Capitol Building

Seven on the Line

Liz has come and gone. An uneventful night to say the least, 3 beers later we went to bed. Finals start tomorrow and continue through Monday. I talked to Bob and I will be working at Barney's yet again over break. Tonight, the CUT will discuss plans for winter break. Similar to xc skiing, champions are made in the off season. People who work their ass off over break will be heads better come May, guaranteed.

Picture from MLC saturday

Liz does Northfield 506 style

Good news! Liz is making her annual (2nd) trip down to Nfield before flying back home for day she drives from the YOUPEE to Minneapolis, something like seven hours, just to see me.

Today: 3 pictures

• Me vs Hodags Semifinals at MLC (it's my blog I can plug myself)

• The view from our room last time Liz was here

• Jerome biking, Liz gets beautiful weather, as usual
  

MLC Sunday

Pre-Quarters vs Iowa:

We ended up bringing 23 guys to Jefferson city, from what i could tell the largest roster (actually playing points). Our numbers and intense fall training (compared to the past 2 years), paid huge dividends today. We looked much fresher, with our O running hard and our D able to convert turns with only a few turns of their own. It had been about two weeks since we got a chance to actually scrimmage at practice, Saturday served as a warm up as the whole team seemed to click today. Our message from the start was to come out running and catch teams still warming up. This proved pivotal in our first two games. We easily defeated Iowa 13-5, they had one dude (#19) that was decent and threw most all their goals.

Quarters vs UW-Whitewater:

I feel like we end up playing these guys a lot but checking the score reporter from last year, i guess not. We saw them at Eau Clare sixth weekend and they played well but had trouble moving the disc in their handler set; They seemed to run into the same problems today. Our goal for the fall was to really increase defensive intensity starting with the marks and grinding on the handlers. With stifling downfield early in the count, we forced there handlers into tough swings and, rarely, uplines. At one point in the second half after the O had just been broken, we scored an upwind goal with some chippy calls with me throwing Jerome who beat the guy making the chippy calls. In Jerome fashion he spiked the disc, the opposing player (#10) kicked the disc back in Jerome's direction, Jerome picked up the disc and was about to spike it again, when another grizzly UWW guy put him in a bear hug from behind, Jerome breaks free just as both teams (plus observers) converge making a brawl between the two impossible (Jerome would have won). The game ended shortly their after 13-7 with the D converting turns on short fields and the O looking better than at 2007 college nationals. Side note: #10 apologized after the game, a mutual respect respect between UWW and the CUT still exists.

Semifinals vs. Madison:

We knew starting the day that if we made semis we would see Madison via the bracket form. Missing Shane, Riley and Locke, Madison was at about 75% by my measure. We moved fields at this point and went from a cross wind to a stiff upwind/downfield. Starting on O we traded points with wisco untill 4-4 when our D finally put in an upwind break. Memories from 2006 when at regionals this same event unfolded but we were unable to convert going the other way. Again this was the case as Madison was able to score the upwinder and we traded out upwind points to take half up a break 7-6. each team broke twice more in the second half and we were receiving going upwind at 10-10, double game point. Many times Madison relied on the high stall count floaty huck upwind, with a crowd awaiting, Mahowald and Foster came down with a few grabs. the CUT could smell fear as we continued using our unders to open up open deep shots from experienced throwers. Long story short, Josh Thorn has the disc going up wind about 5 yards from the endzone and he threads a flick to sambob who makes a bounding catch and toes the line, game over 12-11.

I love beating the Hodags, especially today, it was a team win, everybody contributed and the best part, we knew we could have won 12-7 with some shody redzone play on are part multiple times. In the long run, only Regional finals matters against Madison.

Finals vs Colorado:

A rematch from saturday, we were more prepared this time around. Again having a deep experienced roster is what helped us win this game. We are able to throw fresh Dlines out all day long, also we have opened up the cutter rotation on the Oline which keeps us fresh to cut hard for one point at a time. We had one break to Colorado's two in the first half. Our D was getting shredded though as Mamabird mercilessly broke us around again and again. After a halftime talk by Kanner reiterating the importance of our marks, the second half had a different winner. allowing only 2 points our d line forced Colorado into many poor throws that ended up D'd, with two spectacular layout's in mind by Christian Foster (rookie transfer from Conn) on Mac Taylor which led to a break 10-8 and baylis' nasty incut layout d which led to us breaking and making it 11-8. The O line continued to swagger with Jerome catching a 40 yard inside out forehand for the game 12-9.

In retrospect, this tournament means crap and we really emphasized this in the post-game huddle; though we did get our tourney fee refunded plus a $200 bonus to VC. This is the deepest CUT team i have played on, with all of returns maturing from last year and a group of dedicated rookies. The fate of this season rests on a lot of peoples shoulders and I think we realize that when we scrimmage/track workouts/weight room/plyos it's not about the "I" it's about the "WE". All the hard work we put in over winter break, winter term, spring break, spring term, is for the team, people realize that and when we bring it in "1-2-CUT" i cant help but shiver and push myself even harder the next time.

Chapter 2 begins January fifth with our first indoor practice at 6:30am upstairs at the REC

Picture: Jerome at Spawnfest (Tish Fagin has yet to post her pictures from MLC)

Saturday Write Up

MLC Saturday:

Game time 8:30am Opponent: Kansas

Kansas has become a nationals caliber team over the past couple of years. Though never breaking into the top tier of college teams, Kansas has made their fair share of noise. A cold morning has most of the team wondering why we just drove 8 hours and had to pay five bucks for parking. With moderate winds, Kansas only had one or two guys that could throw 30+ yards upfield, resulting in easy scores both for the CUT. We scored on O to start the game and finished out the half with our D, relying on hard deep cuts to open up the unders. Relying heavily on our rookies and dline returners we finished out the game 11-2.

Game 2 vs Illinois

With a host of returners that played together in the club season, Illinois was the most "practiced" team we played. They had a consistent O set and few communication errors. Our D forced multiple turns but gave the disc back several times on the goal line. Receiving on double game point the O hit under after under to win the game going up wind 11-10

Game 3 vs Michigan

With lots of pre-tourney hype surrounding Will Neff, Michigan has yet to reach their potential. Lots of athletes not to mention freshman Ollie Honered(sp), ate up floaty discs from Michigan's hucknhope offense. Our D did their part getting 4 breaks but the offense gave some back. Michigan was able to stay close as both teams traded down wind points until our D broke upwind to win 11-9.

Game 4 vs Colorado

Colorado's use of the superdump won them this game. Their handler set was able to reset the disc with ease relying on the superior leadership of Jolian Dahl. Our D struggled getting some turns but unable to convert any as Colorado took half 6-2. After some Offensive adjustments we finsihed out the game trading points losing 6-11. A good note to end the day on, losing to Colorado cemented the fact that we have lots to improve on, namely defensive intensity.

Pictures courtesy of Dan Curme. Goal line score vs. Michigan, Jerome setting up the around break cut, and the layout catch

Chapter One

MLC was a success. We went 3-1 on Saturday defeating Kansas, Illinois, Michigan and losing to Colorado. Sunday we beat Iowa in Pre-quarters, UW-Whitewater in Quarters, Madison in Semis, and Colorado in Finals.

The rivalry we have with Madison is what makes me love ultimate. The energy in the post-game huddle after defeating Madison is unlike anything I have ever felt, I really love this team.

This is just the beginning

The CUT

The alums called me out for using "the CUT" instead of "CUT" times change i guess. We leave for MLC today, stay updated here. Sundoger is this weekend as well. Hannah and Alyssa are playing together, I guess they are pumped, look for WWU girls and boys to turn some heads. Stay updated with their progress here.

Picture of Emily hiking Arctic Valley this past July.

Hannukah

Ninth weekend: MLC
Tenth weekend: Finals
Eleventh weekend: Thanksgiving with the Cuz's

Emily playing draddle, Channukah 2006

Next Door

Pictured here: Our backyard. Leaves obscured the neighbors all fall, now a treasure trove of non-artistic, Northfield High graffiti exposed by the wind. An old guy lives there, more investigation needed.

In other news, RCUT (Robert Carlton) will join us for our fall closer in Jefferson City, MO. Broken hand and all, RCUT becomes an instant deep threat, joining the ranks of CUT greats Alex Nord and Chase Sparling-Beckley.

The GUT List

Finally on the GUT list, similar to the CUT list but for alums. Carleton has a huge frisbee alumni base and having alumni help really drives the current team. This year the plan is to get 'lums on the boat early, tournament writeups, pictures, etc. Practice has been cold, snowed yesterday with 30+mph gusts.

Some girl named Claire took the picture

MLC

Missouri Loves Company this weekend. 8 hour drive, playing Colorado second game , should be great. It's eighth weekend, things go by so quickly. Picture from DG, we still have some nice days, Mammel, Peter, PatrickBob, Chris.

Jerome posted my weekend mix here, I especially like the gunshot Imogen remix. Also Bill is back