Boomland Bios

By Keenan Hammel

Cozza- The Mike Cozza plays for one thing, and one thing only: the love and affection of the women’s team. He always plays better when members of the opposite sex watch him on the field. Thriving on this attention at parties, he is one man you can always count on him to make a night out fun.

J Ko- The beloved B-Team coach sacrificed his body last year to land himself in coach-hood. This reflects in his huddle talks that inevitably descend into shouting at the huddle. Once he settles down he’s pure gold, our own Jekyl and Hyde.

McLain- The heart of the team, McClain brings his unique ability to pump up the team to the field every tournament. Finding Nemo and Aladdin speech topics manage to inspire confidence and enthusiasm, and if that doesn’t work watching him play with a pinched nerve in his throwing shoulder definitely will.

Jon O- The member with easily the most impressive facial hair, Jon O strikes fear into lesser souls with his manliness. He has nasty throws and poaches that are perfectly scoped in for lay outs. Look for a Merlin beard next year to yield a +2 to his defense.

Talon- One of the best looking guys ever in the world, with the hardcore determination that just makes the women swoon. Once his high socked, backward hatted head steps onto the field, the game has changed. His job on the field is never done as he will shut you down with nasty d and then burn you deep for the huck. Oh, and he is so good in the air.

Keenan- Gangly, gangly, gangly. Keenan is a tall drip of water and also has a very Cozza-like approach to women: Ultimate women all the time. He now has in arsenal the longest stretching forehand leans on the team and is a giant of a man but yet can get cruelly low to the ground.

K Hundo- The first recipient of a Pavan cleat gooning. Kevin is an integral part of the tree cup and plays angry. At 6’3” and a solid 100 pounds he brings a killer instinct and incredulous victims will not believe their pain as this stick figure attacks.

Sidrys- Part 2 of 2 of the tree cup, Joe is super long. He is approximately 2 J Ko’s in wingspan and utilizes this height and length to stupefy whoever he is playing defense against. Have I mentioned yet that he can palm a disc? That’s just silly.

Hatcher- Johnny Wego, sweet cuts. He plays like a man possessed and utilizes his football skills to snatch any disc near his person. He is a man of strong emotions, from the time spent talking to his girlfriend to when he lays out through you to grab that D.

Shane- Shane may be the most adorable Ultimate player you will ever meet. He could date your sister and you couldn’t be happier for her. One time, Shay sacrificed day 2 of sectionals to go to Prom his freshman year. We’re working on his priorities, but there’s hope yet.

Peyton- Actually Ryan Tomchek, he is the benefactor of Joel forgetting names and assigning nicknames. This is due to his sweet throws and pale, gawky build. Luckily for him, he’s a Bears fan.

Sul- Scary. Sul is someone you would be wise to be intimidated by at first site. However, he’s like a giant teddy bear, cute and cuddly on the inside. He’s wicked fast, always comes down with the disc, and doesn’t consider his practice clothes clean until they’ve got a smattering of blood on them. Look for him to do some damage in the next 3 years.

Dave- Due to the confusion of having 2 Daves in the program, a certain Brian McLain took it upon himself to find a suitable substitute for Dave J. Inspiration would strike at Mardi Gras when he decided that puddle jumping was a good idea. Thus “Splash” was born. A layout legend will undoubtedly follow.

Nascar- Jeff Gordon is on our team. No, not the devastatingly attractive millionaire, Nascar is from a far off land. He makes devastating circle cuts and has never been to one of our parties. There is only room for improvement from here.

Mark- Mark spent the majority of his youth in suburban Chicago, but that changed one fateful day when the

family moved to Kansas. He would spend the next 3 years dreaming of Illinois and returning home. A promising handler, he holds a Rip-like hatred for the University of Kansas and plays with that passion. Add to that the ability for speechmaking and he is a force to be reckoned with.

Anthony- This young writer, the next generations Bettsy, had to quit the team to follow the women’s track team his freshmen year to write for the Daily Illini. His future skills will only be supplemented by his ability to get track girls to come to our parties. The ratio will well and truly be destroyed.

McKinley- Since the number of nicknames is directly related to playing ability, Kyle McKinley is a god. The recipient of no less than 3, to my knowledge, never gets called his given name while around the team. He’ll be the guy with the throws and D’s. Back to the name game, his girlfriend is Kyla, shenanigans indeed.

Max- The only man to drop his pants on Bourbon Street, Max Docauer will undoubtedly become an Illinois Ultimate legend. He’s got the squirrelly handler thing down too. Even after playing with him for a year, there are times when we’re left scratching our heads; leading the defense to have no idea what’s going on, just how he likes it.

Tom- He’s our mystery man. He comes to practice and tournaments and has been known to throw on the quad from time to time, but beyond that appears to not exist. Popular theories involve Batman and Transformers.

Michael- Old Man River. Michael Simeone could be some of rookies’ father. He claims to have invented Ultimate, discovered gravity, and thought of the wheel. Popular discussion topics involve UPA 10th Edition and the timing of when a pick is to be called.

For Those Who Gained some Summer Pounds

Since school and practice are o going to once again commence in less than a month it might be time for some people to take a look at themselves in a mirror and evaluate their shape. I know that because of my shoulder surgery recovery I have gained a few pounds, and am looking forward to a time when I am allowed to do more than 5 mile walks. Along these same lines I recently came across an older article related to burning calories. What follows is a summary of some points I found most interesting.

In discussing which activity burns more calories running or walking, many believe that the two burn the same amount. The article’s author, Amy Burfoot, is Runner’s World’s executive editor. She states that running burns more calories than walking at a pace slower than 5 mph (12 minute pace). Running burns more calories because running has a more dynamic motion. The act of basically jumping from one foot to the other uses more energy than walking at say 4 mph (15 minute pace). Burfoot also mentions that during a run you burn more calories because your body is required to take in more oxygen. However, walking at 5 mph (12 minute pace) is said to go against the natural motion of the human body. This awkward movement causes the body to work harder and thus require more energy and burn more calories.

To calculate how many calories you burn during a run Burfoot offers this formula for net calories burned/mile: 0.63 x your weight (lbs.). For walking at a rate slower than 5 mph the net calories burned/mile is equal to 0.30 x your weight (lbs.). Net calories burned/mile is used instead of total calories burned/mile to incorporate the amount of calories that would normally be burned due to the basal metabolic rate. Once again, walking faster that 5 mph would burn more than running.

However, there are some discrepancies with the formulas. The proportion of calories burned could be higher or lower depending on the terrain being ran on, how efficient a runner’s form is, the altitude of the run, etc.

To read the actual article check out http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-242-304-311-8402-0,00.html.

With this new found information get out there and train so you don’t look fat when practice comes around.

New Positions

It has come to my attention that beginning next season the Illinois program will be restructured. As with any reconstruction of an organization, be it a corrupt foreign territory after a coup d’ etat or nationally ranked collegiate athletic club, new faces need to be introduced. So just to keep everyone on the team on the same page, here is what your new Illinois Ultimate administration will look like in the fall.

Captains – Denis & Phelan

These fellas take care of us like mother hens on and off the field. They are inspirations to us all.

Junior Captain – Chuck

He is an "inspiration to us all" in training.

Presidents – Brad & Cozza

These guys do the administrative paperwork that keeps the team running smoothly. Their behind the scenes actions are imperative to keeping us on the field and practicing consistently.

CFO – Rip

Follows strict guidelines set forth through Sarbanes-Oxley and oversees the money fundraised, collected, and used by the program.

Treasurer – McKinley

Makes sure we have the money where and when we need.

Fundraising Chair – Me

I try to get money from sources other than the university and your pockets.

High School Outreach – Austin

I am not exactly sure what Austin will be doing this year, but I do know one thing. Austin loves making young men happy so he will do his best to make this work.

Website Coordinator – Somefield

We will once again have an up and running website to show the world what our program is about. The program's website will be a great addition to our Google Group and two Blogs.

Travel Coordinator – Brad

He will make sure we have places to sleep at tournaments that will hopefully be extremely comfortable and accommodating.

Social Chair – Miles

Probably the most important job out of all of those listed above. Miles is going to make sure we have people to party with and earn a spectacular reputation around campus.

Summer Training Motivation

Staying focused on training during summer can turn out to be quite a task. The season seems like it is months, you may not be around your teammates, and your job may leave you feeling tired and impartial after a rough day at the office. Whether you are running, doing cross-fits, lifting, or tossing, sometimes you need that little extra push to get going. Here are some things to think about while you are determining whether or not you should workout.

- Train with friends – a 10 miler sucks a lot less when you can talk with someone. It is a whole lot harder to give during a hard workout when you are with a buddy. For some, the temptation to give up when solo is too much.

- You know your teammates are training – as good of friends as we are all, we all know that there are a finite number of spots on the field and on the team. Therefore, becoming paranoid and freaking yourself out by internally muttering, “I know Phelan’s training right now, so I need to be too.”

- Its awesome outside – take your shirt off and get a tan. You don’t want to kicking yourself because you fretted away the warmth of summer come cross-fits in the winter.

- Have a reward waiting after your workout – you worked hard, why shouldn’t be rewarded for sweat and determination? A nice glass of lemonade or a beer would be refreshing.

- Set goals for yourself – reach a new max on bench, map out a run on gmap-pedometer.com to try and PR, or anything else that can be measured. Make short and long term goals for the month, season, or year. Just remember that you might not achieve the goals right away, these things take time. Just keep working at it.

GlaxoSmithKline

While searching for Ultimate videos on YouTube my friend came across this little gem. It is a whole lot harder than it looks. The University of Sussex Ultimate Frisbee Club, Mohawk, out of the UK, created this game. All you need is four friends, a soapy table, and a crappy disc (this game tends to bend the plastic a little). Once you get the hang of the spinning it’s a lot of fun to see how long your group can keep the disc going on the table. However, neither the video nor the team’s website explains any actually rules, but after playing a little I have these suggestions:

- Turn the game into two 1 v 1 games

- Those at the heads of the table (slappers) are the only ones who can score.

- A score occurs when the disc gets passed the opposite slapper

- The other two prodders are unbiased and do their jobs

How to Pick the Right Running Shoes

While I disagree with Rip’s tactics in getting me to contribute more to this program’s summer reading, I do concur that more stimulus is needed. I would also like to publicly thank Rip for his encouraging words about my future law aspirations. Before beginning where I left off, I would just like to take this opportunity to apologize for my rudely extended absence from the Boomland blog. While I may not have been showing my love for the team, program, or sport in an online media form, I will assure you that all three were never far from my heart. Now on with the show...

Summer is in full swing which has always meant training time for me. To me, there is no better way to stay in shape than just running. To make sure that look great in short shorts when the indoor workouts start again, I like to get a good base in the summer so my quads really pop under the nylon clothing that pretends to cover them. One thing that can hamper even the most ambitious runner, though, is ill-fitting shoes or improperly determined shoes. Before we get started, let me just mention that I used to work at a running store so I am a credible source for this stuff.

When looking for the proper pair of running shoes my first suggestion is go to an actual running specialty store. At most of these stores they will assess your gait (stride) and foot strike to determine if you need a stability or neutral running shoe. Most specialty stores have higher prices that say a Dick’s or Sports Authority. Because of this I would go the a specialty store to get the name of the correct fitting shoes and then go to Dick’s and buy it cheaper. Better yet, go to Eastbay or Zappos and buy an older model of the same shoe. You will already know what shoe and what size to get from the running store so you basically have nothing to lose.

For those of you who don’t want to look like a rookie when you walk into a running store here are a few things to think about. When the sales person is fitting you for a shoe, forget about the color and style of the shoe (fits matters way more). In addition, don’t focus on specifically one brand because there are a lot of good running shoe brands that fit certain type of feet better than others. If they don’t have the shoe you like in your correct size don’t buy one that is too small or too big. If shoes are too big you will get blisters, if they are too small you will get black toenails.

While being analyzed you will be told if you are either a neutral runner, pronator, or supinator. A neutral runner is one who has even wear on the soles of his current shoes. This means that his foot strikes the ground on a flat plane. A person who pronates rolls his foot to the outside. This roll will cause irregular wear on the outsides of shoes. On the other extreme, a supinator rolls his foot to the inside causing wear on the inside of the sole. Supination is certainly less common than a neutral foot strike or pronating. Lastly, running shoes should be replaced either every 3-5 months or 300-500 miles, depending on the frequency and intensity of the running being done in them.

If you have any other questions about running or running shoes send me an email. I can also give you recommendations on stores near you and shoes for different foot types.