Mardi Gras Preview

So it's Boomland's first spring tournament of the 2009 college ultimate season. We're bringing some serious old and new talent to the board here, thanks to the Illinois A team continue to be ballin'. We're going to have to look to the vets to continue to improve and the rookies to find a play style that suits their abilities.
I don't have the advantage of knowing who we're playing on the same level that Rip does for his blog, but I'll try to make it entertaining and maybe get something right.

University of Southern Florida - The Scallywags. First off, sweet name; second off I really don't know anything about them. They played at Warm Up and managed to beat Florida Tech, UCF-B and two split Florida B teams with losses to Brown, Davidson, and Iowa. The only thing I'm able to determine from this is that they really didn't beat anyone and lost to Jake Bradley. I kid, Iowa is going to make some noise and with 4 bids to nationals in the central region he ought to be leading IHUC to Columbus. But that is neither here nor now.

Oklahoma State - Ultimato. What does that mean? Lame name. The have an entertaining website, but that means they're spending time on that and not practicing. It looks like they've got some serious numbers returning, so expect some sneaky moves. Based on the teams they've played this year, I can say they have an OK win or two, but none of the teams stand out to me based on my brief UPA browsing.

Kansas B - Horrozontals. I would say good name, but I would be lying. And Mark would choke the life out of me. Long story short, if we don't beat them again, I don't know what to say. This is the one game of our pool that it will be unforgiveable to lose. That's all I'm going to say about that.

Texas Christian - PEZ. Lame. Secondly, why isn't it the fighting Ladainian Tomlinsons? Or at least Horned Frogs, either would be better. They appear to have a fairly new program there, so expect most of us older vets to have more experience playing than anyone on their team. Now, I may be completely wrong, but another good website also leads me to this conclusion.

A final thought on Saturday: We have the potential to win this pool, we have the potential to sweep this pool. It's going to come down to us running hard. We practice 4 times a week, we lift at least once a week, both with a top 25 team in the country. Our statement for this season and this program starts on Saturday, be ready to put everything out there then.

Keenan

Do it

How do we know we're a team? Not typically something that we consider when out on the field. But pause for a second and reflect on it.
Being on a team isn't about playing perfectly and being a superstar (although those moments are nice). Being on a team is about motivating everyone around you to hit that superstar status. Whether this is at practice or sunday afternoon at sectionals, the best thing you can do as a teammate isn't to worry about yourself. It's about how well you can get the 6 guys next to you on the field to perform at their peak; it's about motivating those 7 guys on the field while you catch your breath, its about yelling to finish to the 30 other guys doing sprints at the end of the worst practice of the year.
We've all played together for the past 6 months, some of us have played together for the past 3 years. You should know the guys around you well enough by now to feel comfortable to call them out on something they need to work on, and also understand that if you get called out on something its not a personal affront but a chance to make yourself and the team better. These guys you play with now will be around at least for the rest of your time at Illinois and a lot of them beyond then. We won't all be running for the same team then, but we'll always have been on a single unit that was greater than any one of us.
-Keenan

Get excited

Things to be excited for in the spring about boomland ultimate

-Boomland
-Mardi Gras
-CiCi's
-City Museum
-Sectionals
-Regionals (Believe it)
-Workouts in Irwin
-And my personal favorite, calling simeone old

We've got a best looking team since I've been here and if we can play up to our potential we can surprise a lot of teams. Keep with it and we'll start dealing folks in no time.

I Say BOOM BOOM BOOM!

Now let me hear you say WayOh!

Thoughts on the Armory

So we’ve all completed our first two weeks in the Armory, and I must say I’m very impressed by the dedication that the rookies have shown giving it all they can and the vets pushing themselves to the next level.

So what does all this mean from this point on? It means we’ve got another 3 months of the beauty that is running in a circle and pushing your body further than it thought it would in order to chase down a piece of plastic.

I guess the point I’m trying to make through all this is that the best thing you can do in order to get better is to keep coming every day and pushing yourself and everyone around you each time. The single most important thing that we’ll all discover in our time in the Armory is that everyone is in this together and I would be willing to bet that those guys who finish the cross fits first are the same guys who are there next to you urging everyone else to finish.

And the most important thing to remember throughout all this is that not finishing first isn’t like loosing. It’s unrealistic to think that we can all keep up with Kurley and McLain at the running or Lamp and Rip when it comes to the beasting portion. The most important thing to take away is that you should improve each week based on your performance previously not how by how you think you measure up to someone else.

In fact, the thing that has help me the most in my 2+ years of playing has been that I’m not the most gifted physically, or at all, out there because it has forced me to work on becoming a fundamentally sound player. Determining what it is that you can contribute from the team based on where you currently are is worth a lot more than where you’d like to be, because everyone wishes they had hollow bones and could fly but Pavan is the only one so far who has mastered that one.

The Armory is about becoming an Ultimate player that has the physical tools necessary to compete at a high level. But I would argue that this is the second most important thing to come out of the Armory. We all gain a bond from the late nights and hatred of Stupca and his crazy workouts later in the season. Without that bond we’re just a set of 7 guys out on a field looking to win a game of Frisbee.

Take our time in the Armory seriously and we’ll become more than a set of vets and rookies, we’ll be a team with a goal. And like any good team, our goal is to improve on our performance from last year, last year we made quarters at Nationals. Now it's our turn to get ourselves in the shape and mind set necessary to make a run at least that far again this year.

See you guys out there

Keenan

Tribute to McLain

Hey boys, this is mark and wego posting for the first time on the boomland blog.  We wanted to start by saluting Brain, the genesis of this blog.  If you don't know Brian we like to compare him to another Mclain:

Brian

VS.

John

John may have singlehandedly foiled a terrorist attack on an entire office building in his bare feet, or crippled a plot to control the entire LA airport in an hour, or raced around New York defusing countless bombs, or taken down a helicopter with a car, but Brain, President of the Fun Squad, has killed a panther with his bare hands, scaled Mount Everest in three hours wearing a speedo, swam to Antarctica, and created a television using nothing but dental floss, coconuts, and spare toaster parts.

Think about it

Yipee-ki-yay, motherfucker!

Since no one is doing anything...