Monday, December 17, 2007

Shut up. That's why.

I admit I've been a bad little blogger. It's almost been a month since I posted anything on Release the Hounds, and Bonnie, Pierre and Christian are all making me look bad. So, why has it been so long since I've graced you with my presence? Is it because I'm lazy? Or just really busy? Umm...just look to the title of the post.

So, tonight we have a game against Superfreaky. My crack team of scouts tells me they are 2-1-1. Other than that, I don't know much about them. All I do know is that as a team we must support each other...no matter how horribly inappropriate our actions happen to be on the field.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Do the Monday Countdown

It's been a couple of months, but Release the Hounds made their way back onto the pitch last night, taking on the Disciples of Love to open the "Fall" TUC League. After some initial suckiness by both sides, The Hounds were able to forge ahead and take the first game of the season, 32-27 (give or take 5 points). Lyanne will work to keep that perfect record as Field Captain next week.

I thought our offense was solid, but also a little sporadic. I heard something about using horizontal, but it seemed that we didn't really have much structure. But it's the first game, and I'm sure we'll shore that up.

Even though the HHH wasn't there (cough Wongs cough!), I have been informed that the winner was Joel, thanks to his great hustle on offense, and domination on defense. I'm sure it has nothing to do with guilting him for the fact he's missing the next two weeks.

Some things to note:

1) BMO is a nice field...if you're into things like soft turf and lots of space.
2) The fast pace of speedpoint suits our style.
3) Subs rule! Big Dan, Tyler, Sarah...glad we had them there.
4) 11pm games...BOO!
5) That scoreboard was too confusing to operate...our trouble with it means one thing: we need Cindy back!

When I saw that we were playing the Disciples of Love, I was trying to find some inspiration for the post. All I could find on them was their old site, which is pretty much a BBS that has been spammed worse than my old Hotmail account.

For me, there is another group that I consider to be the true Disciples of Love:

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

A Eulogy for my beard

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away (i.e. last December in the Philippines) I started growing you. Since there was little access to hot water, I found out very quickly that shaving wasn't going to be an option. Plus, I'm lazy and didn't want to.

Since then, we've been through a lot together. You kept me warm in the winter months, and really hot in the summer. But that's ok.

You were there when I became the Field Captain, lending an air of respectability and confidence so I could lead the Hounds. Without you, we would have crashed and burned at the playoffs. Oh wait, never mind...

You made me look much older...I don't think I've been carded at the Beer Store since you've been around. There's no way I would have been able to join up with that Master's team at Nationals had I been clean-shaven.

Along with that, you've allowed me to appear dignified and made all of my actions look distinguished...like that time I got really drunk and went streaking through the quad.

But that has all come to an end. One of my best friends just got married, and since I was in the wedding party I needed to clean up. It's only been a week, but right now there's a whole in my heart that I'm not sure can be filled.

I guess what I'm trying to say is...I miss you more than Michael Bay missed the mark, when he made Pearl Harbor.


For those who haven't seen me since the shaving...

Before:


After:

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Free Rice

No, this doesn't have anything to do with Condoleezza being indicted, this is a fun little game that helps to feed the world while enriching your vocabulary.

As you correctly answer questions, 10 grains of rice will be donated to the United Nations World Food Program.

It's actually quite addictive. Even Homer Simpson loves it: "Oh, I love your game. My favorite section is 'How to increase your word power.' That thing is really, really, really... good."

Go to www.freerice.com to play and feed the world.

Thanks to Laura for showing me this site. The amount of rice earned today may be inversely proportional to the amount of work she accomplished.

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Dude, that is so inappropriate...

Satan's minion: Satan we have a problem, one of the guests has turned up in a Crocodile Hunter costume, and it's really offending some of the other guests.

Satan: Oh Jesus (Walks across the party to a guest in a Crocodile Hunter outfit.) Erm, ah the whole Crocodile Hunter thing, it's just not cool. He like only died a few weeks ago! You're gonna have to go.

Steve Irwin: But Satan it's me, Steve Irwin. I am the Crocodile Hunter!


Anyone can dress up as a clown, hobo, slutty [insert female occupation here]. But the best costumes require thought, originality, and perhaps a dark soul that will be going to hell.

Our friend, Michael Vick. Yes, that is a pile of dead dogs on the floor.


The pressure of coming up with a cool costume must have gotten to the guy on the left. How else to explain his Owen Wilson get-up?


This would have been a good one, you know, if OJ did it...


Oh man...

Happy Halloween!

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Yes! He's back (well...in January)

While watching the Red Sox take a commanding lead in the World Series (which is bad news, right Simon?) a ray of sunshine poked through the clouds of this dreary situation.


That's right, Jack's back! The only TV show that I actually take the time to watch new episodes, 24, is returning on January 13th. I guess Keifer Sutherland apparently took some time from his busy schedule to film Season 7.

The big change for the season is that CTU is no more. After being bombed, gassed, taken over by the Chinese and infiltrated by about 15 moles, it looks like the American government decided that perhaps a change was necessary. For more on the upcoming season, click here to see the trailer.

If you haven't seen any of the previous seasons, then I'm very disappointed in you. However, you can make it up to me by borrowing the DVD's from me so you can experience the utter awesomeness of the show.

Set your clock: only 80 more days.

Monday, October 22, 2007

Native American Summer

It's always nice when we're graced with an Indian Summer, it's just too bad one of those days is a Monday, while I'm stuck in the office trying to figure out how people can get so riled up about a Recreational Floor Hockey game.

And while yesterday was also great, my time was taken up by a Home Depot Saturday (even though it was Sunday):


"Well, um, actually a pretty nice little Saturday, we're going to go to Home Depot. Yeah, buy some wallpaper, maybe get some flooring, stuff like that. Maybe Bed, Bath, & Beyond, I don't know, I don't know if we'll have enough time. " - Frank the Tank

But at least I got that ottoman and those lights I needed...

If you can get outside and throw the disc around before the sun goes down, then do it. There won't be many days like this for quite a long time...

Thursday, October 18, 2007

A "Thank You" from the Player of the Year

Hello Hounds,

I’d like to apologize for being nearly asleep for most of Saturday evening. I guess that’s what happens when someone my age only gets a couple hours of sleep.

In any case, after a day of sleep to recover and a few hectic days at work I can finally do this properly.

THANK YOU EVERYONE for awarding me “The Montgomery Burns Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence: Player of the Year”! I have to say that I was very surprised….which is probably the only sentiment that I was able to convey on Saturday night. I am also very honoured to be awarded such a great group of friends and team mates because you are all people and players that I hold in high regard.

I feel there are many players who are more deserving than I, not the least of whom is Chris for his outstanding leadership throughout the season. I had a bit of a rocky summer season this year which seemed to mirror parts of the Hounds’ season. In the end though I remembered why I play this game and what a talented group of people I have the privilege of playing with. It’s fun to play with people who can all learn a little something from each other to grow as a team. I was able to learn from each of you and I can only hope that I brought even a fraction of the amount I learned to the team. So there you have it, this award belongs to all of you!

Chris: awesome job on the trophy! I might have to look into getting it bronzed.

Oh yeah….thank for coming by on Saturday everyone! I hope you enjoyed the food and company….and that you all had enough to eat.

Cheers,
Tien


So much more humble than Gollum when he won his MTV Movie Award in 2003:

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Meat-o-rama

The Wong's sure out-did themselves on Saturday! The Hounds got together for the "Bowling and Beef" end of season party, which was a lot of fun. In true Hounds fashion, the food was plentiful: appetizers, 10 racks of ribs, 2 beer chickens, a beef brisket, 2 trays of potatoes, salad, apple crisp and ice cream sundaes (although I'm sure I'm forgetting something). Due to this overload of food (and the fun), the bowling plan was kiboshed, as we hung out, watch the Leaf's game, tossed the disc around, and tried to digest the feast. Thanks Nat and Tien for hosting.

For those who missed it, we also handed out Paper Plate Awards for the past season (including significant others!), so here they are:

Cindy - The Jumbotron Award - For always keeping score (this has nothing to do with the back that she's 7 months pregnant. Nothing at all.)


Michelle - The Ultimate Widow Award - For dealing with my playing 2 nights a week...plus tournaments...plus me always talking about ultimate.

Steph - The Soon-To-Be Ultimate Widow Award - Joel's back...hope you enjoyed your time with him!

Matt - The Pay-Per-View Award - For his parties featuring wrestling and UFC. Apparently it meant a lot to him:


Pierre - The Awesome Award - What else could it be?

Lyanne - The Accident Waiting to Happen Award - If there's a way to get hurt, Lyanne will find it.

Austin - The Real World Award - Finally finished school, now has a job AND a baby on the way. No baby steps for Austin!

Carla - The Half Full Award - Whether we were winning or losing, Carla was always positive and making suggestions for improvement.

Dan N - The Reluctant Handler Award - For his willingness to drop back and handle even though I know he'd rather go mid or deep. He was close to getting the Jacques Cousteau Award, for his affinity for throwing the deep bomb.

Tien - The Pylon Buddy Award - For always helping me put away the cones on the Field Hockey pitch...much appreciated. He almost got the Potty-mouth Award...

Nadia - The Cool as a Cucumber Award - For always being a rock in the backfield and never losing her cool (apparently this would have been unheard of a few years ago).

Christian - The Energizer Bunny Award - For never stopping on the field. That, or he's pink and bangs a drum all the time.

Laura - The Kick in the Ass Award - For helping to right the ship when the Hounds went off course.

Owen - The Endzone Award - For his domination in that area. It would have been called "The Thomas Granofsky Memorial Award", but Owen doesn't know who the hell that is.

Bonnie - The Incredible Hulk Award - Because you shouldn't get her angry...you wouldn't like it when she's angry...

Dan L - The No No No No Yes! Award - For always completing seemingly impossible passes. It was either that, or the Midvale School for the Gifted Award for best pulls.

Nat - The Rolodex Award - Whenever we needed a player (especially Mid-Season) Nat was always there to find someone to fill in.

Joel - The $6000 Man Award - Because that's about how much knee reconstruction surgery costs OHIP.

Simon - The Daddy Award - Others can be captain, or have kids, but we all know Simon is the Daddy of the Hounds.

Chris - The "The Man" Award - Because I have a penis.

Now, those weren't the only awards that were handed out. Simon out-did himself by awarding me a wicked Captain's Prize: the best bottle of Cognac one could ever hope for:


I'd like to think that the bottle is made for Snowplate and Gender Blender, but I'd be concerned about breakage. Otherwise, here I am enjoying my prize:


The final award was the inaugural "Montgomery Burns Award for Outstanding Achivement in th Field of Excellence". The vote was close, but one person distanced himself with his dedication and rib-cooking. That person: Tien.


Here's a close-up of the award. Thanks to Bonnie for supplying the Mr. Burns bobblehead, and to Tien for helping me to affix it to the disc.


So, that about puts a wrap on the Summer 2007 Season of Release the Hounds. The Indoor Season starts in a month, and remember, the next outdoor season is only 6 months away!

Smithers.
Yessir?
Release the Hounds.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Show's over


So, it's been a few weeks, but since we just had the Hounds End-of-Season Party, some closure on our Monday shenanigans this past season is in order.

It all started when the lineup of Austin, Bonnie, Chris, Christian, Laura, Lyanne, Nat, Pierre, Simon and Tien was augmented with our best recruits ever: Carla, the Dans, Nadia and Owen. We had new uniforms, we were playing on a new night, we were ready to go.

Instead of going through every game individually (that would be a waste of time), I'll be putting the games into groups.

The Hounds move to Mondays

The initial seedings gave pegged us at 14th...on Mondays we were a relatively unknown team, so we were going to have to earn our place. After our first three games, we overwhelmed the competiton: Drastic Plastic, Grilled Cheese and Flowbee. The games were relatively easy, ending with scores of 17-5, 17-4 and 17-7 respectively. After those first three games, it appeared that we were seeded a little low to start (Oh, you think so, doctor?). While the games were easy, it allowed us to integrate the new players, and bump us up in the ladder, which meant that tougher games were on the horizon.

The Hounds meet the big boys

The big wins to start the season moved us up to play the strong, experienced Monday teams. We started with Disc-Horde, and showed that we did indeed belong in the Top 8 with a convincing 17-11 win. We were feeling good about our new surroundings...approaching the top of the Monday standings. Unfortunately it also raised the ire of everyone else, and they struck hard, struck fast, with no mercy. Lopsided losses to Big Hammers, Mandrew, and Ninjastars were frustrating and they showed the Hounds still had a lot work to do before we could consider ourselves to be among the top Monday teams. But there was more than that...those losses, coupled with the change of nights caused us to stray away from what made the Hounds experience so fun...this was something that had to be remedied. A new plan that would improve our on-field focus to go along with a renwed commitment to social events. Back to Hounds basics: playing well and having fun on and off the pitch.

The Hounds get their shit together

The previous losses meant that we had crashed down the ladder, so we had to work our way back up to get to where we knew we belonged. With central leadership on the field, we put forth solid efforts against Hootenanni Pussywillows, El Kabong and 4D. The Hounds also finished 7th in the Mid-Season Tournament that was enhanced with the some friends ("enhanced" meaning Nat and I emailed everyone we know to get enough players to get a team in).

The Hounds vs the big boys 2: The Legend of Simon's Gold

The three big wins in a row resulted in another jump in the standings, which meant another run at the top teams, with the first game against the venerable Mandrew. We knew going in it was going to be a challenge, and while the score did not reflect it, we gave a much better effort. Of more importance though was the roster shuffle: the returrn of Joel from knee surgery and Pierre's final game.

Following that game, we defeated two of the second-tier Monday teams, Fisheyes and Disc-Horde. These games were sandwiched around Nationals, which had quite the Hound presence, with Carla, Chris, the Dans, Laura, Lyanne, Nat and Tien taking part.

Going into the final two games, we were up against two of the elite Monday teams, and earned our 4th place regular season finish with ties against both Ruckus and Big Hammers. It was a great finish to the season, as we very well could have won both of those games.

A tough pill to swallow

With those big results against the Hammers and Ruckus, the Hounds were primed to do some serious damage at the playoffs. However, due to a confluence of work, family and travel commitments...it created the perfect storm that caused us to miss the Playoff Tournament. Needless to say, it was extremely disappointing.

Regardless of that, it was still a great season. We went 9-4-2, and ended up with a perfect spirit rating. We had a lot of fun, and we continued to put the Hounds name out there. I know I'm looking forward to next year.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Why Bonnie missed the Hammers

Sorry I've been away, but we're smack dab in the middle of scheduling at work, which is the busiest time of the year.

I just wanted to share a couple of pictures that Bonnie sent me taken from her vacation that should be of interest:





Oh yeah...Happy Birthday Bonnie!

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Dear Pierre

Well, Monday's game certainly had its ups and downs. In the last regular season game, we managed a 14-14 draw against Big Hammers, the 2nd-ranked team on Monday. Now, I missed the last game against Big Hammers, but I believe this was a vast improvement. Well done!

After a slow start (down 6-2 I believe) we went on a tear, taking half 9-8. We played through our initial struggles and asserted ourselves on O and D. Good use of a timeout somewhere in there. That being said, we started poorly, and struggled to the finish. We need to be focused right from the start, and not tense up near the end. I felt that we lost some of our aggression on offense near the end, and that cost us.

I think Simon summed it up pretty well in a note on Pierre's blog, which he has been updating a lot so far (I wonder if he can keep it up...tee hee..."keep it up"...):

Pierre!
Your place looks awesome - very nice. Just wanted to give you the update about last night's game since you didn't show up. We drew 14-14 with Big Hammers.

The same Big Hammers that placed 7th in the country?

Yes Piere, the very same.

That note is almost as good as this letter:

Monday, August 27, 2007

David vs Goliath

Big game tonight against Big Hammers. No insider info on this one...however, we do know they finished 7th at Nats, have only lost to Mandrew this year, and will likely play a zone d. It's going to be a very tough game, but let's see if the good guys can win this one.

Since it just wouldn't be a post without some sort of video, here's a classic Gravey and Jobriath episode:

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Really!?!

Even though we are called "Release the Hounds", I believe that none of us actually own a dog. Even so, Michael Vick's actions just boggle the mind, and I have to say something.

Now that Vick has plead guilty to all those dog-fighting charges, one just has to wonder what in Scooby Doo's name was he thinking? Even if you ignore the sheer cruelty of dog fighting (and executing the losers...WTF!), how did he think that in the Internet era this was not going to come out? Britney Spears can't even get out of a car without everyone seeing her naughty bits, so how did Vick think he'd keep this quiet?

I mean, he's one of the highest-paid and marquee players in all of the NFL...did he think that taking part (or running, as it's appears) in dog-fighting wasn't going to be made public some time? I mean, if Brad Pitt was to start his own real-life Fight Club, how long until someone breaks the first two rules? A week? A day?

Of course, Michael Vick has never really proven himself to be a man of good judgement (and that has nothing to do with his 49/38 touchdown to interception ratio over the past 3 seasons...zing!). This whole situation reminds me of what he did back in January, which was summed up best by Seth and Amy of Weekend Update.



So, what was he thinking? That's the problem...he just doesn't think.

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Bring Da Ruckus

On Monday we play the final of the 'Big 4" Monday night teams: Ruckus. Considering they have only lost to Mandrew and Big Hammers this season, it's going to be quite the challenge. Of note, this team has a Hound connection in Rob Camp: TUC team-ranker extraordinaire and Hound on Saturday at TUF.

As the Wu-Tang Clan says..Bring da Ruckus (and your A game):

It's never good when it goes bad

I find that performace videos are pretty lazy: usually they're done while the band is on tour and their record company realizes "Crap, we need to get them a new single in rotation down at MTV (or MTV2 now, since MTV doesn't actually show music videos anymore)." Rarely is there anything that hasn't already been done in thousands of previous music videos. And the band always says lame things like "We just wanted to express our live energy in video form." Zzzz...

Well, Local H's video for "All the Kids are Right" brings the concert experience alive, but uses only two people (band members Scott Lucas and Brian St. Clair...there are only 2 in the band) to act out the parts of everyone at the concert...definitely different than the usual tripe.



This video reminds me of my high school days, going to concerts at the Hideaway (a basement dive in St. Catharines), and seeing all those characters throughout the night at a concert. From the scalpers and bouncers outside, to the roadies and T-shirt vendors inside, it kinda makes me want to check out the next Alexisonfire show.

Considering Local H never really made it big, it's impressive that they were able to give this video the same treatment as The Matrix. When released, this video (and album for that matter) received little fanfare, and is typically ignored when people make a Best Videos list. But any video where the lead singer gives himself "come-f*ck-me" looks...well, how can you exclude it?

Friday, August 17, 2007

Nat and Tien beat me to it

While we're on the subject of video-taping awesome plays (or not, as was the case on Tuesday), I believe Nat and Tien have the honour of being the first Hounds to appear on the "Clip of the Day" on UltiVillage. Click here to see their shining moment (look behind Lugsdin).

Now I'm bitter that UltiVillage wasn't at my league game on Tuesday. Or at the game where I skied (skiied? No, that one's for downhill...I think I got it right) our favourite opponent Mad Dog (what an awesome feeling that was). Or at the game where I pulled the disc into the end zone and then caught the first pass for a Callahan. Or...um...ok, that's all I got for 4 years-worth of playing ultimate. Dammit...I suck.

Memo to UltiVillage:

You can be boring and follow the tournament circuit...sure, Furious and DoG will make great plays from time to time. But if you want some real footage, you should follow me around to capture the one highlight-worthy play I manage to pull off each year. I think it'll be worth the investment.

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

If Big Brother is watching us...

...can I have the tape?

As Christian mentioned in the Nationals wrap-up, last night while playing with I'm Idahucker I was able to complete a "greatest"...for a point no less! Of course, I'm sure the reason why Christian wanted to tell everyone is because he was the one who caught it in the end-zone (although he did have to fight Thomas and Janelle for it).

Does this count as bragging though? I just want to keep you all updated in important Hounds news...I think it's eventful enough to warrant a post (hell, I've done a post on a stupid Jeep commercial, so I think this is okay to write about).

Nat was right that it is my second career greatest, and I know she would remember since she caught my first one in 2005 (for a point as well!).

Now, if only I could do that cartwheel throw and catch that Tien and Christian do all the time...

A short-handed Horde

A little belated, but I just want to put a post about the game on Monday. Of course, it was the re-match with Disc-Horde, as apparently they didn't fall for the donut trick. With the windy conditions it gave us our first real chance at a dedicated zone; before we had only used it for the occassional point.

After a slow start, we were able to really clamp down on them, with the cup putting pressure on the mark (trapping worked well) and the mids taking away the easy swing pass. The transition to melt also netted positive results, as we rarely looked disorganized and we able to get on our marks quickly.

On offence, the handlers did a great job on maintaining composure and swinging the disc until the upfield pass was open. Once we broke down the zone we had great flow, while still being chilly with the disc. One thing to work on would be for the poppers to work together more to open up space for each other.

Of course, we were fortunate that Disc-Horde seemed to be a little short-handed...if we play them again, we might have to take greater measures to get through the Horde...

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Nationals wrap-up

The Canadian Ultimate Championships ended on Sunday, and the Hounds who took part had some excellent results.

In Masters, Tien and Chris teamed up with Graham on a pick-up team that was created due to Mule backing out. We gave it our all, but weren't able to overcome the handicap of unfamiliarity and lost every game. But it was a lot of fun to be able to play.

In Open, Dan N's team, Seek the Righteousness, impressed on Saturday and won two games and ended up with a 13th place finish, up from their original 18th seed. Dan L and Too Bad had trouble sustaining the momentum from Friday, as they finished 16th in the country.

In Women's, Carla and the Diggers had a matchup with Storm, who seem to have the Diggers' number. Their bad luck against Storm continued, as the ladies from Montreal prevailed. Diggers bounced back and finished the tournament strong, taking their final two games and 5th place. Laura and Feisty had a great Saturday, winning their first two games and ending up in 10th place, up from their 13th seed. In addition to this, they were also crowned the Spirit Winners for the Women's Division!

Nat, Lyanne and the Big Hammers had a tough Saturday. They lost their quarterfinal to Bostrich, and some dubious calls sure didn't make them feel any better. This was followed by a close loss to Monster, and then a bit of salvation with a win over RIP to take 7th...10 places higher than their original seed!

The Rest of Canada

It was quite impressive to see a full Varsity Stadium take in the action on Sunday. Even the rain during the finals didn't dampen our spirits (just our clothes).

Masters

The story of the over-33 division was Tombstone, which has some players that we'd recognize from Mandrew. They were seeded first, and for good reason. They steam-rolled through the tournament until a reach the finals and a tough match-up with Glum. A strong second half had them pulling away to a victory over the Ottawa side. On the bad side, they lost Morrow on Friday with an achilles injury.

Junior

Dirt rolled through the tournament and came up against an equally-strong Back Bone team from Vancouver. Dirt appeared to have the title in hand, with a lead of 12-7 in a game soft-capped at 14. Back Bone roared back and won the game 14-13 on universe point...ouch. The highlight, or lowlight, was some questionable calls (on both sides) that had fans actually booing 16 year olds!

Mixed

Bytown Flatball Club from Ottawa carried Ontario's hopes against Team Fisher Price from Vancouver. The game was close to start, but TFP went to a four-person cup which BFC seemed to have trouble adapting to, partially due to their strategy of playing three male handlers. TFP was especially strong though, and were full-value for the win.

Women's

Capitals and Traffic engaged in the most entertaining game of the day, with countless layout-d's, lots of calls (Boring!) and intense plays by both sides. Traffic took a late lead, and the Caps seemed to turn the momentum on one of those layout d's, but a throw-away right after sealed their fate.

Open

GOAT put up a valiant fight, but they just could not match the speed, skill and athleticism of Furious George. Their game plan seemed to revolve around striking deep, but they had some trouble converting, whereas Furious were able to take advantage of their chances.

My favourite moment was when a GOAT player scored on a long run on a Furious player, Noel Pullen (who went to my high school; aforementioned for dating my sister). The GOAT player was pumped up and spiked it at Noel's feet. Noel then picked up the disc and chucked it away...it was a great reaction, considering Furious George had a commanding lead at the time.

It was a great Nationals Tournament. Vancouver took four of the five divisions, but Toronto was right there in three of those finals. Hopefully this bodes well for the future of ultimate in the city. Perhaps more of us will be there next year in Calgary...

Time to play: "Where's Tien?"

Saturday, August 11, 2007

Nationals: Day 2

Lots of action today, with there apparently being a near bench-clearing brawl in the GOAT v. Invictus game (near in that it was bench-clearing only...also Simon, why did we go back to the Big Hammers game?), and a "Greatest" for a point for TFP against Snipe. Later that night I confirmed that my sister dated a player on Furious George in high school. Oh, if only I didn't accuse him of cheating on her! *

The biggest story, however, is that Tien and I have magically aged 2 and 4 years and are playing in the Masters Division. Okay, so it's a team of "volunteers" who are taking the place of a team that pulled out at the last minute. What's better than watching ultimate? Playing ultimate. Unfortunately, this means that I don't have a full account of the day's events (doesn't help that the results aren't posted). But on the bright side, I feel like I earned the right to spend $40 on merchandise.


Of course, the real Hound contingent continued on, with the most promising stories being Carla, Lyanne and Nat having made the top 8 in their respective divisions. I believe the Diggers went 2-1 today (losing to powerhouse Capitals). This should put them in 3rd today, meaning they'll play the 2nd place team from the other pool. If the Diggers win their quarterfinal game, they will play Capitals again, so they'll be in tough to advance any further than that. (Fearless prediction: 4th place overall)

Big Hammers went 1-2 today with a win over Mayhem (giving them 3 wins over Ontario teams so far) and losses to TFP and Gecko. This puts Big Hammers in 3rd place in their pool and a tough matchup with Bostrich. A win likely puts them against TFP (uh-oh), with a loss resulting in a fun-looking consolation matchup with Monster. ("I'm putting it on the Internet" prediction: 7th)

Too Bad had a great day going 3-0, including a win over Seek the Righteousness (not sure how STR did). This gives them a shot at 9th, as I think they can win their quarterfinal, but the semis will be tough if they do get there. (No idea predition: 11th place)

As for Feisty, two of their losses (to Capitals and Salty) were somewhat expected (although apparently not allowed to be watched). They then lost a tough one to Catfish, which sets up a very interesting Feisty vs XX quarterfinal. (Promaybely prediction: 11th).


* I didn't really do that.

Friday, August 10, 2007

Day 1 at Nationals

Bonnie, Simon, Tien and I met at Sunnybrook this morning and watched a whole lot of ultimate. The weather wasn't great, but not bad either (cool, little bit of wind, no sun, a few drops of rain). With 79 teams playing, there was definitely a lot to see. The Hounds' teams had an up-and-down day.

The big news of the day was the impressive showing by Big Hammers. Seeded 17th, they easily won their first two games over Crude and Les Bouettes. Their third game had a showdown with the infamous Snipe, seeded 1st out of all the Mixed teams. After a slow start (down 4-1), Big Hammers turned it on and took control, winning an intense and chippy affair14-11. They were definitely the talk of the port-o-potties. They are now seeded 1st on Friday, so we'll see if they can keep it up as the tournament progresses. My prediction (and keep in mind that I predicted them to win one game Thursday) is that they'll win one game on Friday, putting them in 4th in their pool and in the top 8.

On the Open front, Dan L and Too Bad had a tough start, losing to 14-10 to Invictus after the score was tied at 9-9. This was then followed by them being upset by Q, essentially knocking them out of the running for the top 8. Hopefully they can bounce back and have a shot at 9th.

Dan N had a tough day, as expected. Seek the Righteousness had a small squad and was over-matched in their 4 games. The highlight for Dan had to be playing against Furious George and marking their star, Andrew Lugsdin (pictured below...my camera sucks). Hopefully they have a shot at beating Sherbrooke tomorrow, which appears to be their best shot at a victory. There is also a Dan vs Dan matchup at 10:15 to look forward to.


Laura and Carla started their days on opposing sides, and Diggers (Carla) took it to the less-experienced Feisty (Laura). Unfortunately later in the day, Diggers couldn't pull out the upset over Alberta, so they finished 2nd in their pool and are looking at a potential matchup against Storm in the quarterfinals. Feisty did get the win they needed over Amazone, so they are in the running for the top 8, however their chances are slim. I think they have a win in them tomorrow, but I'm not sure if that will be enough to make the quarters.

Not a bad down for the Hounds, as only one out of five teams finished below their seedings. Hopefully there will be more success as the tournament goes on. For the full results, check out the CUC website.

Thursday, August 09, 2007

The Hounds take on Canada

The Canadian Ultimate Championships are upon us, and the Hounds are well-represented with 6 players taking part. Here's my quick take on their chances this weekend. Please keep in mind that I don't really know what I'm talking about...for rankings from people who have a clue, please check here .

Nat and Lyanne: playing with Big Hammers in Mixed (seeded 5th out of 5 in their pool, 17th overall)

Even though the top team is in their pool (Snipe) this could be the weakest pool of the four. I expect them to beat Les Bouettes, and a win against Liquid or Crude is possible. But considering the Hammers haven't played in a tournament since Mid-Season, I doubt it. My heart says 3rd (to make the Friday playdowns), by my head says 4th and out of the running. Will end the tourney 15th.

Carla: playing on Diggers in the Women's Division (seeded 2nd out of 4 in their pool, 5th overall)

Ontario's second-ranked team will go 3-0 to win their pool, and finish second on Friday to Capitals. I think they can make the semis, but will be in tough against BC's top team, Traffic. I see them finally beating Storm to take the bronze.

Laura: playing on Feisty in Women's (seeded 4th out of 4 in their pool, 13th overall)

In the same pool as Carla and Diggers. Good shot to make it to Friday playdowns (must beat Amazone from Sherbrooke), but it ends there. An 9th place finish is possible, but I 'm going to say they improve on their seeding and finish 11th.

Dan L: playing with Too Bad in Open (seeded 3rd out of 5 in their pool, 12th overall)

Too Bad is notorious for having an ever-changing roster, so we'll see who's coming out. I like them to finish 3rd on Thursday. They need to upset Blackfish and Nads to make it to Saturday, which is doable. After that they hit the wall, and my guess is they'll finish 8th.

Dan N: joining Seek the Righteousness (seeded 5th out of 5 in their pool, 18th overall)

Don't see much happening with this team...0-4 on Thursday is my guess. A 17th place finish would mean a successful weekend for this squad. Hopefully Dan can lead them to some wins.



It should be a fun weekend, and we'll see how my random projections play out. I'm planning on watching lots of flatball over the next 4 days...see you at Sunnybrook (and hopefully Varsity) supporting the Hounds.

Monday, August 06, 2007

In the morning, laughing happy fish eyes; in the evening, floating in the soup

I actually took this picture on vacation in the Philippines. I knew we'd be playing these jokers someday...

Good win last night Hounds. It got a little tough coming up against their zone, but otherwise we had some very good flow when we were up against a man d. I really like how that has been working the past month and a half. On offense, we've been eating them up...yum.



Defensively we were like Pearl Jam: Better Man. I think we should try to work in some zone before the playoffs, as well as shore up our deep issues. We're still putting lots of pressure on the other teams to make tough plays...we just need to make sure those plays come out in our favour.

Thoughts on how we can improve defensively? How about when we come up against a zone?

Sunday, August 05, 2007

Fire = Hot

Allow me to add the dialogue that this commercial was missing:



[Three men tailgating. One of them is cooking steak. I'd guess one is a construction worker, one is a mechanic, and one just came from the set of The Warriors .]

Guy #1 - "How do you want your steak?"

Guy #2 - "Medium."

Guy #1 - "You?"

Guy #3 - "Medium rare."

[One drip of sauce falls onto the barbecue grill. Tense music plays in the background. The men look like they are fishing and just dropped the last beer into the lake.]

[Better be sure to put the "Do not attempt" disclaimer in case someone is actually dumb enough to do what this guy is going to do.]

Guy #2 - "Let it go. Do you see the bottle you are holding? It has much more sauce in it than the tiny amount that fell on the grill. You still have lots of sauce left. Why do you care? For that matter, why did I just stand up?"

Guy #1 - "But it's A1 steak sauce. Not Heinz, not HP, but A1. It comes first in the phone book!"


[Guy #1 takes off hat, and decides to go in. Flash forward as everyone is looking at an ambulance.]

Guy #1 - "Ith my theak okay?"

Guy #2 - "Um, yeah, it's fine. Not that you'll know now. Did you not ever learn how cooking food with heat works? Is this your first barbecue? I hope that drip of sauce on the dirty grill tasted good, because now you aren't going to be tasting anything for a month. Good one."

Guy #3 - "Dude, you're a moron...dibbs on his steak."


God - "A1 steak sauce. Yeah, it's that important."

Friday, August 03, 2007

Only 1 week late...

Alright, I finally saw the Simpsons Movie last night. Michelle and I were joined by a few other Hound-folk (Nat, Tien, Joel, Steph, Laura). And yes, they did Release the Hounds in the movie, so it was well worth it.
I'm not going to go too much into the movie itself since I'd end up giving away the ending (hint: it might involve Homer Simpson, Peter Griffin and Eric Cartman having a fart contest to save the Earth. But it might not.). If you're a Simpsons fan, well then you've probably already seen it. If you're a Simpsons fan and haven't seen it yet, then stop being a cheapskate and give Matt Groening his $12. You've been living off free episodes for years...is that too much to ask?

If you're not a Simpsons fan, then get the hell out of here.

The one thing I will mention was the previews. Not too many, which was a welcome change. Although one was the most disturbing thing I have seen since I saw Se7en and the knife/sex device that John Doe made the guy from Very Bad Things use on a woman.

Let's just say the jokes involve the worst version of Funkytown ever, plus eating crap. Against my better judgement...



Some questions for Jason Lee: Underdog AND Alvin and the Chipmunks? Really? Is Kevin Smith not returning your phone calls anymore?

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

But who will control the Beer Bong?

This past Monday marked the final game as a Hound for our good friend, Pierre Dufour. As we know, he will be leaving with Natalie for France where he will further his education at INSEAD in Fontainebleau, about 65 kms to the south of Paris. They already have a nice little place ready for their arrival, and I'm sure they will find lots to do while they are working and studying abroad.

Pierre has been a full-fledged member of the Hounds since we started way back in the Spring of 2005. I still remember the halcyon days when Pierre was "Party Guy" organizing all of the Hounds social events; including the infamous Old School movie night, the beer bong and the House Crawl. Although, given the amount of alcohol Pierre made me consume, I am amazed that I actually remember anything at all. I would be remiss (and Michelle would kill me) if I did not also mention the dragonflies at Snowplate.


Unfortunately due to an injury Pierre was only able to play the final point (which happened to be the longest point of the game), and even worse, we lost the game. But a matter such as winning an losing was definitely not the important aspect on Monday night. After the game, we went back to one of our original post-game stomping grounds, St. Louis', to re-live the good times and to give Pierre a proper Hounds send-off, which of course included an Irish Car Bomb.

He has already promised me that he will continue to check the site to keep in touch with our progress, since apparently I'm on his "Top 4" sites to check. He better keep reading, since he's one of about 8 people who actually pay attention here.

So, we say "A Bientot" to Pierre: Hound, Party Guy, Tournament Captain, and most importantly, our friend. Good luck in France, and we hope to see you soon.




Monday, July 30, 2007

J and K would like a word with you

Tonight we get a re-match with Mandrew, which will be a good measure of the progress of the Hounds over the past three weeks. Of course, the last time we played them did not go so well. The only term I can think to describe it would be “pooping the bed.”

I have brought the Men in Black to make a motivational appearance on our site to help us out. Please look at the light on the neutralizer.

[FLASH]

You did not lose that badly to Mandrew before. They totally cheated and the score should not have been 17-5. You did not get shut out in the first half.

You may not win tonight, but you will not beat yourself. You will play hard and smart, and work the disc up through their zone.

Then you are going to get Pierre really, really drunk.

Oh, and there’s no such thing as aliens.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

TASER HIM!

On Wednesday night, Michelle, Bonners and I saw Toronto FC take on Aston Villa at BMO Field in a friendly. We were joined by Michelle's co-workers, who got REALLY drunk, which was amusing in its own right. Toronto FC lost 4-2 in an entertaining game, even though we had one goal called back on a bad offside call and a missed handball call in the penalty area. Of course, this is nothing new in soccer.

Now, there were two things that happened that I found noteworthy:

The first was when I entered the stadium and got me some beer from a vendor. Just as he gave the person in front of me his beer, he dropped a cup, which bounced all over the ground. He then put it back into his stack of cups, so I was a little worried about getting the soiled cup. I think he saw me staring at his stack, so he poured my beer into a clean cup. I just wanted to say "Thank you" to Philip for not giving me the dirty cup, although I'm pretty sure the next person in line got it. But I don't care about them...

The other event of the game happened because our seats happened to be right beside the Villians (Aston Villa fans...get it?). Well, as the game was winding down, so of course, people were talking smack to each other. I should mention that regular British Football fans are amazed by the fact that you can get as drunk as possible at a game here...in England they do not serve alcohol at the games due to hooliganism. Here...they'll put away 8 tallboys no problem.

So, there was this one guy two rows ahead of us who was yapping at the Villians, and three of the biggest, dumbest ones walked over and got right in this guy's face. One security guy (all there was at the time) came rushing in to tell everyone to sit down. He did a pretty good job at controlling things, considering they outweighed him by about 50 pounds each.

Well, one of the Villians came back down and sat beside the yapper to discuss the finer arts of being a douchebag, when his bleached-blond girlfriend came down in a huff and screamed at him "COME HERE RIGHT NOW!" Everyone had a laugh that Mr. Tough Guy was whipped as he was led back to his seat by his pissed-off girlfriend. To top things off, he then got tossed from the game (pictured below). Later loser!

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Hounds and Friends at Mid-Season

Half of the Hounds were joined by some friends as we competed in the TUC Mid-Season Tournament this past weekend. Austin, Bonnie, Chris, Christian, Laura, Lyanne, Nat and Tien combined Brendan, Dana, Hamid, Lara, Mark C, Mark W, Natasha, Sarah, Sue, and Tyler to form a team that was a little short on height, but had some good speed and skills that some real potential to do some damage.

The initial seeds landed us at 7th out of 37, with us playing 6th seed Throw Les Vaches, Disc in a Box, ELEVEN and Plan Jedi on Saturday. Nat helped me to set the roster and scope out the opponents, while Bonnie supplied the spirit prizes (Which, by the way, she described to me as "crappity crap". If that was crappity crap, then I hope I'm on the receiving end when she gives out the good stuff). It was a beautiful day, Lara and Brendan brought muffins; we were ready.

We started in the late morning (so Christian wouldn't be so hung over) with a game against "Disc in a Box". Obviously, this team saw my Valentine's Day post. After some introductions, some jitters caused us to lose the first point of the game. But not to worry...we scored the next 13.

After a break, we then played 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-ELEVEN! Another efficient effort led to a 13-2 victory. The highlight of the game was the quick series of passes to shred their zone, where the disc went from person to person but never seemed to stop moving.

This allowed us the time to get to the other end of Sunnybrook to play our late game earlier; which meant we wouldn't have to stay at Sunnybrook until 8:00. We played Throw Les Vaches in a battle of the top seeds in the pool. The game started with each team scoring a few points in a row, leading to a 3-3 score. Next thing we know, the game was over and we won 13-5.

Our final game was against Plan Jedi. I missed this one, but we won 13-4, so Tien must have handled things swimmingly, even though there were only 4 or 5 men left standing at the end of the day.

Sunday arrived, with us playing as the 6th seed against #12, Kooks. This was a team that featured several Zen players, including temporary opponent, Sue. A "Sunday morning start" has us alarmed as we found ourselves in a fight early, but we worked through and powered to a 12-6 win.

This put us in the quarter-finals against Game, Set, Schlitz! (aka COOL). They were our most difficult opposition. We hung tough and kept up with the taller and more experienced team in the first half. However, we had trouble maintaining flow and containing their height and speed, and we fell 12-6. Hamid managed a win where we could not, as he defeated Sarah in the Schlitz-chug.

We then went on to play the Disciples of Love in the consolation round. A roster that had 16 at one point was down to 11, and a tired team lost 12-10. There was a final game scheduled against Play Anything, but both teams decided to call it a draw, leaving us in a tie for 7th. After 7 games and with a game looming on Monday for most players, it was probably the right call.

So, good showing by those who played this weekend. It was fun, and I think we had a good, competitive team that played well. To quote Mark W, "I'll see you guys out there on the green stuff."

Monday, July 23, 2007

Yeah, well, you know that's just like uh, your opinion man

Tonight, we play 4D at our home at Sunnybrook. They are green. They won the Summer Experience Tournament last month (league team division). They must be stopped.

Afterwards, we are going to Thorncliffe Bowlerama to celebrate Lyanne's birthday (and hopefully a victory). Don't forget to bring extra socks.

My early favourites to win are Pierre and Lyanne. Pierre, because he's always awesome...plus he should be well-rested after not playing on Sunday. Lyanne, because she was actually a bowler growing up in Sudbury. Why bowling? Well, what the hell else are you going to do in Sudbury, other than freeze your toes off?

So, I'm looking forward to their showdown, which will be way more intense that this one:

Friday, July 20, 2007

My tongue hurts from biting it too much

I was hoping to have a full preview of this weekend's TUC Mid-Season tournament, including in-depth scouting reports on the teams, and each team's odds of winning.

Plus, I was going to...er...include the meaning of life, then perhaps show how to make special brownies and...um...post naked pictures of Jessica Alba and Tom Brady. Too bad the change didn't allow me the time to do that.

So, all I can say is that scheduling mistakes can be a whole lot worse...just ask Jasper:



See you tomorrow at Sunnybrook!

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

A 24 of ale will cover it? Sold!

As most of you know, our old friend and former-Hound Hamid has built quite a reputation for himself as a master-blogger with his site, The Roman Empire. But he is about to become a Toronto-wide celebrity, as his visage will adorn the back of four vehicles in the Sport and Social Club fleet.

For those who have kept up with his site, this is not news. Although, I think it is news that he's going to be on FOUR vehicles...he thought it was only going to be one.

So, why am I bringing this up now, three weeks after Hamid wrote about it? Well, I do have something to add to his story about his picture on the van. At the bottom of his post, he noted: "Hmm, shouldn’t TCSSC be paying me a bazillion dollars to use that photo? What’s that, you say? A 24 of ale will cover it? Sold!"

Well, I showed my director his site (she was away until this past Monday) and she told me to get that man some beer. So, from the lawyers who brought you "The Shinning", may I present to you, Hamid with beer, in front of Hamid on a van.

I'm sorry to say to Hamid though, you totally under-bid yourself. We would have got you at least a 28-pack. Sucker!

Monday, July 16, 2007

El Kabong Rides Again

Not much to be found about El Kabong, however I did learn he is the Mexican-ish, guitar-smashing alter ego to Quick Draw McGraw.



Let's just be aware in case they pull out a silver guitar tonight.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Why is the door open?

So, Simon wants to start the Hounds mentoring program:

I did want to keep pushing on one area that most folks commented on as being of interest: setting up development mentors within the team. I really see the benefit of this from my own experience – for example on Monday Tien specifically watched me from the sideline and constantly talked to me about field positioning – cutting and clearing – and I found it very helpful.

Now obviously this is optional, but I would really encourage everyone to get involved; mentoring at any level is helpful, even just picking someone to watch you and give you feedback at the end of each game.

Please respond to me with:

1) An area of strength that you would be willing to mentor someone else on
2) An area you would like to develop. Also any suggestions of who you would like your mentor to be

If we get a good level of engagement I will compile likely pairings and chat with individuals to get folks matched up.


I just hope it's better than this mentorship program...

Monday, July 09, 2007

Beware the wrath of Carla

Phew! Carla, you would not have been disappointed with the second half of the game. We started the second half the same way we started the first, and powered our way to a 17-8 victory. I think it was by far our best all-around performance. I think we'll look back on this game and say that was the game where we turned the corner. Or else we'll look back and I'll feel like a colossal ass for saying that just now.

Defensively we had quite a few great individual plays, and we also caused a fair share of Stall 9 throws. Defense can still improve by continuing to work hard, along with communication on the field and help from the sidelines.

I really thought the offense was the best it's been in quite awhile. Smart, quick throws really allowed us to do whatever we wanted out there. We rarely got caught on the sidelines, the HO worked pretty well, people were making crisp passes and motivated cuts.

So, the re-launch of the Hounds has started well. But, to paraphrase the Wolf from Pulp Fiction, let's not start licking each other's popsicles just yet.

Thoughts on the game?

Also, Dan and Owen were introduced to the ritual off the Hounds post-game meal. We'll eat anything...

I never forget a pussy...willow.

Yee haw!!

We're playing the Hootenanni Pussywillows!! It's tonight at Sunnybrook on the North Cricket Pitch! That's our new home!! Bring your banjoes! Use lots of exclamation marks!

Please be there as soon as possible (6:15-ish) so we can have a good warm-up and go over strategy.

Some things we will go over will involve the HO:

1) always set this up off of static plays (turnover in endzone, out of bounds, etc).
2) set up stack 10-15 yards deep (keep it close).
3) handlers keep working the disc to the middle person to distribute upfield.
4) cutters communicate with each other beforehand so you are on the same page.
5) cutters stay on your side of the field (don't cross the electric fence).

Sunday, July 08, 2007

You're stroking my cortex and you know I'm insane

Five reasons why "Space Lord" by Monster Magnet is on my video list:

5. This was their biggest hit, pretty much because of the response to the video. A one-hit wonder that is a one-hit wonder because it makes fun of a one-hit wonder.

4. They are one of the first to make fun of hip-hop money-throwing, hoochie-filled, champagne-flowing, car-strolling videos. Was before the Offspring's "Pretty Fly for a White Guy."

3. Old man with "Mother" written on his chest.

2. They pretty much copy Mase's "Feels So Good" video step-by-step, using the same locations, sets and um...themes. Only when it's Monster Magnet-style...classic.

1. Lightbulb suit.

Friday, July 06, 2007

O Captain My Captain

In recent Release the Hounds news: we have a new Social Coordinator

and have created and filled the role of Field Captain

so now it's back to what RTH Ultimate is all about. Having fun and kicking some ass.

As the new FC, I will try to give us the best chance of winning, but I won't go as far as some other captains...

Wednesday, July 04, 2007

A Very Decent Proposal

Hounds,

We are currently a team in transition, and change brings with it inevitable uncertainties and concerns. I would like to take this opportunity to share my thoughts for the team, and open a team discussion to allow us to reach a common vision quickly.

A Brief Canine History

In the beginning, Chris had no beard. The Hounds came together from multiple social teams in ’05 and entered TUC as one of the only teams that lived for Thursday nights. Games were okay, but socials were awesome. Without fail the entire squad could be found eating Wings and laughing late into the post-game nights. Laura does not exaggerate when she says these were nights to look forward to. Season 2, 2006, and the Hounds became more competitive with an expanded roster and, shock horror, several practices. Where things really took off however was in the social arena – Hounds Bowlerama, Old School Hounds, Hounds Close Sunnybrook, Disc Golf Hounds, Hounds Love Louis…truly the stuff of legends, and this lead implicitly to success on the field, pushing against the highest levels of Thursday TUC. Chris, at this point, probably had a beard. A big one. The 07 season dawned with large roster expansion in terms of quantity and quality, leading to a move into the heady worlds of Mondays. Without being arrogant, the Hounds relished the challenge of putting their newfound roster, energy and restlessness to the test. Hounds were beginning to tour and there was excitement in the air; the Hounds were becoming a real Ultimate team. While clearly still B level, they were at least now in the game and getting minimal BBS airtime… The goal was audaciously outlined as “Become an A level team”. This could mean many things, but was articulated as spending the summer learning team structure, playing against, and learning from, some of TO’s best, and attending a few tournaments with the ability to cause some upsets as the unknown contender. I should mention that at this point Chris’ beard became decidedly well trimmed.

The ’07 season

From that brief history you see that the confluence of Fun and Performance has always been an important consideration. The focus for 2007 though, in order to make the expansion to a higher level, was always going to be on performance. To this end regular training was agreed upon as essential, with the goal being to form a common understanding of the basic A level team structures. Additionally, although not explicitly stated, we could expect to lose just as many games as we won, assuming we really were playing on the edge of our ability and therefore developing. A good plan, methinks.

However, things do not always happen smoothly, and the realities of battle take some adjusting to…multiple commitments sidelined practices, some big losses dampened spirits, a forming squad lost momentum on socials, the goals and aspirations were sometimes questioned. Everything here is normal. In the natural process of evolution, team development is a cyclical process of Expanding and Consolidating.

Well, here is my team proposal for Consolidating, taking stock, refocusing. I think it will make us stronger and really help to align everyone’s needs to the team’s goal, and launch an awesome summer (it is only June!)

The Draft Plan

The most important word here is “draft”. Without your input and endorsement it is nothing, so read away, comment/rant/suggest to your heart’s content, and when the dust settles, we’ll have something legendary.

> Goals
- Finish Top 5 on Monday night (i.e. Tier 1)
- Enjoy RTH summer 07


> Individual performance
- Mandatory pre-game team warm-up and drill
- Commitment to give 110% intensity for 90mins
- assign mentor/benefactor relationships for all players


> Team development
- 1 training session per month with an experienced coach
- Assembly of a team playbook, for pre-game revision
- Attend Canadian Nationals (to watch) as a fun team activity and learn from the best


> Team execution
- Assign a summer Field Captain to execute the game strategy
- Guys & Gals captain to actively manage lines


> Fun Time
- Assign Social Secretary to run 2 events per month
- 1 post game bar, 1 big event (Bowlerama, Disc golf)
- Attend Canadian Nationals as a team and party

Quote of the season

“You’re a tool, can I use you to succeed?”

And now over to you, Hounds. Reactions?

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

How can we sum up our thoughts on losing?

This is dedicated to Tien, who made his feelings known after the last point.

Turn the volume up to 11, because that's how high we go.

Monday, July 02, 2007

Bad things happen when you play with Ninjastars

Just ask Butters.



Need I say more?

See you tonight at Sunnybrook.

Sunday, July 01, 2007

I feel like...shooting my TV

"The Nestle Blue Freezer" commercial: the newest ad that I just don't get. In case you haven't seen it:



To start, what's with casting some 50 year-old, twitchy, Roberto Benigni look-alike as the fairy? If I'm trying to sell ice cream (or anything for that matter) by using a fairy, imp, naiad, nymph, whatever...then I'm starting with this template, and not straying too far:


And what's with the fairy? Does each freezer come with one? Do they work in shifts, or do the live at the store 24/7? If so, he's gotta get into some kind of union, because that would suuuuck. And I'm thinking that having something that can change frozen Nestle products at will; there's gotta be a better use for him than sitting around at the local conveniece store waiting for stoned teenagers to decide what they want to eat.

When the teenagers arrive, was the freezer empty? Was it missing the flavours they desired? NO! When the guy says he feels like a Drumstick, what's the best course of action? Hand him one? Maybe tell him "No problem kid, we have lots of those." Instead he changes all the flavours so there are only Drumsticks. Did he think this kid was going to want to eat a freezer full of Drumsticks? He only needed one.

And then, when girl #1 says she wants a Rolo Chocolate Cone, Mr. Genius Fairy again changes the entire freezer stock to what she wants, knowing full well that the guy wants a Drumstick. Know what I call this? Trouble brewing.

Of course, Token Minority Girl wants something different than the other two, and naturally Benigni-fairy changes the entire freezer AGAIN. (And what's with TMG and how she talks? "I feel like an Aero........Chocolate Cone." Did she forget her line? Was that the best take they could get out of her?) Did Benigni learn nothing from what JUST happened? Is this his first minute on the job? Did no one tell him that sometimes, different people have different tastes and might like different flavours. I don't know what he would do if he worked at Baskin Robbins.

Just to re-iterate: the freezer had all three of those flavours there to start with! That's the point of the Blue Freezer! The fairy (who the teenagers don't appear to see, by the way) serves no actual purpose. And if you need a fairy to keep track of your stock at the corner store, I'm guessing that corner store isn't going to be around for much longer.

Anyways, we go back to spikey-haired dude, who hasn't changed his mind in the past 12 seconds and still wants a Drumstick. Since we know that Twitchy-fairy is a moron, he decides the best course of action is to now turn him INTO a Drumstick. That's for not agreeing on what to eat! Of course, the girls didn't actually want to eat a Drumstick, but that doesn't stop each of them from taking a bite out of their friend. Hell, they don't even look the slightest bit surprised that their friend has turned into a 6-foot-tall frozen snack.

So, the only person who actually wanted to eat a Drumstick is still not able to, because he can't eat himself. And the girls didn't get to eat what they actually wanted. Alright! No one gets what they wanted! The Nestle Blue Freezer...juuuust magic!

And from the way the dude giggles after the girls eat him, it sounds like they did take it easy on his nuts.

Sunday, June 24, 2007

I just want some pants

Since our attempt spying on the opposition didn't really help last week, I thought I'd try a more direct approach at scouting the opposition.

Me: "So Rol, how's the team looking for the game on Monday?"
Rol: "Dude, we got the Legion of Doom coming out."
Me: "Crap."

OK, so Mandrew pretty much has everyone coming out, so we're going to be in tough. So, here are some goals for the game:

1) Play our game
2) Work hard
3) Make smart decisions
3) Have fun

We know that the Legion of Doom has been known to bicker, so hopefully they will be worried about things other than ultimate, like their wardrobe.


We already have the kick-ass uniforms.

Friday, June 22, 2007

All this aggravation ain't satisfactioning me

This is dedicated to the Canadian National Soccer team, who got ROBBED last night, losing 2-1 to the USA in the semi-finals of the Gold Cup. After falling behind 2-0 in the first half, Canada fought back and had the apparent tying goal called back (in the last minute of play!) on a phantom offside call. Soccer is so frustrating.

A three-on-three soccer tournament, organized by Eric Cantona.

Hidden from the world,
twenty-four elite players hold a secret tournament...
with eight teams,
and only one rule:
first goal wins.



Round 1:
Henry, Totti & Nakata beat Viera, Nistelrooy & Scholes
Davids, Thuram & Wiltord beat Ljungberg, Saviola & Enrique
Figo, Carlos & Ronaldo beat Denilson, Ronandinho & Seol
Lopez, Mendieta & Crespo beat Cannavaro, Rosicky & Ferdinand

Semis:
Henry, Totti & Nakata beat Davids, Thuram and Wiltord
Figo, Carlos & Ronaldo beat Lopez, Mendieta & Crespo

Finals:
Henry, Totti & Nakata beat Figo, Carlos & Ronaldo

All action played to A Little Less Conversation, Elvis vs JXL.

An old Nike commercial, but it's still pretty cool.

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

What the...?


Thoughts on what happened on Monday, from someone who wasn't there:

- Every was still digesting all the food from Simon's BBQ.
- We were all anxious to get in line for upcoming Transformers movie.
- Too many all-hammer points.
- Lee Anne von Gouligan turned out to be a triple agent. I can't believe she played us all for chumps.
- Austin, Chris, Dan L and Nadia making their case for MVP.
- Field not marked to correct dimensions.
- You mean we're supposed to catch the disc?
- Thrown off by Godzilla vs Mecha-Godzilla fight.

Any comments, from those who were there? What can we do better?

Friday, June 15, 2007

Translation Time

Thanks to our new super-secret intelligence program, we have uncovered some inside information from our opponents this Monday: Big Hammers. Thanks to our under-cover Hound (let's call her "Lee Anne von Gouligan" so we don't blow her cover), we have received a confidential memorandum regarding the game on Monday.

I have run this coded transmission through a series of decryption programs to discover its true meaning (along with trying to get through the spelling and grammar mistakes). The following is extremely sensitive, for your eyes only, and any mention of the following must be disavowed should you be questioned by anyone on Big Hammers:

Yo Team,
[Translation: Greetings and salutations comrades.]

BIG HAMMERS vs. release the hounds
[Translation: Zone zone zone zone, zone zone zone...zone, zone zone.]

This one will be a beating death of a pack of dogs....hopefully those PETA people won't come out and watch this...it's going to be pretty dirty
[Translation: I am very concerned about this game. Not only does this team have our two best girls, but they are also funnier and better looking than us. Hopefully CUPA won't come out and watch this, as they may give our Regionals bid to them, based on the fact that they are so much more awesome than we are. Apparently they are good flatball players as well.]

It's amazing that TUC actually has this game up a week in advance...but believe it....
[Translation: I laud TUC and their willingness to change their scheduling system, thus forcing their conveners to have to create the schedule on a weekly basis. Where do we play next week, anyway?]

The game is at Flemingdon Park (i would guess everyone knows where that is)...if not here's a map
http://www.tuc.org/field.html?field=flemingdon

[Translation: If you don't know where Flemingdon is by now, then where have you been? There is no reason why you shouldn't be there by 6:15.]

We're on field #5....which is the field nearest the Basketball Court.
[Translation: Perhaps we should challenge them to basketball, since it may be our best chance to win.]

Lyanne and Nat please have your team their on time....the game ends at 8:20pm, because the park is unsafe
[Translation: Lyanne and Nat, we hope your team is late...we would like to start counting points until you arrive...we need all the points we can get... After all, we remember what happened when we played last year. The game ends at 8:20, because that is when Simon has to go home before Olympia kills him.]


The Hammers are known for their athleticism and energetic play, so should they get aggressive, just think of this: