Gender Blender

The details for Gender Blender XI (because roman numerals make it important) have been released, and I think it's a tournament that we have to go to. It's the biggest Ultimate Party this side of Lyanne's birthday. I have never been myself, but have heard stories. Here are the details:

- June 1-3, 2007, Fergus, Ontario (North of Guelph)
- Party on Friday and Saturday Night
- $90 per person (includes the tournament, field rental, camping, entertainment on Friday night, breakfast on Saturday and Sunday, dinner on Saturday, a party with refreshments and entertainment Saturday night, and lunch on Sunday)
- All proceeds go to Charity

Blender Party

On the Friday Night, there is a Blender Competition, wth each team supplying everyone else a Blender drink of their own creation. But it's not just about the drinks...it's also about presentation. Last year, I believe a team constructed a giant Plinko board (Drinko?).

There's a lot more info, so please check out the Gender Blender site at http://www.genderblender.org/main.html for more info.

So, if Ultimate, camping, drinking, and generally having a good time is something that you're into, please let me know. The Bid is due April 13th, so I would like get that in by the end of March.

If you are interested, please list:

1) Drink idea
2) Costume idea
3) Saturday Night Party idea

I'm sending this out to the Hounds first...we'll see who can make it before opening it up to others.

Smells like...victory

I'm sure Tien was thinking: way to be like Napalm, Hounds.

A solid win against a team that had to confident, given their win last week over Wasabi, we staked ourselves to a lead, held off their charges and then asserted ourselves down the stretch. I found that we had a lot of success swinging the disc (which we wanted to do) and breaking their force (which was a result of consciously trying to swing more...yeah baby). On defense, we had quite a few interceptions (including Tien's Callahan), many of which were caused by good team defense and late-count throws.

We still have to win this Sunday to ensure a spot in the 2nd vs 3rd game, but I think we should use the game to work on some strategies on offense and defense to get ready for the playoffs.

Offense: Horizontal

This is the offense that the Sofa Kings ran against us (called out as "3-3"). This allows for a lot of open space to complete easier passes. It is set up with three handlers back with the disc (we want the disc in the middle of the field), with 3 cutters lined up 15-20 yards downfield. This allows for room for the side handlers to set up dumps should the downfield pass not be there.

The centre cutter "drives the engine" as they react to what their marker gives them: either the short or deep cut. If they go deep, then the sides offer a short cut, but if the centre makes an in-cut, then the sides should go downfield and make a cut-back to continue the flow (or continue to the end-zone if the play is there).

There is much more to it, so please go to http://www.ultimatehandbook.com/uh/strategy_horizontal.html to prepare for Sunday. Be aware of the difference between 6's and 7's, as in our game the three cutters will most likely be working as singular pistons (up and down, side cuts opposite to the centre cut), rather than in pairs.

Defence: Fronting

This is very useful when facing a vertical stack. Fronting defence controls where the cutter goes by standing where you don't want them to go (taking away the lane). Defenders on the first first 2 or 3 cutters on the stack should be positioned on the "inside" of their mark to force them to cut either breakforce or deep. The breakforce throw must be contained by the mark, and the deep throw will be handled by the deep defenders (so we should put our tallers players deep). In order to deal with the deep cuts, the last one or two defenders in the stack should position themselves behind their marks. By doing this, the offence will be forced to make a risky pass into crowded space, or to break the force. The other element that is very important for this defence is to switch checks when necessary.

Switching is like zone defence, you cover a player within a designated area and then let them go once they move out of this area. In relation to fronting defence, it's important that defenders covering the players at the front of the stack do not follow their players on deep throws. Instead, they should follow their marks until they have reached the deep area and let the deep defenders pickup their checks (and then pick up the deep defender's original mark). The same applies to the deep defenders, they should only cover their check in the deep area and switch off once their mark has cut in far enough. This is necessary when fronting, and communication is extremely important so everyone knows who their responsibility is.

Any questions, post a comment or use the message board on the side. Let's really try to use this on Sunday.

Release the Hounds.

Sometimes these feelings can be so misleading

I have seen my fair share of music videos, and I've always appreciated artists who use them as a chance to be unique. Anyone can slap together a performance video showing their "live energy"; or round up some hoochies so they can lounge around some expensive car in their underwear. That's why the White Stripes were so refreshing: considering they employed a stripped-down sound, usually consisting of a single guitar and drums, they had quite a few creative videos.

Their first outing was "Fell in Love With a Girl", which is under two minutes of Lego-animated fun. Really, there isn't much more to it than that, but it did introduce them to the main stream. And this was just a taste of things to come, as we will be seeing more of the White Stripes later.

Tien loves the smell of napalm in the evening

What more can I add that hasn't already been said by Tien? Nothing, except Varsity, 7:30.

The Enemy Is Coming

Listen up boys and girls. The enemy is coming! They’ll be coming at us hard and fast, for just last week they conquered a foe that we did not. The achieved something that we did not. They beat Wasabi! Who know they had it in them?! Now notice the wording here: “we did not”. I didn’t say “we could not” because we all know that we could have beat Wasabi and in fact we led through most of the game, but then decided to go home early.
The Enemy’s victory over Wasabi will have definitely filled their sails and they’ll be coming at us full bore flying the Jolly Roger.

Ah the Jolly Roger….the call sign of pirates, a bunch of murderous bandits with no sense of honour and duty. Always ready for battle but not an all out war. So lets take the wind from their sails and bring them an all out war.
Fast forward a couple of centuries: “Ah, I love the smell of napalm in the morning.” Napalm….one of the more cruel developments of warfare. If you didn’t get burned to death by the flaming globs of goo, you were suffocated by the fire’s insatiable thirst for oxygen. And if you somehow managed to survive a napalm attack, you would almost certainly fall victim to infection because of the horrible burns that covered your body.
Hounds, lets be like napalm. Burn them with our offence: quick, smart passes that leave them with nothing to do but hang their heads; a combination of good patience and quick strikes that will leave them wondering what just happened. Suffocate them with our defence: don’t give them any breathing room, stick to them like glue; cut off all their throwing options leave them gasping for air. And if they still manage to score, lets make them sorry they did by coming back at them three times as hard.

So listen up! The Enemy is coming….keep your eyes open! The Enemy is coming….make ready! The Enemy is coming….and we will be waiting!

The Venezuela Ultimate Club

So, we know we were all jealous that Austin has been in Venezuela, while we were stuck in the coldest February in history. But Austin was not there just for the shorts-weather. I'll let him explain:

"To carry on the tradition of providing travel ultimate pics, here are a few that I took on my recent trip to Venezuela. Let me give you a little context for the shots…Basically it was a dental mission to provide dental care to orphans in a poor developing area of Venezuela. I figured there are no better ways to make connections and build bonds with the kids than through sport. Basketball? Nah…where are you going to find a net? Soccer? Bah...that’s for wussy Europeans. Let’s introduce them to the purest sport of them all…

Bridges built? All I have to ask is what kid smiles like that coming to a dental visit?

Enjoy!
Austin"











Snaps to Austin!

PS. Please feel free to submit posts for the site, I'm happy to put stuff up. Just shoot me an email (Hotmail please).

Hounds closed due to falling ice

Release the Hounds had their undefeated string interrupted on Sunday, as they had to close down to concerns about ice falling from the CN Tower. In the interest of public safety, Toronto Police has decided to shut the Hounds down for the time being.

"I looked up, and there was this huge slab of ice being blown around like a plastic bag." witnessed deep-threat Austin. "It was one of those days when it's a minute way from snowing. And there's this electricity in the air, you can almost hear it, right? And this ice was just …dancing with me. Like a little kid begging me to play with it. For fifteen minutes. That's the day I realized there was this entire life behind things, and this incredibly benevolent force that wanted me to know there was no reason to be afraid. Ever…"

So, when will the Hounds re-open? Captain Simon Maycock was optimistic, "I think that as long as we keep working the swing, making smart plays and limiting poor turnovers, then there's nothing that can stop us."

Will the Hounds be working on anything to get things going faster? Word is that they could be working on some plays to open up some space. "Let's just say, I've got an ace up my sleeve" CTU agent Chris said. When it was pointed out that throwing nothing but scoobers is not the best strategy, Loat stormed off, but could be heard muttering "better than those damn floaty passes..."

This is contrary to reports that the loss was due to them sitting around the house, doing nothing but watchingTV, playing Playstation 3 and eating pizza.

"We go out and always play with intensity," Bonners countered. "We're not a bunch of lay-abouts...Sofa Kings, if you may, that are going to rest on their laurels. We're ready for any challenge. We'll be back on Sunday."

Chesterfield Royalty

OK, so this Sunday is the biggest game of our lives (because it's the next ultimate game). It's 1st place against the other 1st place, with the winners likely taking the top seed going into playoffs. Of course, given the talent of the top 4 teams, seeding really doesn't mean a thing.

Of course we know who is in charge of this team...our good friend Kevin. He's probably thinking, "There's no way I'm letting those Hound chumps beat me." Actually, he told me that...yeah, that's right...he told me...so let's get him!

Of course, I remember one time time when he came up against a group of Hounds at St. Mike's. It wasn't pretty...for him.I don't know what he's doing with his leg, but at least I had the disc there to protect me.
So, how to beat the Sofa Kings? Well, "Intensity Now!" is a must for the entire game on offense and defense. Defensively, just playing hard, switching when necessary (ensuring there is good communication) and throwing in some zone to change the pace will be the order of the day. As for offense, we've had some good progress, but let's be sure to cherish the disc on Sunday, and really limit any unnecessary turnovers. If we can capitalize on offense, that will put pressure on them to do the same. I'm sure Simon has more to say on the strategy...

Finally, here is a little clip where billywitchdoctor.com makes the Aqua Teen Hunger Force (and Carl) say funny thing.

I can’t control my brain

Something new that I'm going to try to make a ritual on my site is to put up some cool songs/videos up.

Today, it was snowing out. Not just some wussy little flurry either. It was "good luck trying to get where you're going in time" snowing out. And now it is expected the snow will give way to freezing rain. Wicked.

So, let's do a 180, and look at Weezer's "Island in the Sun". Not their best video (Buddy Holly and Gone Fishing are better), but really, this is probably the most re-watchable.

The song itself is pretty basic: singing about going away with that special someone and leaving all your cares behind. Probably sitting on the beach, with a fruity drink, wondering if you need more sunscreen...really, what's wrong with that? Nothing, that's what.

Of course, this has nothing to do with the video, which has the band (before they found their new bassist Scott Shriner) playing with a bunch of baby animals. Awww...cute...

I think what makes this such a good video is how understated it is. Obviously, the stars of the video are the animals, but Weezer and the director avoid being obviously cheesy (ok, there's still some roquefort present), and seem to be content to let things unfold, and let the stars do their thing. It's almost like "Animals Close Up With A Wide-Angle Lens" without the circus music.

My two favourite parts:

When the Chimp lifts up the guitarist Brian Bell's shirt.
When the bear comes up from behind Rivers Cuomo and licks his neck. Rivers' reaction is like it's a 40 year-old coked-out groupie ("Um, what are you doing, get away from me.").

So, if you've had a tough day, or if the bad weather is bringing you down, just click below and let Rivers take you away to an island in the sun, where you'll never feel bad anymore.