Semester 1 2010 Wrap-up!

So I've left the summation of Semester 1, 2010 a little bit long, but as we're now finding we can't even remember the team names of 2008, it might be worth putting it on paper and succumbing to the fact that our brains were never given a proper chance.

So the finals were indeed won by Hard Force with the game being a tight one. The Blue Sharks went down 15 - 10. One point below my prediction, which if it were right would have made me a proven and gifted psychic (but only while under the influence). Beginning to ponder the meaning of the universe and questioning my powerful and raw psychic potential I asked myself in passing "If I only got it wrong by one point what does that make me?". A more astute Jean retorted "NOT-pyschic!", completely shattering any dreams and premonitions of grandeur I nearly had.

With a few weeks to catch up on I will quickly run through the events of the past few weeks:

The final Wednesday night of league for all but the teams in the finals saw all three lower ranked teams defeated by their higher ranked opponents. Motherhuckers overran the Heavyweights, Hard Force edged out Yellow Fever, and Pink BAMFs defeated Blue Sharks. Blue Sharks were then allowed through to the Semi-Finals as the highest ranked defeated team.

As mentioned both of these team's semi-finals games went down to the wire, both on points and time, and both came out ahead close to "lights cap" 2 points (Blue Sharks) and one point (Hard Force)ahead against their respective opposition, Motherhuckers and Pink BAMFs.

My team the Heavyweights, which not having won many games was starting to look like a repeat of The Savages from the previous semester, DID NOT win the WOODEN SPOON in a game against Yellow Fever. After Tim Roland took out one of Yellow's players, sending them to the nearby hospital alongside their captain, yellow just seemed to mellow, a little too much. The clever game altering strategy by the Heavyweights was to appear as if we weren't playing for keeps, but still win as many points as we could. Part of this strategy entailed a "bum point" which was a compromise from an undies point only involving Tim, to being a point where all male players Finny, Brad and myself hung our bums out like gansters without undies. This served the purpose of distracting Jean a lot and strangely enough Tim, from our own team who was meant to take part but instead squealed like a schoolgirl.

What a great season for all those teams!

Amrrca vs. 'Straya game

Team America
The following Friday's Amrrca vs. 'Straya game was certainly a hyped-up spectacle. Many of the 'mericans appeared to be drunk and already beginning to drown their sorrows or just unable to handle the first beer they'd ever been treated to. The Aussies arrived in force with a good sized turn-out of players 20+, making it almost impossible to get rid of the adrenaline and find good form early on, but a good thing in the end. The game ended with time on the lights running out. America was defeated 9 - 10 by the Aussies at timecap. The biannual event has now been marked with a pretty disc shaped trophy which was awarded at the end.
Victorious Team Australia

Finals Predictions - Semester 1, 2010

With all the crap going on at uni, the clock-like inner workings of the Townsville Ultimate Blog have been put on hold. Hopefully the study break will supply ample time to wind the clock and get things going again. It will more than likely need the input of a few spectators and players for the scores of the 6 games that were played last week, plus the spectacle/barbecue of the World Cup game between America and Australia.

Predicting the finals was the next step of the predictions which has been left till this week. Seeing as most of the other predictions I made were wrong, I'll pick up from the true results instead of predicting the game I predicted the finals to be.

So this week we see the Blue Sharks take on Hard Force. Both of these team's semi-finals games went down to the wire, both on points and time, and both came out ahead close to "lighs cap" 2 points (Blue Sharks) and one point ahead against their respective opposition, Motherhuckers and Pink BAMFs.

The Blue Sharks are looking like the team to beat now after downing the Motherhuckers, though I think it will still be hard to top Hard Force and the lift that comes from playing in a final. Blue Sharks seem to be packed with a little bit more depth in some of their players with Zane leading the charge with creative strategies they've got James who'll be key on defense, Peter handling and moving the disc quickly, and....that's about it...oh wait, don't know if this counts but Deanna Finn (the less fortunate sibling of Matt Finn, the Heavyweights Superstar)...To her credit she has been outscoring James David, god's gift to sports. With all of the Blue Sharks' intra-team competition it's a wonder they get anything done.

Now we're looking at Simon Urquhart, whose last full season in a Townsville League it will be. This needs to be the fairy tale ending that Mike had been dreaming of for himself, replaced by Simon and Simon's team's victory. Along with the Presidental House bragging rights after the America defeat on Friday, this would just be the icing on the cake that is the stellar Townsville season for the young space monkey. There is fair-natured Ian, who has certainly been smack talking it up wherever he goes, perhaps having spent too long around me before the showcase game perhaps. Oow! There's the Ray Brigade! THE BOOTS ARE ALREADY SHINED I'm sure! There's Jess, who usually has just played rugby and rocks up really smelling and sweaty and noone can bear to stand near her. This usually works in her favour, but does she have rugby tonight or is the season over? What will her strengths be if it is over? The beginnings of her tan from many weekends on the beach? I don't know but this should provide some good heckling material for the sideline.

As for what the teams bring, Hard Force are gonna have to look out for some really quick running swing movement, messing up the defense and poking holes in it as well as some imaginative defense catered specifically to their opposition from The Sharks. The Sharks will have to look out for the 5 -year prowess of the cuddliest man in Townsville, that's right ladies, Simon Urquhart in his final season here! Ihear that one will just poke holes in anything!!! Ba - dum - ching!

I'm going for both teams, but perhaps blue is the more unfortunate colour on a state of origin night! I think this will really be a close one, let's hope it drags out a bit and come down and enjoy the BARBECUE. I'm personally in favour of Blue's line-up and playing style but I think that Hard Force will have the mental toughness and edge that is needed to take the win. Hard Force 15 - Blue Sharks 11.

GAME START TIME 7:15pm!!!

Our very own Micky L.

A currently interesting new website highlighting Australian Ultimate and Australian players is ForceSideline.com. Who knows what their credibility is yet but all will be revealed soon. The interesting thing about it though is our very own Mike Larson appearing on it in a team picked for a mock team draft with a distinct Queensland flavour. Here's how they describe it:

"Taking inspiration from The Huddle’s mock draft last year, Force Sideline introduces the Force Sideline Fantasy Tournament. A couple of months ago, we invited five people and two other ultimate blogs to participate alongside Force Sideline as team owners in a draft, where they could pick any Australian-based player to be on their list."

Mike managed to appear in the slutty tail end of the pick, but appear he did! and I was clever enough to notice, otherwise we might've missed a TownsVillain escaping Townsville-only appearances!!! Some possible good reasons he might have stood out. Mike's few tournament appearances have usually gone pretty well with his regionals performance this year (a magic game against Beer Barbarians sniping assists on almost every single point for the win) placing him a suspected 2nd overall in that competition on MVP votes and if I remember also a stand-out performance for Townsville at Mixed Nats 2008 after less than a year under his belt and Hamish to compete with for the top spot. Having only played for 2 years, and in Townsville alone, this is pretty good. If none of these reasons explain it, then perhaps he slept his way there. Anyway, check it out, props for a Round 12 to spot Mike.

My Predictions...Hugh

My predictions:

The reduction of the length of games will wreak some havoc on those teams not prepared for it. It will mean a change in playing style for a lot of teams and potentially an unexpected end to the games. If we use a cap in which once the buzzer goes off, that point is played out before declaring last point after that, it may allow some of the close games to be properly decided. If the game ends on the buzzer, havoc will ensue.

HEXAFINALS
Heavyweights will match up again in a repeat game of the one they played last week against Motherhuckers. The motherhuckers are once again plying their physchology PhD captain’s phychological mind manipulation tricks or PMMTs. Wanting the Heavyweights to think it’ll be another walkover game, the Motherhuckers have been mentioning how the result of this game once again doesn’t matter to them as they’re through to the Semis anyway. This is just a front. The result does matter because it decides who they’ll face in the Semis, they will play hard. Not wanting to face off against a harder team early on to end up with a weaker finals they will do their best to win this game (why have we employed this structure Zane?). They will employ everything they’ve got including COBRA!, PMMTs, and even a no-hands point! The Heavyweights will come into the game thinking they’ve opened up the flaws of the Motherhuckers offense, and that they will just apply all the countermeasures they can. The Motherhuckers, still wanting to play COBRA!, all night will be just waiting for the taller defenders on the Heavyweights to come away from the deep area and take on handlers and such. This won't eventuate straight away and the Motherhuckers will be left twiddling their thumbs waiting for the chance at COBRA! all the while still manipulating things with PMMTs and other magician-type tricks. The Heavyweight's track record will get them off to a good start, with lots of points early. This lead will fade towards the end of the hour time limit, COBRA! will be played and bring the scores close to level. It'll be a close match. Heavyweights 10 - Motherhuckers 8.

Hard Force will then play Yellow Fever. Yellow Fever being ranked under Hard Force will be giving it all they have. If they lose their heads the game will go to the cool and calm Hard Force, though they have the talent to beat them. Duncan’s braces are coming off soon so will he be smiling pre-emptively or in lockdown? That is the real question. If more pressure is created it will cause Yellow Fever to implode. I predict a win for Hard Force. Hard Force 9 - Yellow Duncans 6

Pink BAMFs, always the fun team will be looking to take a win tonight. Their past record has shown they're capable but will occasionally succumb to a loss. The relaxed nature of their team and unshaken confidence will give them an advantage going into this game. Captain Dave however could freak out and pull out some dumbass ninja moves and get them in trouble. The Blue Sharks, with their doubtful captain (see predictions below) will be hard pressed to match some of the receiving talent of the Pink BAMFs. With lots of unanswered points scored by a few players on Pink, the Blue Sharks will flail and fail to come back and will probably go down after the quick lead made on them by Pink. Pink BAMFs 11 - Blue Sharks 5

SEMIFINALS
The Semi Finals will follow this game almost immediately. It will be the Motherhuckers facing Hard Force in a Semi that they both wish could be the final to enable bragging rights at home. Once again disappointed but not ready to miss out on another finals, Simon and his team will really bring it. But they don’t call him the General for nothing. Leading from his armchair in the backfield he’ll be sending out the privates for the beach landing, that is, smashing away Hard Force for some easy early points. Slightly demoralised and shaking their heads, Hard Force will attempt to fight back. Eventually they’ll lift their heads once they realise they have a chance. Timecap will be forgotten with both presidents competing and play will continue till almost lights-off. Mike will "suddenly" remember this and using some more PMMTs will yell “Next point wins” if his team is behind and on “O” in that next point. If he’s in front a simple “last point, lights out soon” will suffice. I predict a win for the Motherhuckers, there’s no way the General will be missing out on his first final in 2 years let alone, losing his first final, but it could still happen. Motherhuckers 8 – Hard Force 7

The other game will be almost like a wooden-spoon off version of a semi-final with the Pink BAMFs facing the Heavyweights. Having only planned up to winning against the Motherhuckers, the gameplan of the Heavyweights will be slightly confused causing them to slip behind in the points stake. Not wanting to see this happen again, captain Hugh will have to really make sure his brain and team spirit are working tonight! Pink BAMFs win with timecap 8 – 4

Woodenspoon winners will be the toughest match to pick. Who wants to win the title of Wooden Spooner by losing their last game? Who knows? This match will be more rigged than a sailing boat. The Blue Sharks will probably do their best to win, but will miss out on the Wooden Spoon which will go to the mentally exhausted Yellow Fever, who having now missed out on making something of their winning streak, will be happy to finally get to let things slip. Blue Sharks 11 – Yellow Fever 4.

What will happen tonight...Zane

What will happen tonight…

The Motherhuckers although guaranteed a semi final berth due to their number one ranking will be still fired up to see off the Heavyweights. If they lose they will end up playing Hard Force in the semis, thus ending the Mike /Simon final run. Motherhuckers will dominate, Heavyweights implode. Game one to Motherhuckers by 5.

The second seeded HardForce would expect a hard game from the fight for your lives Yellow Fever (previously the Yellow Duncans) but this won’t eventuate with Hard Force easily going through again by 5 (Would write more but no ones cares about Yellow Fever). Finally the Pink BAMFs will trash the Blue Sharks (10-2) in the final hexa-final game although the Blue Sharks will go through as the highest ranked loser.

In the semis continuing their great run the Pink BAMFs will destroy Hard Force by 6 goals while in the upset of the round the Blue Sharks in a massive turnaround will beat Motherhuckers 10-8 with the game being stopped due to the lights going out. This of course sets up the final next week between the Blue Sharks taking on the mighty Pink BAMFs leaving Mike, Simon, Duncan and Hugh to man the BBQ.

Cheers Zane

Run Run Run cause it's fun.

Having played basketball ages ago (in the dark ages before I knew about Ultimate), I never used to understand why our team would always run back to the other end of the court to set-up zone defense. Not understanding or more likely disobeying it I would often sit there up at their backcourt end where they threw it in, waiting for a chance at an easy steal as they threw the ball in (to a retarded player who wasn't moving much or expecting me to try) and I'd often intercept it and have an easy lay-up. This kind of thing works at lower levels of play where the awareness of the player isn't there and where the pressure usually isn't found. Why not apply the same thing on the frisbee field?

Our finals begin this week and the intensity will hopefully lift to another level as everyone tries to rid themselves of the stress of the end of semester and focus all their energy on running around on a field chasing a frisbee. At least that's what I do when I come to play.

Thinking of things tonight that will help lift this intensity almost straight away and which is something that is easy for beginners to apply immediately is:

Running hard as a team on the pull.

Who's hungry for a D cause that's what you can get when you run hard on the pull. Getting downfield early puts pressure on the first throw which is usually made to a player who's moving in a forward direction or standing still (with their defender running the opposite way towards them) unlike other cuts in frisbee. Getting there early takes away this first easy upfield throw. Individually, if you can get there quickly enough with an unaware handler or receiver taking then it can be an "easy" run-through D.

As a team on the field in Ultimate again, if everyone runs hard on that pull then your whole team is now apply defensive pressure 2 or 3 throws earlier than normal and making the other team work harder for that ground.

My team is ready for the lift in intensity so let's see all the teams run hard to get down there and make things harder for the opponents!

See you Wednesday!

Amrrca vs. 'Straya!

This game will be taking place this Friday the 21st at around 8pm! The field will be the University AFL fields. Come down and support Australia and pay out America, those chumps. Bring your cleats and some beer.

Facebook event is building a following here.

Round 8!

Blue Sharks 13 smashed Yellow Fever 2

Heavyweights 13 def. Motherhuckers 9

Hard Force and Pink BAMFs


It was like the Blue Sharks wanted to return the favour of their last defeat at the hands of Yellow Fever. When these two teams last met, a strong Yellow Fever managed to punch the Blue Sharks right on the nub of their nose, while an extra random nationals bound player on Yellow just added the insult, poking them in both eyes till they went away and victory was clinched. This time around it seems that the Yellow Fever had reached a worsened stage, and they were too weak to poke and prod at the Blue Shark to keep it at bay, let alone sucker punch it and poke out its eyes! It’s like they thought they’d be patting dolphins but instead got plunged into a shark feeding frenzy. Blue Sharks 13 def. Yellow Fever 2.

Well well well, we’ve known it all along. The Heavyweights really are a tough bunch. Apparently half their men eat grenades for breakfast while the other half are made of a light-but-strong titanium alloy, and their women can squat your daddy! Luckily East Germany wasn’t represented tonight (Yvonne) or the Motherhuckers would’ve been assembled, measured, and told loudly in a harsh german accent that they’d never amount to anything worthy of sporting greatness! That would’ve put even more of a damper on the top team. Just like when Beth skied Mike, her genitals hitting him in the face before he passed underneath her and then she went on to get the goal and achieve double happiness! I suppose that's nothing compared to 5' nothing Frenchie Tom deeing up myself, in the endzone with an embarrassing overhead catch bouncing out of my hands because of all his "defensive pressure". Heck both teams will be playing again at the start of the finals in another do-or-die game for the Heavyweights but if the ‘h*ckers get their way it’ll be “COBRA! COBRA! COBRA!”…all the way to a win…? Well done to both teams for just having a fun game! Heavyweights 13 def. Motherhuckers 9

A plague upon both your houses! It’s like tonight someone had a put a curse on both these teams, the Pink BAMFs and Hard Force. That curse being in the form of a hangover that gave everyone on each team the dropsies! No doubt the witch of Norway, Kathrine, who created a volcano in less useful country Iceland to halt her travels longer in Townsville, also schemed this curse up in the form of another “farewell party”. Thankfully this time having used her powers on the attendees at the farewell party to give them all a case of the dropsies and the massive win for the Blue Sharks (above), she was unable to maintain the cloud of ash spreading over the northern hemisphere and departed the next day, this time for real. Kathrine = Curse = Hangover = Dropsies = REALLY LONG POINTS = GETTING MORE EXHAUSTED = MORE DROPSIES! It’s a vicious cycle! Hard Force 13 def. Pink BAMFs 11

Looking forward to next week’s 2 game night –
Finals Games followed then by the Semi-finals and the Wooden Spoon match. 7:15 start so be there with your teams nice and early (my team get there at 6:30 – other teams not so early). BRING LOTS OF ENERGY!!!

Results! Round 7

Sorry about last week. Here's the results from Round 7

Pink BAMFs 13 def. Blue Sharks 9
Motherhuckers 13 def. Yellow Fever 8
Hard Force 13 def. Heavyweights 10

Blue Sharks played against the Pink BAMFs trading points up to 9 -9. With Fraser still injured and Peter absent the Blue Sharks were doing quite well considering. James David has begun his downfall with Beck getting a grab over the man they call "James David" (it's his real name and his nickname). But with Bevvo leaving the Sharks at 9 -9 it was just too much. Pink BAMFs 13 def. Blue Sharks 9.

Yellow Fever played against the Motherhuckers. The Yellow team started off well against the top ranked team and they reached 5 -5 together, tied. Then Fever made one of their "less smart" decisions of the game opting to go long on a lot of their points. Reason it was a bad decision was because: Orangutanga Larson was lying in the nest he made, which just happened to be anywhere near a floating disc. That orange long-armed guy then just had to swing down through the trees to snatch those goals from Yellow Fever. Carlos had a bit of scoring spree with 2 or 3. The girls on Yellow played respectable defense. But with long armed boy everywhere it just wasn't on for this team this week. Motherhuckers 13 def Yellow Fever 8.

The Heavyweights lined up against Hard Force in one of their random weeks where they have like a Kajillion (being 4 or 5) subs as opposed to the usual 1 or so. One of their subs this week was the ever popular and widely known Mansauce, up from Brisbane. Some say his seed is spread so far you can see it from the moon. The game was supposed to be a full strength + extra strength Heavyweights taking on any other team and winning, but it didn't all go to plan. The Heavyweights struggled to find continuation and timing with their cuts and often looked a little bit stunned. It was Hard Force's time to shine. These guys played a hard cutting offense which really exposed the Heavyweights on the mark leaving them on the wrong side and opening up the break side a lot. Sam Jones played well as a handler, offering a good swing option which then moved the disc up the line for good continuations and more of their offense leaving the mark behind. A close game, but not close enough to keep the Heavyweights one game winning streak going. Hard Force 13 def Heavyweights 10.

The worst thing about Frisbee...

Its funny how life works. It’s funny how the people that are in your life for the shortest period of time, often have the biggest influence on your life. It’s funny how a friendship can begin through a simple word or action and can end in a single second.

I’m lying here, wide awake on my bed. I haven’t gotten much sleep as of late, as I’ve been thinking about the same thing, Over and over again. This thing that has plagued my mind since starting the sport of Ultimate this thing I call the worst thing about Ultimate.

You must understand that Ultimate is a great sport, but with this, comes a downfall. Ultimate is much like a double edged sword in a way. Like many sports Ultimate paves the way for friendships, and uniquely to Ultimate, it forms friendships from all around the world. But with this, comes temporary satisfaction, friendships with an expiry date if you will. What am I talking about you ask?

Well, as many Ultimate players know, this is only my second season playing Ultimate, and as Hugh has pointed out many times before, I am only new to this game. In the first season of playing, I got the chance to play with some of the greatest people I have met in my life. The likes of Kevin, Esser, Katie and Sears. However, little did I know that at the time, they were here temporarily. As I only started I was not as close to these fine folks, yet they left so abrumptly, I had no idea what was going on. Until I realised that their visa’s only lasted 6 months. It was standard really. I know for a fact I wouldn’t be playing as well as I am now if it weren’t for these international students, but it wasn’t what they taught me on field, but of field that mattered. Yet saying goodbye to these people was so hard... Why? To this day I don’t know.

6 months, 180 days. All the same really, the standard study visa. Every Ultimate season, we are caught looking around only to see the absence of familiar faces, the absence of certain laughter’s or screams or simply the absence of a person’s presence. It is through these absences we realise how lonely and quiet it is without them. Though through the ending of one season, we realise that a whole new batch of international students have arrived.

Nicco was a guy that I had first seen on a Sunday Frisbee session, at first I did not want to talk to him, as I thought he was weird (In which you can’t blame me). But one night, after toga party, it was me, him and three other people, we were all drunk and sitting on the floor of Shay’s kitchen talking. The only thing that we could communicate through the language barrier was laughter. No matter what language, heritage, country or age, everyone recognises laughter. It was through laughter, and laughter alone that changed my whole outlook on my views on Nicco. That night, we all joked around, ate garlic bread and Nicco and I have been friends ever since.

It is the outside parties and events that form these tight friendships us locals have with the international students but with this also comes burdens. Since the start of the season, I have met some of the greatest people I have ever met in my entire life. Some of these people I will never forget for as long as I live. These amazing people that have come into my life and changed the person I am. But with this, comes the heaviest burden of all, the fact that they are here temporarily. It is so easy to forget that these people are only in your life for a short period of time and it breaks your heart every time you remember that they will be gone, it hurts to think about Frisbee without them.

It is so hard to say goodbye to any friend, but to know that from the start of the friendship there is an expiry date makes it even harder. It got me thinking about seasoned veterans, the likes of Hugh, Mike and Simon. Could this be the reason why they have been distancing themselves from Internationals students?

The constant disappointments of having to say goodbye to good friends, the disappointments of making promises that you’ll see them again, but knowing that you probably won’t. If this is true, I don’t blame them. Forming friendships, knowing that you’re putting yourself up for heartbreak down the line. It sucks having to think about things like this, but it’s the reason why I can’t sleep.

Who’s going to throw popcorn on the ground?

Who will hold parties to celebrate nothing?

Who will boast about America aimlessly?

It is these memories that we will cherish forever, because it is all we have once they leave. However, it is these memories that I will hold closest, because I know, that when I look back, I will have no regrets. I know that I will one day tell my children about the best time of my life and how I met the most amazing people, with the most amazing stories from around the world. This people, I now realise is the greatest part of Frisbee.

Goodnight Guys.

Look into my eyes. The eyes, the eyes. Not around the eyes. YOU'VE GOT THE DISC!

For those new players struggling to get hold of the disc in these somewhat competitive games and for those handlers who aren't able to utelise everyone on their team, here's a tip, use more eye contact.

If you're the cutter trying to get the disc, you have to make the cut as though you want it. Communicate this to the thrower, make eye contact with them and hold it till they either tell you "yeah here, here's the frickin' disc" or "nah, your defender's too close, bugger off".

If you're the handler and see someone cutting but they're so used to not getting the disc that they've turned around to clear out before you've even noticed them, beckon them in, yell their name, point at them; sure the defence will know, but that's when you make the decision to tell them "yeah here, here's the frickin' disc" or "bugger off"!

'straya vs Amrrrca! Mick or Mike?

Who's excited about it? If you haven't heard there's trash talk coming from the Seppos about an Australia vs. America game! They're so overconfident, as Seppo trash usually is, that they actually want it to be Amrrrca versus the Wurld even though they're already gonna get smashed against 'Straya mate!

Not that we're worried, but Mike Larson is talking about turning his back on us after carefully integrating himself amongst us Aussies over the past 2 and a bit years. We taught the bastard and this is all he's got for us, ingrateful. There will be no more aussie alterego name of Micky L for that "guy"!


Well stay posted for more info on when this showcase game will be. Get those eskies filled and ready for a decent spectacle!

League, Round 6!

The 6th round has been played, all the teams have played each other at least once, some may never play again as we enter the tail end of the semester.

The surprise result for this week was:

The Heavyweights 13 def Pink BAMFs 12

Here's a detailed report on such a special special moment! In their first win for the season and some might recall, my first win in 2 semesters(might I remind anyone mocking, that my team did come 2nd the semester before that one - going down by 1 in the final) the Heavyweights were playing their A-game without their B-squad, having B and C grade names like Mark Franich, Yvonne Rank, Troy Mallie and Ashley "Who did my washing?" O'Sullivan all pulling out due to various girly and unsavioury excuses which are outside the essence of this blog to mention (Ashley was learning about the discovery of humans. Duh! Like we didn't know they existed already!).

The game was a strongly mixed game, with a lot of equal match-ups. The strong female presence lifting Dave's drive for his team to succeed to new heights! Beck was trying hard to weaken the female presence on the field and lose the equality that women have worked hard for in the last few decades by not understanding the key difference between needing to jump on the field to play the called "3 girls" point while still being allowed the drink she was so seeking. Instead deciding that both a drink and then coming back on to play wasn't possible or perhaps allowed (after all some scary guys were yelling things at her). A few confused minutes later she was dragged and beaten from the sideline and the game continued...

The Heavyweights as usual were up by a lot at the start, 6 -1, but as usual slipped back as things started to come together for the opponents. The key difference in the Heavyweights' tactics for the win this week though, as pointed out by Brad Studders, was that "this time, we let them bring it to half" which was taken by the BAMFs. And sure enough as luck would have it that was the secret of the win!

The game featured a lot of sharing of the disc to all the players which both teams did well. This really helped to utilise key mismatches and get the disc moving. The Pink BAMFs played some kind of two person cup zone with a player poaching in the lane. For some reason this sort of worked as the Heavyweights struggled to work out how to threaten different areas of the field and drag defenders out of the areas they wanted, however it wasn't completely successful. The Heavyweight caught up again to the lead they'd lost. Tim "TomCat" Mertens had started off the game with a fiery fully extended grab in the endzone and just kept the cuts and points coming, nabbing 3 goals all up in the end and with a lot of good respectable cuts and catches. One more key moment came again from Brad Studders, ending up dropped back as a handler and surprisingly making some great throws (no turnovers) and assisting in the goal. With D and Tim "Toilet-Run" Roland beginning to split the defence of the BAMFs, this worked out to be key for the Heavyweights win. Next week we celebrate this WIN with pre-game beers! And get back to our old form in drunken style, except Brad, who was finally sober and finally managed to throw the disc to someone in a respectable manner. Well done Brad, keep it up!

Yellow Fever 13 def. Hard Force 10

This week's game between Yellow Fever and Hard Force was an intense game with a lot of good pressure from both teams. Yellow Fever managing to find just enough pressure on defense to instigate a number of pressured drops from the other team.
Let's hear from the Yellow team captain the Dunc, for a nice wrap-up of this game:

"This week's game was nothing short of intense with both teams struggling to put girls on the field but having enough to play 7 v 7. The game started out slow with both teams trading point for point until scores locked at 4 v 4. At this point Hard Force made a surge for 2 quick points before Yellow Fever responded with 3 continuous points to bring the game to half. The second half was much more brutal, with points going for long periods of time and with so few subs, players were getting worn out quick. When scores were locked again at 10 v 10 it appeared Hard Force were going to come from behind and steamroll Yellow Fever like they did in Round 1 but with some quick plays and good catching and handling by all players, Yellow Fever got one point up on Hard Force. This point was followed by two further long points which were both scored by Yellow Fever to finish the game at
Yellow Fever 13 v Hard Force 10. "

It was also noted by the feverish captain that each player on his team managed to score at least once, quite a feat at the best of times.

Motherhuckers 13 def Blue Sharks 11

The Blue Sharks came looked excited to begin this game against the top ranked team the Motherhuckers. They looked excited because they were excited. They came out to an unstoppable start to the match, really working the Motherhuckers and forcing them to play hard. The blue sharks took the first half 7 - 4, with a lot of quick points.

This in turn lead to a change of strategy for the Motherhuckers. The game had started off with them kindly playing man defence against the quick moving Blue Sharks, but a change of pace was called for and a bit of cup zone defence was played to break things up when the disc was with the Blue Sharks. To counteract the scoring assault they'd received in the first half Mike "Orangatanga" Larson switched out of his team and pace controlling position as handler and switched his laser from stun to kill, receiving throws and making goals off long hucks to the endzone. Alex from the 'huckers was his partner in crime, putting up the hucks that made the Orangatanga arms reach up high to pull down almost all that they could. To the Blue Sharks' credit though, James "I also have long arms" David wasn't about to let all of them through that easily and put up some D to endure a bit of an aerial battle with the Orange Coat Guy for the second half. Katherine Langeland, who shares the same gecko like hands as her older sister Stine also had an impressive game it has been rumoured. Instead of being the reason for her team's loss this week, Katherine decided to take some responsibility for the Volcano in her part of the world and stay and be some use to a frisbee team.

The wear and tear of only playing with 8 players for the whole game also took its toll on the Blue Sharks as the Motherhuckers pressed on and attacked, they wearied and leaked points to bring the scores to 8 - 8 in the second half. Fighting on again, with Zane organising the team to play some tough defense, the score see-sawed until the Motherhuckers were up 11 - 10. Tom also had a great game on the Motherhuckers with a lot of speed and some layouts to pull off some good catches.

There was an unfortunate collision right at this point in the game in which Fraser was injured and had to be taken to Hospital. Just a reminder to people not to mess with Sarah Catlin. We hope he came out of it alright and wish him all the best.
The Blue Sharks lost the next two points to the Motherhuckers and the game was over.

The Barbie!

Oooh, it's exciting, yes we had a barbecue! Lots of people were there and keen to play. As everyone knows already James David, the arrogant new blog poster, got schooled by Hugh Osborn, the hero of The Villains and the person writing this blog post, after James spent the days leading up to the pick-up game trying to trash talk Hugh with his teenager street slang. Alas, Wednesday also marked the day we all expected Katherine, Stine's sister, over from Norway to be gone, but it wasn't to be. Due to some poor brainstorming by the gods of ultimate, taking their wrath out on the northern part of the world with huge clouds of ash to stop any frisbee games there, she's still here and will likely be participating in the Blue Sharks' defeat by the Heavyweights when the Heavyweights get their first win with a touch of Mansauce McCasker next Wednesday.

The game was good with a nice balance of spectators (eg. Tim Roland, who is a chronic spectator, the worst kind, he loves everything about ultimate, the women, the beer, the food, the parties, the women, the atmosphere, except playing ultimate) and players (like Mark Franich, the new poster child of Ultimate in Townsville - goodbye Simon Urquhart you have served us well), as well as player/spectators, the type who like to sneak off for a sausage and beer whenever they get the chance and stay off till they get forced back on (mostly everyone else).
Apparently Deanna Finn, once again dropped a frisbee in the endzone, but it is worth mentioning that she also caught one ie. she finally scored. Who would've thought!?
Matt "3 time Ninja Warrior champion" Finn's favourite game, Ninja Warrior, was participated in after the packing up was done. Jean in her first game of Ninja Warrior, although having some Asian blood in her, was useless at avoiding the dangerous strikes of anyone nearby and lucked out early. Luckily for us again though Jean helped in doing a lot of the cooking for the barbie though, along with Mike "Oranga-Tongs-a" Larson and a few other well-wishers standing around waiting for the food to cook. Thanks to everyone who helped out and to the organisers Mike, Simon and probably the barbecue king Duncan.

I hope everyone enjoyed the food and drinks at the first barbecue as well as the joy of playing and watching the game. See ya next Wednesday.

Keeping it in the game

The emphasis for explaining rules in our league is usually left up to the captains and to experienced players so that we can get off to a quick start. The responsibility for following the rules rests with these people early on, but it is also everyone else's responsibility to get up to date on the rules as soon as they can so that they can participate in the self-refereeing that is part of the game of ultimate.

Sometimes misunderstandings or disagreements of the rules can cause problems between players on the field on different teams and just generally disrupt the flow of the game. In a beginner's league we often try not to overwhelm people with rules and just get on with the general joy of playing the game, still though, by not letting ourselves get sloppy and by adhering to the rules of the game rather than overlooking them when it's easier to, we can make the game more structured and fair for the people willing to play a game by its rules. Knowing and adhering to the Rules of Ultimate is not only a more spirited and fair way to play ultimate but will also dissolve disagreements that are caused by any casual or uninformed breaches.

I would just like to post parts of the rules that I think are becoming more obscured lately. If you haven't read the rules yet, just skip this and go and read them.

Anyway this time it is the section on continuations (after picks, fouls, violations) as it is a rule that has recently become confused and play-ons situations are now occurring without the confirmation by the team making the call or without play even stopping. This is mostly surrounding picks. Here it is just so you know.

16. Continuation after a Foul or Violation Call
16.1. Whenever a foul or violation call is made, play stops immediately and no turn over is
possible.
16.1.1. However, if the foul or violation is called:
16.1.1.1. against the thrower and the thrower subsequently attempts a pass, or
16.1.1.2. when the thrower is in the act of throwing, or
16.1.1.3. when the disc is in the air,
then play continues until possession has been established.
16.1.2. Once possession has been established:
16.1.2.1. If the team that called the foul or violation gains or retains possession as a
result of the pass, play shall continue. Players recognizing this should call
“Play on” immediately to indicate that this rule has been invoked.
16.1.2.2. If the team that called the foul or violation does not gain or retain
possession as a result of the pass, play shall be stopped.
16.1.2.2.1. If the team that called the foul or violation believes that possession
has been affected by the foul or violation, the disc will be returned to
the thrower for a check (unless the specific rule says otherwise).
16.1.2.2.2. If the team that called the foul or violation believes that possession
has not been affected by the foul or violation, the play stands, they
make up any positional disadvantage caused by the foul or violation,
and restart play with a check.

My simplified interpretation:

IF you haven't thrown it you hold it and stop.
If you have thrown it play continues on until possession is established.
Then, if the team who called the foul or violation gets the disc from this throw then they call "play on" and you keep playing. Done.
If they didn't get the disc while possession was still being decided then play stops. Ok, so basically we always stop when it's not a turnover.
If that call relates to how the person on the other team ended up with the disc, then the disc goes back eg. a pick happens, their player ends up with the disc. Game continues from there.
The next part says what happens if their call had nothing to do with the play, in this case, they make up their disadvantage (ie. pick call and they're a few metres behind) and the disc stays where it was caught and they check it back in. Game on!

So hopefully that clears up picks etc. No more playing on unless it's a turnover but you should call "play on"! OR conversely play always stops unless it's a turnover! No more arguments or confusion about that one I hope!

Anyway all rules can be found off the AFDA site or this link to a compact version: http://afda.com/resources/WFDF%202009%20Rules%20-%20Pocket%20Format.pdf
That's the pocket format of the rules which you can print out easily on one sheet of paper!

I recommend people have a read of all the rules if they haven't already!

Week 5 Results!

Motherhuckers 13 - Hard Force 10

Blue Sharks 13 - Pink BAMF’s 11

Yellow Fever 13 – Heavyweights 8

After the first round of competition, we can now see where all the teams are standing. It could be said that after comparing the line-ups in week one, there are a few surprises in the order. However, don’t be fooled. For it is the next 5 weeks that are the most crucial, because it is the top four teams that will progress through to the final and the bottom two teams that will be left to battle it out for the almighty wooden spoon.

Will Mike make it to 5 seasons in a row?

Will Hugh’s mum receive yet another cooking utensil?

Will Simon and his gang get his long awaited grand-final rematch?

Will Zane and his posse continue with the fairytale run?

Will the Yellow Duncans be as effective without Dave? Or

Will the Pink BAMF’s continue on their winning ways...

Over the next 5 weeks, these questions will be answered, and it is time, and only time that will tell. However, as every ultimate player knows, it is never to late.

The Motherhuckers started the game with 6 players on the field, missing their key strike player Criegan ‘Gibbo’ Gibson, due to a mid week soccer injury. However it was later that the tables turned and Motherhuckers gained a player and Hard-Force lost a player and was left with no choice but to play with 6 players. With only 6 players on the field, the decision was made by captain Simon to run a 4 person cup, which proved to be a great idea in forcing turnovers, however with a four man cup playing Savage, it was only a matter of time that cup became fatigued, except for Rowan. The four-man cup soon turned into a one man ‘superman’ cup consisting of Simon desperately lunging and scoring some sweet D’s. However the night was all Motherhuckers and some sweet catches by Melanie Burgess, distracting body of Sam, James David like reflexes of Mike, and pin-point accurate ‘puts’ by Alex ensured the Motherhuckers went on to finish the first round of games with only one loss, even with the absence of key players towards the end of the game. Motherhuckers up 13 to 8.

The Pink BAMF’s got off to a flying starting leading 2-0, though with a new defensive scheme, the Blue Sharks struck back taking the lead 3-2. The scores bounced back and forth and reached 6 all, before a Bobby miracle flick ensured the BAMF’s took out the half 7-6. In a game where each point took at least 5 minutes, the cups on both teams were being run ragged. However, it was through the careful handling of Zane, Peter and Fraser that the Blue Sharks were able to keep their nose above water and keep a one to two point lead through the second half. It was the combination of Dave and Bobby in associations with inspirational D’s by Rob that kept the Pink BAMF’s in the game. With two drops in the end zone, not naming names (DEANNA), the Pink BAMF’s crawled back to 11-11. With a crowd of over 20 fine folks brewing, it was game time. Where the best players were put to the test of Ultimate pressure, not even Michael Jordan himself had experienced such a clutch moment. With every single player on the field gasping for air, an entire team was forced to hold Shay back from running onto the field and playing. It was Katherine in her last game in Townsville that got the ever so important goal over her older sister Stine to ensure bragging rights going home. Though with their nose just in front, the Blue Sharks could not be denied a victory taking the win 13-11 in a thriller. Special mention goes out Katherine and Fraser on the Sharks and Bec, Stine and Ryan Miller on the Pink BAMF’s.

In this battle of the bottom two teams, pride was on the line. With the Heavyweights flaring off their new team singlets they were rearing to go. The Heavyweights lined up this week with a new mentality and prepared for battle. In the beginning of the game the teams started off even with the points going back and forth like a tennis match. After a 2-2 buffer, it was the Heavyweights who pulled off to the first assailable string of points to lead 6-2, however it was the Yellow Duncan’s who replied, taking the half with a 5 point comeback. The Heavyweight’s used their height to dominate a lot of points, though with mistimed cutting, miscommunication or simply lack of awareness, the Heavyweights couldn’t capitalise on valuable field position and turned over the disc. The scores once again see-sawed through to 8 all and with the Yellow Duncan’s finding their best defensive form of the season, kept the Heavyweights scoreless. Standouts for the Heavyweights included Brad, Yvonne and Vaporeon, also a special mention to Jean, Rob and Carly for solid efforts in defence on the Yellow team. Yellow Fever is on a two game winning streak, defeating the Heavyweights 13 to 8.

It is also worth mentioning that whilst winning is a high priority and pride is on the line, winning should not be a sacrifice for spirit. Keep in mind that the reasoning behind the rule of a no referee system was based upon Ultimate being a player run game, with rules being called and challenged by the players themselves. It is through these rules that the spirit of the game exists and it is through the spirit of the game that makes Ultimate such a tight knit sport. We need the spirit of the game to ensure that at the end of each game, we can still walk away as friends, with no grudges being held. For this is why Ultimate is the best kept secret in the world, it is the joys, memories and lifelong friendships formed outside the game that we remember forever. So remember, play hard, but keep in mind that it is a social league and ensure that friendships are not broken through on the field arguments.

I would like to finish with a quote from Ashley O’Sullivan when asked:

‘What does it take to become as good as you?’

“The best Ultimate player is not the fastest, fittest, strongest nor tallest. The best ultimate players are the ones who are the smartest. The player with the best strategies, mental attitude, motivation, awareness and overall knowledge of the game, are the ones who make it the furthest. For Ultimate is all about being in the right place at the right time, so practice your throws and catches, but always be aware of the mental side of the game. Like in all games, the most successful players are the ones who arrive first, and leave last. “

O’Sullivan, A 2010.