2/20/2006 - Tournament Aftermath

Today's practice was a very chill one. I did not arrive on the scene until 7:00pm and the team had not even gone for its warm-up run. Why you ask did I not arrive til 7:00pm? UCI Ultimate had just finished a tournament in UCLA where we took 2nd out of 16 teams, losing to University of San Diego in the finals. I, myself, have a very weak and sore ankle from the tournament and felt I would cut my time in practice back by an hour. Jerry came out in jeans because his upper quad is injured. Mike, who still seemed like he was in a drunken stupor, came late holding a half eaten apple pie. Absentees who played in the tournament: MVP of the tourney Matt Khosh, Raph, Alphabater Eric, Caline, Max, Bob 'Hucking Hero' Chan...

Anyway, starting at 7:00pm, there was a warm-up jog and then stretching. The only drill today was a break the mark drill with cuts from a stack. Basically, it was a go-to drill except that there was a mark on the forehand or backhand, and the cut from the stack would have to go break side. Jerry and I were the marks since we were injured and should not run. There were a fair share of handblocks.
Once that was finished, the team scrimmage with 6's due to the lack of healthy players. Since this was a 'fun' practice, there were several unorthodox plays including an endzone zone with a punt if the disc was turned, a cupasaurus with a 5-man cup and 1 deep, and a 2-man cup with zone. I'm prolly forgetting something, but with only 6 people on the team, improvisations were necessary. At one point, the light team with 6 played a dark team with 7. Practice was very high in spirit, although very unorthodox.
Another highlight of the night, Vonni brought out her roommate Mark who did spectacular. He is the best beginner we have seen in a while. A solid backhand with the ability to break the mark. He has height, in addition to hops from being a basetball player, and already the ability to catch with one hand. He's also quite fast despite wearing basketball shoes. We hope to see him come out in the near future.
The night ended with a team dinner at In-and-Out.

Video highlights:
New guy, Mark, handling the disc and going deep
http://files.filefront.com/2_21_2006___New_guyAVI/;4790575;;/fileinfo.html