UMassacre Update: Day 1

First day of the of the first tourney for the 2010-2011 Dartmouth Pain Train. A lot of learning was done, especially on our zone looks. More details (and some pics) will come later with the Day 2 post. For now the results:

1) Dartmouth 9 Tufts 13
After taking half 7-6, we let our foot off the gas and Tufts ran away.

2) Dartmouth 13 Cornell 6
Our zone d was looking better with each point we played. There was essentially no wind, so it was particularly awesome to force some turns.

3) Dartmouth 13 ARHS 9
Once again, we rode our zone d.

4) Dartmouth 13 Wesleyan 8
The wind picked up during this game. After building up an 11-2 lead, we let our foot off the gas and Wesleyan came back. We got there eventually.


Overall, 3-1 on the first day. A lot of good stuff from the train, but also a lot of room for improvement. We have UMASS B tomorrow morning to finish up pool play and then bracket play later in the day.

A huge thank you to the Diamonds, parents of Spencer Diamond '14, for inviting us into their home, making us pasta, and collecting blue glass. You are our sunshine.

Yo Alums!

We're compiling a list of where Dartmouth Ultimate alums are playing these days (thanks to Mike Zargham '07), so check it out and add anyone else you know of. This will be a good way for alums to catch up with each other at tournaments and whatnot. Here's the google doc:

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=thqsHoo6DYcrjFn_4-fNmkA&hl=en&authkey=CIX6_4sK#gid=0

Congrats to Zargham, Misha, Rohre, Mandy, Marika, Kevin, Liz, Siegs, Agan, and Shmi (and likely others) for making it to Natties!

The Immaculate Inception of the 2010-2011 Pain Train and Discomfort Trolley

Today was the first day of tryouts for the 2010-2011 Pain Train, as well as the first day for the 2010-2011 Discomfort Trolley. These are their stories:

Pain Train

The first practice of the Train justified the team name entirely – as it was both painful and locomotive. The level of intensity was high and all of the tryouts were working really hard to impress the venerable Politburo.

The tryouts began with the 3-handler weave drill, which got some the blood flowin' and the sweat drippin' despite some chilly New Hampshire temperatures. This was promptly followed by a good old fashioned go-to drill with some west-coast dishy-like twists.

After the drills we split into three groups (Team Chase, Team Lars, Team Sam) which alternated between scrimmaging and doing the super-nasty/triangle-of-death drill. The combination was challenging to say the least, but also incredibly fun – we got to play competitive ultimate and cheer on our teammates, to that we say: boomslam.

Our next activity was focused tossing: 150 throws. 25 flat/inside-out/outside-in backhands (75 throws). 25 flat/inside-out/outside-in forehands (75 throws). Breadbaskets were hit.

Lest we rest for too long, we did full-field sprints followed by what is now known as either “Misha-Time (M-T)” or “Misha's Booty Boot Camp (MBBC)” (NOTE: do not google the second term). Misha Sidorsky 10' will be using his ultimate experience, encyclopedic knowledge of strength and conditioning, and hot bod to train us this fall. We are all incredibly grateful for the opportunity to have Misha instruct us in painful, yet ultimately constructive, calisthenics. One of the best parts of our conditioning was how vocally supportive we were of each other. Some, though not all, of the magic of this team stems from it closeness, and it clearly showed today. Ronnie Coleman quotes (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PO45iY7hilI) abounded.

After our first encounter with MBBC, our legs were gelatinous, our shoulders hurt, and our cardiovascular systems were heavily taxed, Nottingham under Prince John.¹ On the bright side of things, doing all that core work at the end of practice directly caused a bunch of dudes to take off their shirts and dazzle the lady-folk with their abs. Thanks Misha!

Discomfort Trolley

On the other side of the road, past the practicing women, the DT started working its magic. After some wildly irresponsible scrimmaging to start things off, the Trolley settled down with some concentrated throwing. Moving right along, though at an uncomfortable pace, the Trolley-ers did some flow drill and went over the mechanics of handler and cutter motion in the ho-stack.

After some more scrimmaging, there was working out of abs and pushing one's body off the ground repeatedly, as well as the freshman cone drill, with a cameo by Jon Wills 11'.

According to one anonymous, and incredibly biased, account, the practice “went awesomely!”

1For more information on the Likeless Simile, the literary device used in the sentence, please refer to:

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Likeless%20Simile

Layout Practice!

14s were looking gooooooood.

Second Practice and Sectionals Recap

Second Practice

The second practice of the year was a lot like the first practice. There were a lot of 14's. We taught them a simple version of a three handler weave, the flow drill, and played 3v3. We ended practice by scrimmaging with the womenses, which included a lot of flirtatious fun on and off the field.

Sectionals

“ Got loads of compliments on how well things ran - congrats on a great tournament Dartmouth Ultimate!” – Matt Mackey 08'

Ah... The first tournament of the year. The aroma of tourney food (and a smiling Matt Mackey 08' and Maggie Zou 12', our venerable TD's) welcomed us to Sachem. We split into a ballin' team of 14's, led by James Kim 11' on the first day and Jon Wills 11' on the second day, and a team of returners. This was a learning experience for everyone, as we were trying to familiarize ourselves with the new offense. We had two goals going in to the weekend: one, have a lot of fun; two, get better each game.

We met both goals. The fun was taken care of pretty easily, as we all like each other, and we ate sausages and steak tips. Yummy.

Our second goal was also met. Our new coach Brook never missed a “teaching moment,” and helped us improve our timing and positioning on offense. The highlight of the tournament was our first game on Sunday against our new conference (the grouping of teams formerly known as a section) rivals, the Pranksters of Middlebury. The game was decided on universe after several lead changes and minor comebacks. Even though we lost the game, it was competitive and it was by far our most complete game offensively.

It is worth adding that a number of our returners were playing with club teams, which meant that due to eligibility restrictions they could not play with the train. But it also means that many of them will be playing at Regionals, gaining valuable club experience. Wicked.

Overall, a great way to start off the year and get the Train and Trolley rolling.

First Fall Practice!

“You guys look like an army”
Thought by awestruck Women's player, upon witnessing the horde of chiseled men warming up

Yesterday, September 23rd, was the first ultimate practice of the fall. After a boot-filled orientation, followed up by diligent stalking, recruiting, and general administrative work, the venerable politburo of Dartmouth Ultimate succeeded in luring freshmen to pastoral Sachem.
Once we had them in our grip, and after a brief warmup, the captains and Brook introduced themselves and explained some general things about the program. With the boring talking section out of the way, we started teaching them the basic skills: throwing, cutting, marking. The leadership was aided by a whole slew of “extensively awesome upperclassmen” in teaching the 14's and other newcomers, who, it must be said, displayed a great level of skill. Every year the freshman class comes in with more ultimate experience, making teaching that much easier.
After this, the returners played two points of a mandatory showcase, just to give the new guys a sense of what (close to) full speed, (gratuitous) layout-rich ultimate looks like. Then we scrimmaged.
At the end of practice the captains led us in a stretching circle in which each person introduced themselves and revealed their first AOL screen name. Highlights included: freakykid59, larsistrouble, barnthazul. Fun times. We went bananas at the end.

Attention Freshman!

Welcome Class of 2014! If you're interested in playing Ultimate Frisbee at Dartmouth then you're in luck, because Frisbee is starting up as soon as you show up for Orientation. Here are some times/places that you'll be able to hang out and play some disc:

- On the Green during all of Orientation! As often as possible we're going to be tossing some frisbees on the green and hanging out. It's a great time to come out and throw a little, ask a few questions, and get the lowdown on what Ultimate at Dartmouth is all about!

- After the first day of classes (Sept. 22). There's no better way to complete your first day of college than getting out to the Sachem Fields and playing some frisbee. There will be rides leaving from Dartmouth Hall at 2:50 to bring you to the fields. Practice goes from 3-6pm, but rides can accommodate your schedules if you have other commitments but still want to play frisbee.

- Friday, Sept. 24 Second Practice. We get to practice a couple times and get the hang of our throws before a super exciting tournament on the first weekend of the term! Practice from 3-6pm again as we get pumped for Sectionals the next day.

- Sept. 25-26 Sectionals! A tournament for Club Teams (non-college affiliated teams - the club season is in the fall, whereas the college season is in the spring). We bring two teams from Dartmouth to play since we host the tournament on our fields, one for returning players, and a whole team dedicated solely to freshmen! There is no experience necessary, and it's lots of fun. If you think you'd be interested in playing for even just part of the weekend send a blitz to MUF@dartmouth.edu .

- Informational Meeting! There will be a meeting early in the term explaining all the awesome reasons that you should join Dartmouth Ultimate, so be ready for a blitz about that in the near future.

Enjoy your trips, and we can't wait to meet you all!

~ The Pain Train & The Discomfort Trolley

Yale Coffee Cup Recap

After it was postponed a week due to not clement weather in New Haven, the Yale Coffee Cup tournament hosted Dartmouth's newly-selected Pain Train, as well as our very own Discomfort Trolley and 4 other teams (several teams that had initially been signed up dropped out after the tournament was rescheduled). Due to the small size of the tournament, the format was changed to a single day of round robin play, so we had 4 games Saturday and then we were done.

This writeup will be for the Pain Train's weekend--the "Disco Troll" will (hopefully) get their own writeup online soon.

SATURDAY: (surprisingly warm, with increasing wind throughout the day)

Game 1: vs. WPI (Worcester Polytech)
After a sloppy first point, the Pain Train pulled together and put together some very solid ultimate. The O-line was running smoothly, the D-line getting turnovers and working the disc, and overall Dartmouth Ultimate took care of business.
Dartmouth 13, WPI 4.

Game 2: vs. UConn X
Our second game of the day pitted us against UConn X (equivalent to UConn B I think), another fairly easy matchup for us. Our O-line was again running smoothly, and we were getting turns on defense. We were far shakier than we should've been in the red zone (near the end zone), however, which is clearly something for us to work on. In the end though, we were able to punch it in on nearly every point and cruised to victory.
Dartmouth 13, UConn X 1.

Game 3: vs. Yale
This game faced us off against a much more competitive matchup than our previous games had, but we rose to the challenge in the first half. The wind had picked up noticeably, which was causing both teams' throws to behave poorly and extended points enough that, combined with starting the game behind schedule, lead to the soft cap going on during half time (we were up 7-6, after starting on D and getting a break in the first half; a "break is the term for scoring a point which the other team started on offense). But we came out of halftime looking unfocused and sloppy and gave up two breaks almost before we knew what had happened. It was only at this point that Yale informed us that soft cap (usually adding 2 to the highest score and playing to that number) at this tournament actually meant only adding 1 to the highest score and playing to that, and just like that we had lost the game. While it was certainly a shame that it had happened like that, we need to be better about staying focused and keeping our energy up throughout an entire game.
Dartmouth 7, Yale 8.

Game 4: vs. Amherst College
Coming immediately off the Yale game, we were out of it for the beginning of the last game of the day, vs. Amherst, and our O-line gave up several breaks right off the bat. From here, we got rattled and were unable to recover any ground through the rest of the first half. A big problem of ours this game was man defense, as we seemed to have a hard time taking away simple in-cuts. Our zone offense struggled as well, either being too hesitant with the disc or trying to hard to get it upfield quickly. We regrouped at halftime and were able to settle down and get a couple breaks in the second half, but the damage had been done.
Dartmouth 6, Amherst 11.


All in all, it was a good first weekend for the Pain Train. We got some experience playing together, did some things well, and found other things that we need to work on--pretty much all you could ask for from a fall tournament. We'll be heading down to Brown in a couple weeks to see if we can improve on our first showing and head into the winter on a high note. And a thank you to Yale for hosting despite the setback of having to reschedule the whole tournament.

Purple Valley Recap

It's been a week since the Tryout Train rumbled through Williams for the infamous Purple Valley tournament, but what is seven days if not the perfect amount of time to wait before writing a tournament recap?

Early on the monring morning of October 17th, a bunch of Pain Train tryouts rolled out of bed/Hanover around 6 am and headed down to Williamstown, MA for Purple Valley, a tournament hosted by Williams College every fall. This tournament has always featured a mix of teams who brought their A-team and come to win as well as teams like Dartmouth, who are still in the middle of the tryout process. We kept the subbing rotation open and gave our guys a lot of chances to play ultimate, and if the score sheet didn't look too great, so be it.

SATURDAY: (chilly with light wind)

Game 1: vs. UMass
Unfazed by the fact that we were unable to find out which field we were playing on until 15 minutes before the games started, Dartmouth Ultimate came out focused and ready against UMass, who was the 1 seed in our pool. After a few strong points to open the game, however, the inexperience of our younger guys and our open subbing rotation began to take its effect and we started slipping behind. Nonetheless, we saw a lot of promising play from our tryouts and playing against an A-team really showed us some things we could work on as well.
Dartmouth 5-ish, UMass 15.

Game 2: vs. UConn
UConn was another strong team in our pool, who had shown up with an A-team and were in it to win it. This game featured some zone defense (and therefore zone offense) from both teams, which was a great opportunity for us to improve at zone, which we had only practiced a little so far this year. Our tryouts played very well throughout the game, standing toe-to-toe with a solid fall A-team.
Dartmouth 5-ish, UConn 15.

Game 3: vs. Williams B
Our last game of the day squared us off against Williams B, a much less serious and competitive team than the two we had played so far. Results-wise, this game went much better, but we started to get a little sloppy and complacent towards the end, giving them more chances than we should have and not valuing the disc enough when we had it. Nonetheless, a fun game and a good way to wrap up the day.
Dartmouth 15, Williams-B 3.


SATURDAY NIGHT: (dark, not warm)
What happens at Williams stays at Williams.


SUNDAY: (Forecast: highs in the 30s with a 100% chance of rain/snow; Actual weather: temperature in the 50s, with only a slight drizzle in the afternoon)

Game 1: vs. Wesleyan
Day 2 started on turf fields for us, with a good game against Wesleyan. They appeared to be in the same situation we were, in trying out players, and as such it was an even game with several good points. We went up early in the game thanks in large part to the strong play of the members of the class of 2011, but sadly gave up our lead soon afterwards and went into halftime down a couple. All of our guys played well this game and we saw some real talent from the underclassmen tryouts. Though the final score didn't go our way, this was a great game from our perspective (as a tryout team).
Dartmouth 11 or 12, Wesleyan 15.

Game 2: vs. Middlebury
It's hard to know what to expect from Middlebury ultimate; as a program, they seem very much on the side of fun ultimate over ultra-competitive ultimate, yet for all that they have been a good team in recent years. Last spring, in fact, they came in 3rd in the New England region. For this game, we went through our entire warmup without seeing any trace of the Middlebury team, and then right when the game was supposed to start they materialized on the field behind an array of tables and cardboard boxes that we couldn't recall being there earlier. Once the game had actually started, however, we played highlight ultimate, making plays all over the field as well as in the air. Unfortunately, in our excitement we often immediately threw away the disc after such plays, but we'll fix that by the spring.
Dartmouth 9 (?), Middlebury 15.

Game 3: vs. ???
We technically had another game scheduled, but our opponent had apparently left already, and we had (home)work to do back in Hanover as well, so we piled back into our vans, got lunch, and headed home. And a big thanks to Williams for hosting a solid tournament and providing us with a place to stay Saturday night!

Cornell X/Y Recap

This past weekend, the 26th & 27th of September, found 19 intrepid Dartmouth upperclassmen braving Ithaca and a 6 hour drive to play at the Cornell X/Y tourney. Since it was an X/Y tourney, there were no full A-team rosters at the tournament--instead, teams were generally a mix of veterans and rookies, and those in between. These tournaments give teams a chance to see their underclassmen in action on the field, while giving those underclassmen experience playing higher-level ultimate. Win-win!
As for us, the Pain Train brought a team of mostly sophomores (2012s) and juniors ('11s), and they did not let us down! Despite having only a few handlers with us, we were able to put together a bunch of solid performances that speak well for the future.

SATURDAY: (Sunny, some wind)
We started off our tournament Saturday morning with a game against Cornell X (Cornell fielded an X and Y team, as well as their B team). A good game with several flashes of brilliance from our young guys, but the Buds solid play and a couple extra errors on our part meant that we were always a little behind on the scoreboard.
Dartmouth-X 10, Cornell-X 13.

The wind picked up a bit for our second game, this one against UConn X (UConn brought an X and Y team), so we decided to try out our zone defense, which we have yet to practice this year (due to just starting classes last week). Despite that, our young 'uns stepped up and we were able to cause lots of turnovers, many of which we eventually converted into scores of our own. This game was also good experience for us in dealing with wind on offense, and despite the fact that we won 13-4, this game took almost the full 2 hours.
Dartmouth-X 13, UConn-X 4.

The third game of the day faced us off against Williams X (the only team Williams sent to the tournament). Nothing seemed to go right for us in this game, as WUFO jumped out to an early 5-1 lead and we were never really able to recover. Many of our problems in this game came from simple execution errors, dropping passes or throwing it away, and Williams didn't give us enough second chances to recover our confidence. They were ready for our zone as well, and their extra practice time so far this fall (we had practiced twice, total, before this tourney) showed as they ran away with the win.
Dartmouth-X 3, Williams-X 13.

Game 4, and the last game of Saturday, matched us up against UConn Y, who gave us many more problems than UConn X did. The wind was again strong in this game, but UConn Y's handlers were ready for our zone and they were able to score on it consistently. On offense, we had a mixed bag--some points were like works of art, where we were able to move the disc beautifully and score quickly; others were sloppy and featured several drops and off-target throws, usually leading to a UConn score. In the end, we didn't have enough of the good points and UConn pulled away.
Dartmouth-X 8, UConn-Y 13.


SATURDAY NIGHT: (Dark, rainy)
Everyone was tired and not interested in getting rained on, so we stayed cozy in a house the Cornell women's team was kind enough to let us use (they were at a tournament in Buffalo). Thanks Cornell women's ultimate!


SUNDAY: (Overcast, rainy)
Sunday got off to a delicious start with breakfast bagels at a place which is nearly identical to Hanover's own Bagel Basement, except this place (College Street Bagels, perhaps?) was not in a basement. Our first game was against Brown X (the only team Brown brought) and we came out playing very solid ultimate across the board. In addition to some big plays by the upperclassmen, including several bids by co-captain Alex Kell '10, a slew of '11s and '12s stepped up for us in this game. Among them, Garrett Simpson '11 played well all-around and had a tremendous layout D in the endzone, and Scott Sottosanti '12 was a rock-solid handler for us in a close game where each possession mattered.
Dartmouth-X 13, Brown-X 9.

After the Brown game the rain started to fall, and we found ourselves playing against Cornell's B-team. Our zone D had holes that need patching (practice!) but our man-to-man D was stifling and despite some miscues and wet-disc-related mistakes, we were able to punch it into the endzone on most points. We displayed definite improvement through the course of the game--it was a great game for showing what we can do, what we need to work on, and for getting our players a bit more comfortable with a wet disc.
Dartmouth-X 13, Cornell-B 3.

The rain continued through the last game game of the day, this one against Cornell Y. The fields at this point were a torn up mess of mud and wet grass, which made sharp cutting more difficult. Our lack of handlers became a more serious handicap in the rain also, as we had trouble connecting on deep shots. This allowed Cornell to really pressure our in-cuts and we struggled to drive down the field on offense.
Dartmouth-X 4, Cornell-Y 11.

With our last game of the weekend over, we changed into dry clothes, piled back into cars and headed towards Hanover. A big thanks to Cornell for hosting and running the tournament--it went smoothly and was a lot of fun and good experience for the team.