OnThePitch - At home with a thigh burner

Tonight OnThePitch talks with the injured Mikey “Ricky Beats”  Strelan with his views on the match last night. We've had to pull him away from recovery exercises for this special, one-on-one chat at home. As you can see by his Heroes vault picture, Rick really is enthused about his current injury that sidelines him at this present time.

Heres a bit of how it all went down:

me:  so how did we play last night in your opinion

mikey:  from the sideline it seemed wonderful, the best part was that all of our passes stuck, and didn't make the unforced skill errors we are known for

me:  hmm yea that’s true, do you think it was a conscious effort made by the team to play better? Or maybe extra subs helped?

mikey:  to be honest I think it was just "about bloody time" - we've been together as a team for quite a while now and most of us have a few seasons under our belt... now is the time for us to come together and dominate div 2 buml

me:  I whole heartedly agree. What did you think of the coming of age of some of the newer players ie Vanessa and Chris

mikey:  chris is a dirty old man

me:  also agreed

 mikey:  but vanessa has really embraced her newly found adulthood. I think I misinterpreted your question mate

me:  well here at OnThePitch, thatll happen... I’d like to press deeper into you. How have the last few weeks been sitting it out on the sideline?

mikey:  speaking of deeper, I've got a deep burn in my sweet thighs and by that I mean that I'm in the middle of my hip flexors as we speak

me:  Mikey we can't even pull you away for a second it seems

mikey:  I have really enjoyed spectating, despite the undisclosed desire to get back on the field it's been a great insight in to what we look like from the sideline and we look great - these new shirts are most likely the reason we played so well

me:  Well then, from your perspective who in Heroes looks the best?

mikey:  last night’s game I was thinking about this ... initially I though Steph showed great strength and Chris had a good start too, but as the game went on I got distracted because EVERYONE was playing so well. Shouts out to Vanessa for a marvellous improvement, but also we saw a lovely leap to the end zone from Alana, great positioning by Megs, new found confidence from laura s and the not so unusual dominance from laura h

me:  Where do you think we can still improve Rick?

mikey:  uniform - we should all get white socks

 me:  and shorts? I was thinking white shorts for BPL and black for BUML? thoughts?

Mikey: yeah that could be a good combo, I liked the afl umpires on Saturday wearing green shirts like ours with blue shorts

mikey:  Also I think given how well we handled the disc last night we can start to focus on the drills that danny tries to make us do each week, which we can never master because we aren't mastering the basic skills

me:  Ok Mikey one last question

You've just been scored on in the grand final and the scores now 10-10. You get the Offensive play, how do you win it with a creative play?

mikey:  TIME OUT, get tomsteve off the field to avoid any hammers, thumbers, push passes, or any other stupid throws that tomsteve might try,... (hold on mate spaz is interrupting, apparently it should be called "offthepitch" coz im a softy)

me:  nice nice, i like your tactics already

mikey:  sorry I've lost my train of thought

me:  we'll do a 13th hour edit on the title

mikey:  All I was basically trying to say is to use your common sense, don't rush it, make passes that are guaranteed to stick and don't throw it away. I guess that's not really creative so if you want creative put tomsteve back on and pass it to him

me:  Tell me how your play would move up the field, if your 10m from the end zone do you hammer it?

mikey:  swing swing swing, pass up the field followed by another pass up the field. someone runs to the end zone and scores. call it simplistic but that's what I'm down for

me:  And that really is the basic premise of mikey's play: KISS. Not one for public displays of affection on the frisbee field from Mikey that is for tonight. Thanks to Mikey for giving up some time and we at Heroes Ultimate all hope your hip gets better soon.

Well there you go readers, it seems that even a softy spectator like Mikey, bound by the sideline enjoyed the game. And as always this has been me, you've been great and we'll see you next time - OnThePitch

Uncovering a Brown treasure

Lasts nights match has resonated with me and after deep reflection I've still come to a loss about where we found our little 'pop' princess. Vanessa tore up the pitch with well timed cuts that easily burnt her opponent. Then she almost knocked people over with the pace of her FOREHAND. Somewhere over the week little nesDog found a pock rocket of a forehand with perfect spin and execution. I'm pushing this girl up for big things, I reckon we found a great new target through the mid field of the stack.

And then it was a night where the Browns dominated, Chris, not to be out done by his little sister played a stella match and was right in the thick of it in just about every point Heroes made. I don't know whether it was training, a special warm up or extra coaching but these two Browns were magic on the field last night. Their efforts I felt were committed and well done all round to the both of them! (Now if only they could rub off onto their older brother... Hi Seb)

The final score was a nice 10-6 and Heroes Ultimate Frisbee Club is back on the winning trail

Great Bloody Mess

Tonight's match against Baby Chimi's saw us muck about a lot, with no discipline whatsover, at least from us old bastards who have been around long enough to know better. Vanessa became the reliable option, making the most reasonable cuts and also moving the disc on with confidence. Well done Vanessa! Her brother Chris must have been inspired, because he made some bustling cuts to the end zone, burning it up. He was also spotted warming down.. alone. What a man of commitment.

Starkey and Sean also threw some good ones, and some Carl to Laura sickening play :P saw us take the game 9-5.

Heroes V Chimis tonight

Hey all

just a note that Heroes are playing Baby Chimis tonight at Annerley (changed due to rain) 
Lets get there early for a few drills
Seeya then

Slammed

Last night I was forced to put my foot in my mouth after all that gloating on the Heroes blog. It didn't taste very nice. Are the predictions correct, that we will be smacked 15-3 every week, except by the team who gave us a pre-season chance? This lamenting captain thinks not.

Our prematch preparation lacked any sense of leadership or focus. Matt called us in less than 10 minutes prior to the start of play, as we were not taking the initiative to warm up properly. For whatever reason, we were flat, coming off the elation of last weeks success. SlamTown, on the otherhand, were fired up after watching us take it to Cobra's from the sideline, during their bye.

Basic handling errors from our experienced players in our back quarter combined with SlamTowns pace and frequent hucking success saw the score blow out to 8-0, within about 20 minutes. To our credit, we put a stronger challenge to the Gold Coast team in the second half, but they came away with a 15-3 scoreline; the game finishing early.

The positives came from the points where we forced the opposition to transition to man, as we were patient in working their zone.

Much improvement is needed for next week, boys, as is a large dose of self belief. I'm sure we will be hungry for a hard-fought game next week against Passion.

5-Ultimate

I have a surprise for y'all tonight!

Discheads - more like no uniformheads

Ok its a lame title but here at Heroes Ultimate we believe in putting the hard issues forward. And at this stage all I can notice is that Discheads still has no uniform and needs uniting. Its funny to be talking about this here but we consider them family (more like 2nd cousins) you know you love catching up with them every so often but you can't always remember their names...


So to rectify the problem we're going to run a competition to find the Dischead's a cool logo (well at least one better than I did, notice the slightly off-aligned name) Prizes will be given

OnThePitch - One on One with a Spiritual Leader

Today OnThePitch talks to Dstrel, the short little mistro of the Heroes. So during the week I've taken sometime to sit down and question one of Heroes top athletes on both his and his teams Monday night BUML performance. DStrel very much obliged and this is a copy of how it all went down.

Carl: So what about that heroes game?
DStrel: Ok, yeah. How ABOUT that Heroes game? Bit of an anti-climactic start. Dyspnoeics showed nothing, early on. I thought Zoro would be all over them.
Carl: I think we expected Zoro to work well - just like last week and perhaps we don't really have it down pat. I think the Dyspnoeics had it beat fairly easily

DStrel: Well the lights came on for Dyspnoeics first, metaphorically, and if the physical lights had been on earlier, it would have been valuable to practice cutting in pairs.
did we score the first point?

Carl: Yea I scored of a loopy forehand from Starky - he said, wow thanks for making that look better than it was – lol. I think it would be valuable to post that horo offense ppt from firestorm so some of the others can read up on it. Do you think some of our skill errors cost the game? ie bad drops

DStrel: I know that some of my personal errors, such as cold dropping an uncontested swing pass, and a hand block caused turnovers in our back end
and my pass into Dave’s face was a big blunder

Carl: But funny!
DStrel: But I think we let ourselves down through a lack of aggression.
We allowed them to swing the disc to the break side far too often, and we didn't offer enough hard under cuts on O

Carl: Yea agreed, most times we looked to go long i think it came off
DStrel: The most satisfying plays were the ones where we marched the disc down to our end zone… Swinging between the handlers, with poppers coming in and pushing it wide.

Carl: Do you think a draw was a satisfiable outcome to the match?

DStrel: Yes and no. It was a very winnable match, and a great opportunity to put points on the board. Considering way we started the match, being 5-2 down, we did well to come away with an 8-8 draw. We showed that we have what it takes. If we can do that from the first pull and keep up the intensity, and also the patience throughout the match, we should come up with the goods most weeks.

What were the highlights, for you, Carl?

Carl: Personally I appreciated the commitment to the game to get it back to 8-8, from being down as you mentioned. It was nice to have long time serving players like George and Luke running hard and making their presence felt. But the commitment of Dave and his face block* (ouch) to stay in the point was very good, more than I can say about my personal injury

DStrel: Yes, you went down quicker than a $2 hooker!

Carl: Maybe $2 is a bit stiff, at least $10, it was my bad ankle.
DStrel: that's value for money

Carl: I would have liked to see more urgent cutting long in the latter stages of the game but hey, everyone’s tired. Things to work on?

DStrel: Dump passes
Carl: Agreed. Hard cutting?
DStrel: cutting sequences - both in Zoro and vert. To our credit, I think we played best when they chucked zone at us. So the practice is paying off.
Carl: Surprising?
DStrel: What would be surprising is if a few Monday night warriors turned up to skills practice on Sunday, 4pm, Sylvan Rd.
Carl: Haha - I thinks that’s a low blow. Actually I’ve been really excited to see the estrogen influences of Steph at the back
DStrel: Female aggression?
Carl: Yes that too...
DStrel: Hey you know what would be cool? If a few BUML Heroes members got down to support the men on Thursday night.. It’s always good to see the game at the highest level..
anyway, we could go on all day I’ve got washing to do

Carl: Yea a bit of well drummed up support would be nice for the men in green
We'll see everyone there at 7.30

It was great to have such an expert insight and really get inside the head of one of the games great thinkers. This has been me, you've been great and we'll see you next time - OnThePitch

"It's worse than kissing you sister"

As the made famous by the Mighty Ducks quote, a draw is obviously worse than kissing your own sister. But last night nonetheless Heroes snuck in one last point to take the win away from Dyspnoeics and leveled the game at 8 all. Its a big call but I think the lights coming on very late cost the win for the Heroes... (What? fight me..)

Both teams played very evenly and the scoring remained somewhat close throughout the match. Dyspnoeics pulled to lead by as much as 3 drawing to the end of the game with a fast flurry of fantastically fluid scores. But the Heroes stood tall and got the game back to by within one at the last point. The game was definitely Dyspnoeics to win but as the old saying goes, Last point wins (Right...?) and Heroes probably came away glad to get the draw result in the end.

The match was played savage by the Dyspnoeic women and the men only had one sub up their sleeves but still ran hard all for most of the game. Maybe it was the lack of run at the death that allowed Heroes to get the draw. The late lights coming on probably cost the eventual win to the Heroes and I would say we could have won it easily with just 5 extra minutes. Memorable moments of the game? Hmmm not sure, add a comment if your itching to tell us... Will give a mention to Dave with some nice long D's that saved points - well done Dave for keeping us in the game!

Regrettably I rolled my ankle at the start of the last point and so today I took work off to ice and recover. Isn't it nice working from home? So I join the injured list of Mikey and now me. Next week both players should be back to full fitness.

1-2-3 Heroes

Just in case you don't read comments:

Mikey added some highlights
- Dave's efforts defending the end zone

- Hans leaping in to our end zone to score

- Carl (I think) throwing the disc up field to the opposition, which deflected off two dyspnoeics players and finally was caught by Chris

- Danny throwing the disc in to Dave's face, although I wish he caught it in his mouth

Super Hero Poll results

If you could pick one superhero to play for Heroes who would it be?

Results:
Superman 8 (36%)
Captain Planet 6 (27%)
He-Man 4 (18%)
Rouge 2 (9%)
Wonder Woman 1 (4%)
Wolverine 1 (4%)

Well done to Superman, you can come play anytime you want. To the others go play for some other team, we don't want you

Sucess on the Brisbane Stage

Some of you may have seen this already on the Brisbane Ultimate Disc blogspot (refer to link in the side panel) BUT for all you slackers who don't keep up to date with your mid-week Brisbane blog I'd like to announce that the new Heroes Ultimate Blog has come in 3rd with a score of 7/10.

And with the Heroes Blog about to be inundated with web traffic following their win over Cobras I'd suggest that its likely to move upward.

Torn Between Two

The aftermath of last nights BPL game Heroes V Cobras has brought about many questions to this lowly blogger.

1. What have I done?
2. Why did I change teams? (Common knowledge I'm a BPL traitor to Cobras)
3. How can the Heroes beat my new team?
4. What do I do now?

The answers to all those questions is basically train harder, lay out more and accept the loss. Apparently the answer is to throw a hammer but in this case I don't think it works.

But seriously as reflected in Dans post Heroes played great disc last night. And their plays came off, even with some lucky inside out hucks the Heroes made it count on the score board. Of course I'm glad to see Heroes winning and showing the BPL league a thing or two about the beloved club, but next time Can you beat another team and not Cobras...

In all honesty last night I wanted to prove why I switched teams and play hard to win. It was a nice feeling to burn Dan and throw a pass to score with Wetnose but all in all Cobras just didnt play the game we wanted to play.

Final assessment, well done Heroes I'm glad you were able to turn a win last night and keep it up - dont let it be a one off

Cobras, F***!

Upon arrival, one could sense excitement in the air. Excitement based around having some core members return. Excitement arising from the itch to get back on the pitch and prove ourselves. Excitement about playing a game which on paper seems our most winnable. The excitement of seeing Carl's team go down in flames..

So we were pumped. Excited, you might say. The last minute arrival of 3 subs proved important, as some long, running points were played out early on. The first point of the night was taken by Heroes in an unusual, comical (fitting) fashion. BPL debutant James "Panties" Morrell(da) took a great grab IN the end zone, before throwing it back up in the air. The disc was caught by yours truly, and I believe a pass to George and then Paul gave us the point. Wetnose informed us that James was in fact in the field of play, and the end zone, rendering his magic unnecessary.

Cobra's fought hard for the second point, but their frustration was obvious, hence the title of this blog. After calling a time out, they regrouped and the score meandered out to 5-2, with some long throws coming off, unlike our attempts. Heroes found some patience and consistency in O, whilst scrapping hard in D. We ended up taking the half (8-6) which featured some strong aerial skills from Gavin Croft and Bevan Rudolph.

At half time, Coach Boevink lead us in some breathing exercises. This obviously has something to do with Dojo and some sort of Sensei, but I don't really understand how to reference this. Cobra's again regrouped and came out strong, taking the game to 11-9. Whilst the breathing exercises brought an interesting touch, Matt's proudest moment of the night must have been when he sent Jangles long. Jangles had been handling all night, and beautifully, might I add, with some lovely flighted hucks. The move was executed just as beautifully, a demonstration of perfect flow.

Next point saw Myall take a blinder to score. He was moving fast, and toward the sideline. My view was blocked so I didn't realise what had happened until he was nearly in the creek, disc in hand.

11 all and last point brought about some risky play (of the hucking variety), but Heroes kept cool and James took the last point. If I mentioned Dusty's double happiness and Tom's relentless handling, I would have mentioned everyone. This is not my goal.

What was sweet about this victory is that it was unexpected. It is likely that the loss means more to Cobra's than the win to us. But the win is very pleasing, this early in the season. It brings respect.

Below are some out of context quotes for your enjoyment. I use them in jest.

"Unfortunately those players don't have much throwing experience and would get smacked if they entered as Heroes."

- League Director

"I agree with Stu that their scoreline success may be low"

-BPL Captain (was supportive)

"I also don't want to turn up to a game with full knowledge that my opponents are BUML Div 2 standard and they'll be lucky to score 3 points in a game."

-Firestorm Star

"byes DO s*ck. Walkovers aren't great either, if what Stu and Mike and John have said is true...

-BPL Captain"

"I also don't think we should rule them out as a team that will get thrashed in every game this season. They may well surprise all of us."

-Cobras captain

So there you have it. Well done lads, we have justified our existence.

Sweat

It's Thursday afternoon and I just got home from a moderate distance but hard intensity ride with a fixie rider. It wore me out. Pipe down, Carl.. I have all the ingredients for a good home made electrolyte recovery drink - Potassium, Sodium, Magnesium, Glucose....... water.................. snake charmer..

I think my unwashed shirt from Monday combined with the new body odour will do the trick

Heores Poll Results

No nothing can stop the force that is Carls moaning 6 (42%)

Yes, finally someone can put an end to it 1 (7%)

Personally I like hearing Carl rant 2 (14%)

Carl just plays good disc, his skills are only 5 (35%)
matched by his incredible good looks


As you can see results were very even but the experts say No nothing can stop the force that is Carls moaning.

Heroes Vs exQUisTe

Last night saw the pumped Heroes take on the newly kitted out exQUisTe in fluro pink (interesting selection) but they certainly showed more character than little girls in pink dresses. Heroes opened up with the new O strategy which we had never tried before. The new horizontal stack immediately showed up exQUisTe and Heroes struck to take the first 4 points of the game. The movement of the disc was superb with Steph showing her skills handling and myself managing to pull off a nice huck flick, up wind to score. Dave was quoted to say "That was probably your best ever throw" to me after we scored the point – (haha Hi Dave)

With Mikey showing the commitment of someone who should probably be engaged, laying out in the end zone in spectacular fashion, and unfortunately injuring himself in the process the Heroes were put on the back foot by exQUisTe. As Mikey left the pitch reports mentioned that Mikey was to say "Geez Rick, not in bike week!!!" Nice to see the bike doesn’t control you on the field Mikey.

The newer heroes really needed to step up to the disc in the midpoint of the game with Nessa excellently positioning herself in the right place to get a D on an opponent bigger than herself, well done Nessa!

exQUisTe soon came back with the help of a nicely structured zone which put the Heroes under the gun and drew some mistakes. The game quickly levelled to 5-5. The teams traded points and both got to 7-7. At this stage Heroes were still confident to get the win but with some again good defence exQUisTe were able to take the lead for the first time of the night when it really mattered. 8-7. Just at that time the game was time capped and last point called. (I hate time cap) Heroes threw everything at the draw and ran too hard for the disc, when on turn exQUisTe were able to easily swing the disc and score in the near corner to take the game by 2.

Heroes last night was a really great effort and all in attendance agreed one the better games we've played. For the first time we ever tried a Horo (or now Zoro) guys we did really well! Don't forget to get out for a throw mid week and again on the wkend. Focus on catching and swinging and looking up field to find those 4,5,6,7 cutters. Check out and study the firestorm powerpoint too. For mine Steph best on field and it was great to see silent G back to play a few points for the Heroes.

For the lawls

I am sharing with this you because it is awesome

Waargh!

Less than two sleeps to go you feral animals of a dog!

1. Be there around 8.30am for a 9.30am game, or I'll have you boiled in oil and served up for morning tea. We need time to get properly berzerk. The field is at Brougham St, Fairfield.

2. Tribute to your Chief needs to be in the form of $45 for two days, $25 for one. Gold, diamonds and other pillage will be considered.

3. Wear a white shirt so that you are not accidently slain by a fellow member of the horde. Bring a dark shirt as well, and a flagon for your ale. If the weather is foul then be so too.

4. We will be devastating our foes at the pagan festival on Saturday night from 7pm at an extremely hip and trendy Verve Basement Cafe in the city. The address is 109 Edward Street (the block between Mary and Charlotte Streets).

5. Website info from the Blackest of Betty wenches - http://blackbetty.quda.org/?page_id=142

6. We presently have 16 registered and a few more may turn up (if you have blood brothers, get them registered). The Heroes Adventuring Party folded due to lack of a cleric, so we have taken their fighters for our own. If we have more than 18 then I will invite volunteers to be spurned onto another team. If we have more than 22 we will form into a pincer movement and take them by surprise.

See you at the ritual sacrifice.

Jason
04222 45054

Disc Golf

So since probably a year ago I've been interested in disc golf and how cool it is. It takes a lot of control and throw skill to pull off a great shot on the course. But where in Brisbane do you go for a round of frisbee golf?
The Australian Disc Golf Association states that there are only two courses for us to play on - John Bray Park and one in Noosa. I also know of one in Yeronga next to the YUFL playing fields.

The theme I'm getting out of this is that to play Disc Golf in the Western suburbs means traveling ages just to get a golf fix. Therefore I propose that few of us get together and find a great park to play in. In my search I've located Azanc Park in Toowong which I think would be great. Get onto to google maps and check out its potential!!!

Comment and lets maybe get the council to put a course in!

http://maps.google.com.au/maps?utm_campaign=en_AU&utm_medium=ha&utm_source=en_AU-ha-apac-au-sk-gm&utm_term=maps

http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/BCC:BASE::pc=PC_1110

http://www.discgolfdirectory.com/australia.php

Discheads Vs Poachers

This night saw Discheads vs the formidable poachers who brought their A game (for once). Poachers played man first up on the DH's and play was pretty much even with the Poachers taking an early lead by about 3 or 4. To the surprise of this blogger Im told the discheads fought back to be up by one at the halfway point through the game.

Through lack of fitness and eventual skill errors the mighty dischead's, Poachers were able to place their 'killer zone' as reported by rookie player - CraigyB. All reports gave way to a fast paced game were the poachers were able to get a roll on and score the last 8 or so points.

Game notes: Bev as usual anchored the side handling (questionable tactics given his sweet as leaps) with Alex and the Spaz roaming up field getting lots of disc. Raving mention came to the performance of Jo, Corrie and Chantelle with some nice cutting and strong presence on the turf.

Better luck next week Discheads, train hard and put in 100%
End score 9:5 Poachers (apparently)

Heroes Vs Cougars

Well last night saw the Heroes take on the Cougars. I liked our chances coming up against what seemed to be a very unfit team of teachers, however I did not take into account the crazy skills of their incredible player Mike. An impressive display of skill took the cougars to an early lead of 2-0 over the heroes.
We were somewhat in awe of Mikes efforts, Laura was quoted during the game to say "WOW, he's good"

However we weren't totally beaten, as we scored two quick points in succession and the team got a bit of a roll on which helped the cause.

Highlights of ChirsB hucking the disc to Benfer in the end zone to score was quite fantastic to see. Also impressive possession game to combat the cougars pretty intense zone was very pleasing to see, we just needed to wait for the scoring opportunity to come instead of going for the glory pass (which happened on a few occasions) might have meant the game finished more evenly.

Final score was 11-5

New Uniform

Heroes have been sporting a very nice uniform now for a few seasons but the brains trust obviously decided it was time to update the gear for the new age which is here. Introducing the new Heroes uniform template.

Hopefully you all ordered the new strip and soon it'll arrive and personally I think it'll give us that fighting edge over the others, something like the Jamaican Bobsled team

Heroes gets a blog

Heroes on 3

Yes that's right the beloved heroes squad (inc heroes, agent orange and discheads too?!) has expanded to need a mid week blog commentary on all things Heroes Ultimate.

Use this blog to check out interesting stuff and review the games too. Add things to the blog and keep up to date with the rest of Brisbane ultimate news.

So add this link to your favorites and bookmark it on your web browser, give it a water and be sure to use fertilizer and soon we'll have a nice blog to call our own!