Reshuffling the Ranks

With the recent talk of there being a Heroes Div 1 team forming I would like to put forward my thoughts on this topic as well as on how the club should proceed into the future.

For starters I’m not even sure there is a need for a Div 1 team. It seems that most people that are interested in playing Ultimate at a higher level and / or have the confidence in their own ability to play in at that level are already playing BPL or have a Div 1 team. Forming a new team under the Heroes name would then put the latter group in the unfair position of having to pick between their established teams and us.

Now onto what else could be done. As I am sure everyone is painfully aware, the numbers we are getting to each game is amazing to see but it doesn’t allow for much play time. What it also does is destroy any flow or cohesion to form between points. I believe this contributed to us underperforming during some games this season especially in the finals (both teams we faced had 2-3 subs max). “What can be done?” I hear you ask. Well I propose we see a return of the Agent Orange! A return that will see him challenge our Hero again.

With the combined current teams of Heroes and Discheads there should be enough numbers to fill a third team. By my count there are 15 boys and 13 girls. We might need to recruit a couple more to provide a few subs but surely this would be easier than trying to find 5+ more people to fill a Div 1 team.

Please comment on this thread with any other suggestions or thoughts. Perhaps we could even get a poll (it seems only Carl has the power to create polls.)

BUML Awards

Here in the Heroes secret lair, its been decided that these soon to be covetted throphies should be given out to the Most Improved Player, the Heroes Most Spirited Player and the Most Valuable Player. These awards will be given out tonight before kicking on at the brew house.

Club Tradtions

This Heroes Ultimate Frisbee Club has been around for a long time. In that time we have enjoyed moments of success and failure. Throughout there has been a strong sense of unity and passion for the club that we all love. To honor that tradition it is time to start to reward some of our best playing efforts both on and off the field. So Make sure you're at the game on Monday Night for our 3rd place show down so after it (when we win) we can give our some awards for best and fairest, most improved, hardest working and so on.

We will also be planning the post season party so be there to have your say.

Also in the mode of tradition lets reflect on where we came from (photo supplied by Dstrel and Sean's Facebook)

Coming undone (Major brain explosion)

As the title suggests last nights semi final was very disappointing. We played Cougars and without their super star Mike we thought we had this in the bag, and I for one was already looking to the final, big mistake. But don't get me wrong, we were still focused on the task at hand. What was frustrating was that we did all the little things right.
1. Hold a training session on Sunday arvos from 3pm  CHECK
2. Rock up early, make sure the whole team is there  CHECK
3. Do a warm up drill to get the blood pumping  CHECK
4. Do that drill well  DOUBLE CHECK (in fact we smashed that drill)
5. Be excited we' re in the semis   CHECK
6. Even win the toss and choose to be on O first CHECK

As you can see everything fell in our laps, Cougars even played savage for parts of the game! So what happened you ask? We had everything going for us to win, we had more players so we could ran harder and longer and everything was shaping to go well. Then we went down the first 2 or 3 points. Argh why was this happening?
Cougars played well, very tight and used a give and go tactic that suited their structure perfectly, we couldn't get much D working, except for Silent George. Actually I was congratulating him on some awesome blocks and I said "two nice blocks George" and without speaking (he did speak but its more dramatic if I say hi didnt) and in only the way George could, he says "3 actually". The humbleness that George shows was something I could have displayed at the very end of the game, more on that in a sec.

Heroes decided we wanted to actually play some good ultimate, it just took a timeout and things got back on track. We got some turnovers, we made some nice long hucks, things started to work and we got the score back to 9-8. At this stage the worn out members of Cougars could sense a come back by the Heroes. Some people may have interpreted the very slow walk back to the line and extended chats to be somewhat like time wasting. It prob wasn't but I thought it would have been in the spirit of the game to try and hurry things up. Their was one player in particular who thought to walk with a limp very slowly from his Def end zone back after we scored on more than 4 occasions. Now normally that wouldn't be frustrating but given it was a semi AND the fact that during the points he showed no obvious signs of fatigue, sprinting long demanding it be hucked - this was somewhat perplexing. So this is where the second part of the title comes in... I basically snapped and had a go at cougars for not playing within the spirit of the game by not trying to commence the game asap on change over. Upon reflection and choosing not to play any part of the next 3 points because of my outburst (self enforced dismissal from the game) I went up to their captain and apologized many times. My opinion that even though they were savage, more effort could have been made to commence the point faster than what they had previously been doing. So in my defense it was not the first time that I felt they were slowing things down but I should have gone about it in a better way. So for that Im sorry. 

Getting away from that Cougars played their game well and they knew their strengths and weakness'. Sure it sucked losing another semi final again, but I don't mind because overall the game WAS played in high spirits and it was quite competitive Final score was something like 12-10 I think. Good luck to the Cougars in the final and Heroes we'll be up for the 3rd placed game next week.

Its done its over this is the end

Because Im fed up at wondering why people would vote for the Bondadoso of Justice (no one knows what it even means) I'm calling an end to the re-vote that was and declearing by popular demand with 54% of the vote the Incredible Huck as our fearless leader

The Hammer                1 (4%)

The Incredible Huck     13 (54%)

Bondadoso of Justice    10 (41%)

OnThePitch with an MVP

This time OnThePitch goes one on one with Laura Hampel. Before we get into the details of the chat, a certain disclaimer is needed. Please note some of the comments made within this interview do not necessarily reflect the attitudes or beliefs of any or all participants involved. Anyways there is no real need to take note of the previous disclaimer...let’s get into the interview. It went something like this,

OTP: So how feel about making the semis?

Laura: Im excited (whilst eating cereal), like we’ve done it before but this time we actually have a chance.

OTP: During the season what was the point where you thought we could go all the way?

Laura: Probably the last two games, especially with the girls, and earlier in the season I didn’t play a lot but I think now we play more cohesively and we played well, we’ve found a rhythm and its fun and enjoyable. If we keep that up we could go all the way...(I can't wait to have this for breakfast)

OTP: What’s been the best part so far?

Laura: Just seeing everyone improve so much

OTP: Like who?

Laura: Alana and the browns (they’re really good), and just the various skills picked up through BPL and training, I enjoy the quality of our frisbee.

OTP: So digging deeper, how do you feel about the leadership of the team?

Laura: I think this season there’s been a lot more spread leadership and a lot more have started calling plays and directing the team.

OTP: So you mentioned the browns, Nessa and Chris, do you think quality frisbee runs in the family?

Yes except for Sebastian (Jks)

OTP: Ok we'd better leave that there...

OTP: Can you tell me about your famous rituals that you meticulously adhere to before each game?

Laura: Not really, I guess I try to throw some quality throws beforehand. I put my left shoe on first, I guess that's a bit strange. I love being first off the line and beating the boys down the field.

OTP: Rumours tell me that you pulled in the last game against baby chimis and I am reliably told that you pulled 40+ metres, is that correct?

Laura: Yes, well what can I say I have a good coach and mentor?

OTP: Can we expect this in the finals or as a change-up play?

Laura: (Laughs) Dstrel has been trying to get that to happen all season. I don’t know, we’ll see what happens.

OTP: Your nickname Laura D has given you a reputation amongst other Heroes and BUML players as one to watch, can you comment on this?

Laura: HAHA um... I guess that's my State NT netball rep skills coming to the fore, yea I really get a thrill by knocking that disc down.

OTP: Seeing as though you're a woman, let's move the chat towards the fashions on the field? Your new jersey seems to turn heads?

Laura: Yea apparently green is in! It's very green but I like it

OTP: Aside from the heroes who's the next best dressed team?

Laura: That's a tough call, Frisky time had nice shirts but their colour was odd, Mellow Yellow are always dressed well and ExQUTiste seems to spring to mind, pink always stands out.

OTP: Speaking of those two last teams, you might be meeting either of them in the grand final; who would you rather meet there?

Laura: Mellow Yellow, they're our favourite opposition team and they always seem to bring out a great game, plus we haven't played them yet this year.

OTP: Ok any last words about this year's performance, possibly a Heroes Best & Fairest nomination?

Laura: It's a hard choice, how about I give a range of nominations?   It kills me to say this but maybe you. Steph, Chris, Alana all deserve mention too!. Please I want to say everyone because we’ve all improved so much, I'll say the whole team has played the best and fairest!

OTP:So no nomination for yourself as the incumbent previous MVP of the league?

Laura: No, sorry not this year...

OTP: And one last question what is the best name for the Hero?

Laura: Well I wanted Huckman but it didn't make the final list!

OTP: Well sorry Laura I wasn't even tempted to add that to the poll. And that will rap up this short little chat; all the best for your up-coming semi-final on Monday night against the Cougars. This has been OnThePitch talking with Laura and as always this has been me, you've been great and we'll see you next time - OnThePitch

The crowd has spoken

Following the public outcry of the lack of a 50% margin the vote will be retaken.

The top two favourites and a coalitition of the 3rd and 4th place getters

BUML Finals

Mellow (tied 1st) v Exquisite (tied 3rd)

7:30-8:30 Annerley 3A


The winners of these games will play each other on June 1st for the Championship and the losers will play each other for 3rd place

Kelvin (tied 1st) v Heros (tied 3rd)

7:30-8:30 Annerley 3B

Content to Lose

"The second half was 7-6 (Passion). During the first half, we looked as if we were going through the motions, expecting to lose and content to lose" - Matt Boevink (rough quotation)

I hope I'm not the only one with insomnia on a Thursday night. The lineup tonight looked a little shakey, with no Myall, Paul or Dusty, Jangles threatening to stay home and Your Humble Narrator suffering from the flu. That said, I think I played fuckin' awesome tonight, kicking it off with some hussle in the midfield and a lovely outside in just over Gref's extended fingers to Gav in the endzone. Gav's game was also rather excellent tonight, being in beautiful position a number of times, showing a lot of speed in the midfield and combining with Bev and myself to run on for some lovely long play.

Heroes took the first point, but it Passion took the next 3 of the next 4. They got up to 5-2 and took the half at 8-4, due to some great overhead grabs from Alex and some strong D from Dan, also due to some crappy options from the Heroes. After half-time, we decided to play some Zone / Transition, which worked a charm. When we play hard defence, we can really fire up for O. We were hard with our force and marked the dump well. Passion were playing savage, so some of their players looked tired, and we could exploit this with some great deliveries to well timed cuts. George was relentless in defence, with some amazing layout D's, showing why he plays Firestorm D. Bev's presence in the endzone seems essential, especially with Myall absent. This switch made a lot of sense, and these things should be considered.

To close, we got it back to 10-8 but lost 10-15. If we played like we did in the second half all game we would have won for sure.

The Incredible Huck

And so the legend is born...

The incredible huck   14 (45%)

Bondadoso (Bon)       5 (16%)

The Hammer              6 (19%)

Backhand of Justice    4 (12%)

Huckman                    2 (6%)

Votes so far: 31
Poll closed 

 

The people have voted and the Incredible Huck has merged out of the ashes.  Many mysterious legends about the rise of the Incredible Huck have been told over the years. No one knows the true identity of the man in the green cape, some say his real name is George, some say he is a ghost; all we know is he haunts the minds of all who oppose him. His arch rival is the evil Agent Orange who others say is the twin brother of the Incredible Huck. Their battle has been ragging for many a millennium and now the two forces have come to Earth to fight against each other on the battle field of ultimate.

Its just like kissing Your baby sister

Right first things first, kissing your sister is the worst possible experience. Ok now that we've got that sorted, it is only second to having a draw in a ultimate match. Last night Heroes took on the baby chimies and we sort of expected a win from the last result.

Heroes started very well and were organized to take the lead 2-0. aL decided to step it up and so chimies answered back to take the score to 2-1. The teams traded and heroes managed to break the serve of the chimies to make the score 7-4. We thought we had the game in the bag basically which lead to some REALLY sloppy D and actually I was kinda ashamed that we let aL have so much room on the handle and so the babies brought it back to 9-8. The time cap was looming over the match and so the long huck became very valuable. Carl managed to huck it long and Dave caught it in the end zone. However chimies took the lead with some classic fatty to aL ultimate mixed in with some newer talent that the chimies had on offer. The game ended at 13 all. It was tense and both teams used their better players quite effectively in the clutch moments. Having said that as always in ultimate when there’s a draw one team feels as though they've won and one feels as though they lost... Heroes definitely felt as though we lost. BUT on post game reflection we had lots of fun, and used all our players, something of which we're proud of. All our girls worked well and we seemed to use the disc effectively when we decided not to cold drop it.

Btw Laura wants it mentioned that she scored 4 points and so I might give her the 3 points for MVP for the game!

As a team we have tried to focus on honouring good cuts (male or female) and the last few games have been a real testament to that. All in all Heroes played better than baby chimies and we felt like we should have won, it was definitely a well spirited game and we loved the hard contest we got.

Disc Golf - Mapping it up

For those of you who have any free time and want a change of scene in your disc golf heres a map of Toowongs Anzac Park. For my up coming engagement party we're planning on having a day in the park with some rounds of relaxed golf, so I thought I would share the map I made. Cheers

Heroes VS Slamtown

This weeks match saw us revisit the form we were in before the bye. A 15-10 loss is a big improvement on last round, when we went down 15 - 3 to Slamtown.

A turn-over in our back half saw Slamtown pounce, with a cross-field hammer to take the first point. I believe they took the second point as well, but we got back to 2-3 before a timeout, and 3-3 shortly after. It was around this time that a pivotal and controversial call was made. A foul was allegedly made before a half-field throw from Jangles to Paul, who played on to complete the point. The foul was called long after the event and Paul contested this. I have no idea what the foul was for, but I don't understand why people can't yell "FOUL!" nice and loudly. No need to harp on the actual event though.

Heroes were patient with the disc near the endzone last night, which is a big improvement. Handling errors were significantly reduced, and our movement was fantastic. Our defense fell apart in patches including some mind-lapses from Yours Truly. We tried some zone but in the final few points it was hard man that really put the pressure on.

The sexiest thing of the night came from Paul Sangunetti (spelling?), who threw a lovely knife like throw out the sideline, dipping back at the last moment. This line break saw us scoring. James found some confidence in the handling role, and overall, the enthusiasm and confidence was increased last night for all of us.

For Slamtown, Jimmy seemed to be everywhere, cutting down long throws, putting them on himself or receiving. Jody and Myall had some good one-on-one contests on long hucks which often saw the disc and both players hitting the deck.

That's about all I've got to say about the match. Next week we have Passion, =? and I'm looking forward to it.

My secret training method in this last week was to simply have fun with frisbee. And laying out. I'm working on some sweet deep grazes on the knee. We were enjoying our frisbee more this week and it helped with self-belief and to stay in the competition.

Don't forget to vote on the new name

See the poll and decide the fate for our hero.
Will he manage to save the day?
Will he rescue the hostages?
Will he also be able to get back in time to capture the evil Agent Orange?

For these answers and more...Tune in next time to find out!

Donning the masks again

Tonight’s match saw the Heroes Ultimate Club taking on the newly kitted Frisky Time, and boy where they frisky by all accounts.
Heroes took the first two points in emphatic fashion, I think it may have been 1 min per point. 2-0. Frisky managed to pull it back to a respectable 2-2 and both sides traded points to take the score to 3-3. The Friskys had some younger players and in a few years they look as though they’ll be ripping up the turf, but some skill errors and D blocks by Laura and Steph resulted in Heroes pulling out to a 5 or so point lead.
The Heroes certainly looked like we had gelled together nicely and comments in the post game circle of love reflected our commitment to honour good cuts, whether they be male or female. The key to all good mixed sides is to use both genders equally and not ignore players in good positions. We seemed to have good communication tonight and things worked superbly on O and D.
Just a quick note, our zone managed to perform well at the end, against Jules and Will who were both very experienced too.
Well done Heroes we took the game at 15-6 in the end I think. Good way to finish the game out strong and lock it in the bag. That should put us into 3rd spot at least!

It's all in a name

So, Heroes Ultimate has long been a well supported team on the Brisbane local scene and in recent years this club has enjoyed steady growth where it was necessary to start a second side (agent orange). But all this time our caped crusader has been nameless! What kind of a super hero do we have if he/she doesn't have a name? And more importantly a good one!  Think about it, Bruce Wayne could have been "Koala Man" - lame; Peter Parker might have been -  "The terrific Termite" (I stole those from a website). The fact is, a superhero's name is the starting point for costume design, gadget names, the whole persona thing... Except we have the costume and the persona based on a many years of service in BUML. SO WE NEED A NAME and the search is on. Make a comment get involved. Who is this guy? I'm looking at you Gavin.

Post a name and we'll vote on it later

Where has all the ultimate gone anyways?

Ok so its been ages since I've played ultimate for Heroes (and cobras for that matter) and in leu of any BUML league games in the last weeks due to public holidays I taken the chance to travel for work. But more importantly you should stop feeling sorry for me and my lack of playing time (i know your all thinking that) but instead check out the ultimate action that when down at nationals. Check out the youtube channel made by Mike Palmer. This is an extensive collection of video, well done Mike

http://www.youtube.com/user/2010AusUltimateNats

Picking up on a public holiday: you can too!

I thought I might pop my posting cherry by reviewing the pickup match from Monday and to inform everyone about the khaos that is Frisbee this Labour Monday.

After the long weekend of too much junk food and beer, I was looking forward to a chance to run around and play some Frisbee. Unfortunately Monday being a public holiday there were no scheduled games except a promise of a pickup match. And I thought great, a chance for Heroes to get out and play with some differently people, maybe learn a few new tricks or to show off our improvements in a less serious more fun environment. Alas it seemed most people didn’t get the memo or shrugged it off as a waste of time.

The turnout overall wasn’t super except maybe from the Bermuda Triangle camp but this lead to us being able to play on a single full sized field which ensured lots of long, open points and many chances to get glory points from hucks to the endzone. It was a little difficult to get some run at the start but being a 2.5hr match it got better and I definitely felt wrecked by the end. Craig was the standout player of the night in my opinion. He was quick on the cuts both short and long, and never seemed to stop running. Maybe it was the headband that made him look like a Canadian all-star player that helped lift his game. Or perhaps it was that there actually was someone on his team who could throw well to him. I kid Discheads.

I would mention some highlights from the Heroes players in attendance but it was the usual razzle dazzle from the players and there were too many to list them all. Although I will mention the disappointment I had in myself though at one stage. I was standing towards the centre of the field when I saw a person on my team free and calling for it a little deeper than me and out on his own. As the throw went up to him I instantly realised that the throw was a little bit wild and would go over the players head. I started to run to try and salvage something from the error and I was in the perfect position to layout and make a spectacular grab. The disc seemed to just be floating on the spot, seducing me to go for it. Unfortunately I lacked the bravado and came up short on the disc.

This Monday sees something a little bit different going down for BUML. Adilia is organising a Krazy Khaos Kapers Semi-Continuous Ultimate tourney. It is at Annerley field starting at 7pm and going until 9.30pm. Need to bring a white and dark coloured shirt. It will be ultimate in a form that many of us have never experienced before, featuring a series of short (~20min) games of continuous Frisbee. It would be fantastic to see as many heroes there as possible.