I wish I had a fantastically passionate article to write, but, sadly, I only have jaded opinions brought on by years of grandstanding. However, I would like to get up and over 200,000 hits so here are a few talking points to get 1,000 more or so.
Beware-O
I managed to sneak into Beware-O this past year. I tried to fly under the radar by introducing myself as "Mike" to my new teammates but having 808 on the team steadily unraveled that plan. This tournament experience was actually quite amazing because it was only the second time I have ever played with my cousin, Alex Seber, in a tournament setting and like the first, (Wild Wood) we won the tournament. This came as a huge surprise to me because I had just been on a 3 day bender in San Francisco with Alex and I failed to get any sleep the night before the tournament thanks to a horribly audible salt water fish tank in Al's living room. Nonetheless, we won the thing which is weird because I remember feeling so inadequate in 2003 when I played Beware-O last. We didn't go undefeated, losing our last pool play game, but we performed steadily in bracket play and despite being down 10-6 in the finals, we came back and beat Robot's team 13-11.
Which brings me to my next topic, this Robot character. For those that do not know this guy, he is an LPC legend who has been hyped since at least my junior year at UCSD, which was in 2003/04. His ora and the way people talk about him reminds me of the way Roger Williams sweated Teddy. I have only played against Robot twice, once in 2004 when I was captaining Squid Lite (we won) and in the finals of Beware-O. Now, as I mentioned before, 808 was on my team and like Robot, the two have this silent majesty about them. Unlike myself, they prove themselves on the field and let everyone else do the talking. This made for an interesting final with two similar, yet drastically different, players (both LPC alums) going at it. We all know 808 made the popularity game back at Potlatch, but in all honesty, I thought he won the battle against Robot. He played endlessly tight man defense. Was consistent and executed well on offense and did everything I now know he is capable of. Hats off to 808, you sort of already had my respect (I don't really know why) but it was reaffirmed.
Match-stradamus
Another thing that has been entertaining for me the last few months has been watching events go down in the Ultimate community more or less how I predicted. It kinda makes me feel like Nostradamus but don't tell my girlfriend, she'll vomit from the self ego padding.
What do I mean? Well, I wrote this 8 months ago, and what do I see in the UPA magazine this time around? "Free Agency in Ultimate". That was entertaining. I was on the other side of the discussion, but either way, I saw it coming. Plus I saw this article and happened to LOVE IT.
Then there was Gibson's Story. Heijmen was actually very nice and sent me an email giving me props before it was published in the UPA magazine, but I kind of like that I got the story first. The UPA has character limits up the ying-yang so I didn't really want to even pursue magazine publication. I mean come on, that story in less than 500 words, forget it.
Lastly, my Back Behind Closed Doors article. This was one I wrote around the same time as District 5, and while some disagreed with my opinions, I think I hit the nail on the head. What's funny is that a critic of mine seems to have fallen victim to the same fate as I, yet he unknowingly benefitted from me "taking some responsibility". As further validation, I got an email from a National Champion asking me to get back on the writing horse to motivate him and his teammates towards a repeat. HA! I rule.
And who could forget this one. I like how no one even tried to talk shit about this self-aggrandizing.
Some Side Spittle
I love how a major theme we have received from Hector over the last year is that Muffin is as psychotic as everyone fears he is. Are we going to see one of these in the future?
Getting back to player emails, I think I managed to patch things up with BLW. I hated that guy for the longest time, but I guess it just goes to show that time heals all wounds.
Where is he now?
I'd like to say I am excited about the college season this year, but I'm really not. Carleton, Florida, Colorado, Wisconsin...same shit different day. I'm more stoked for the NFL playoffs and the college basketball season than anything else, especially now that UK is finally dominating the way we should. Everybody is sweating John Wall, and he is great, but Bledsoe and Cousins are right there. Not to mention Patrick fucking Patterson....guy's a champ.
I sort of want to get on Twitter to showcase just how bad ass my life is, but in all honesty, it's pretty boring. Rather than continue as the Ultimate Professional that I was, I used my blogging experience to get me two part time writing gigs that actually make a difference, and money. I mentioned this to 808 and he said, "With UltiVillage?" and I said, "No, with a mother of an autistic child and a forensic psychologist." I thought that was funny. The Ultimate community and sub-culture is great, but I'm over it. Kaimana, Wild Wood, Lei Out, Potlatch, Nationals, etc.. were all great, but its just a game and I've got more important things to do.
Plus, becoming "The best story teller in the Ultimate Community" (not my words) was fun but I'm onto bigger challenges like having a career and making lots of money. I grew up and, hopefully, most of you out there will as well.
just my thoughts
match diesel
