Winter Break

At this point you may be wondering...What now?

We took the entire Fall to develop as a program, to work as individuals and to lay a foundation that the Spring can build upon. After dedicating 2-5 days a week to Illinois Ultimate for the past three months, we now find ourselves in the strange position of being home. Playing time is limited, and probably not anywhere close to a level that could promote improvement, our teammates are no longer with us to push us further and harder, yet the expectation that we improve or at least maintain what we have earned during the fall stands. For most people this is a daunting task. Trying to improve alone is the most difficult and essential part of being an ultimate player.
This time comes twice a year, during winter and summer break. Personally I like to use these breaks as a measuring device. Make a count of the positives and negatives from the past semester and use those as things to either develop or fix for the next semester. Making changes begins now. Now we have the free time to reflect and get excited for the future and an opportunity to mentally prepare ourselves to make even greater strides than we even imagined possible.


Fall 2010 Reflections

The Good:

1. We still have 33 people competing for spots on the ~27 man A team roster.
2. Winning Whitesmoke, maintaining seed at Rivalry reheat and breaking seed (I think) at MLC.
3. The number of people ready to step up and help is larger than in any recent years.

The Bad:

1. An unhealthy number of injuries in the fall, usually a precursor to an injury happy spring.
2. Last place at Glory Days
3. Poor attendance due to poor weather. Mother Nature hates Ultimate...GET USED TO IT!
4. We never brought a full team to an A team tournament. Due to individual conflicts.

The Ugly:

1. ATTENDANCE. Days where we play 5v5 because only 12 people show up is SOOOOOOOOOOOOO BAD. There was a couple week stretch there where I was ready to call it quits on this program...Why you ask? Because you can't win anything with 10 people.
2. Adam Wright's ACL
3.We have yet to play a tournament with all three of our captains active.

Know Your Papa Bear

How well do you know your Papa Bear? As Illinois begins to flesh out its identity for the 2011 Spring I thought it was a perfect time to get to know some of the “special” characters on the team. I selected 4 people from each class to participate in a tournament style competition to see who knows their teammates the best. The top 8 from this round of 16 will move on. Round one is a quiz about our beloved Papa Bear. You may think you know him…but do you really?

1. How many teams has Papa Bear captained? (Bonus points for naming the teams)

Ryan Kurnik: 2. The C-team freshman year (X Crash) and then the B-team sophomore year (Boomland)

Jake Petit: C-team freshman year and B-team sophomore year =10

Ryan Christensen: 2 The C-team and the B-team =10

Sean Hill: 2. C-Team freshman year and B-Team sophomore year =10

Brian Rathunde: 2. The C-team freshman year and then the B-team sophomore year =10

Preston Goulson: Two: Boomland, and his team back home that I can't remember the name of. I know he has a t-shirt with one of the letters on the back falling off from it... =10+2.5

Brad Bolliger:

Colin Reid: Boomland last year. Dunno the other =10+2.5

Nate Gibbons: 1- C team crazies =5

Brian Pierce: 1 (Boomland [Spring 2010]) =5+2.5

Andy Kilinski: I can only say Papa Bear has captained 2 teams with certainty (those being X-Crash in the spring of 2009 and Boomland in the spring of 2010). He also assist-captained his TBUHT III team this past Thanksgiving Break. He was the captain of hangovers this past summer for Untouchables. I wouldn’t put it past him to have captained various teams, most notably drinking teams and/or Heroes of Newerth teams. He has that natural leader instinct. =10+7

Adam Wright: 2, 2009-Illinois C “Criss Cross Crash”

2010-Illinois B “boomland” =10+4

Jack Rabuck: 2, i was on them both =10

Austin Lien: Illinois C
Illinois B
Rec Soccer: Law 10 (Just a guess, even though Connor Waldoch is listed as captain)
Probably a summer league team, Untouchables?
+1 for lack of knowledge
=
Papa Bear has captained 5 teams =10+1

Joe Sidrys: 2 – Boomland and CrissCrossCrash aka the C-eattle C-hawks =14

Jon Hatcher: Boomland =2.5

2. What is his number? (Bonus points for why)

Ryan Kurnik: 42. It is the answer to life, the universe, and everything.

Jake Petit: 42. It’s the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything (Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) =10+5

Ryan Christensen: 42 =10

Sean Hill: 42 =10

Brian Rathunde: 42. it’s the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything =10+5

Preston Goulson: 42: 6x7? =10

Brad Bolliger:

Colin Reid: 42, because it’s the answer to the Ultimate question about life in Hitchhikers Guide to the Universe. =10+5

Nate Gibbons: 42- There are 42 ways he knows how to kill you =10+2

Brian Pierce: 42 (It is the answer to life, the universe, and everything [although no one knows what the

question is] – ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’) =15

Andy Kilinski: Papa Bear’s number is 42. Is it because he once drank 42 beers in one sitting? I hope to God not. That would kill a man. However, he is a bear, so maybe. I don’t really know the answer to this question, so I’ll simply have to say he likes to feel special with the popular American football audible “Blue 42.” 10+2

Adam Wright: 42, Because it is the answer to ultimate question of life from Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy. =10+5

Jack Rabuck: 42, cuz u (Bruns) let him have it =10

Austin Lien: 42 – Has to be because of Hitchhiker’s / It’s the meaning of life =10+5

Joe Sidrys: 42 – Because it’s Comedy Central in DG =10+1

Jon Hatcher: 42 =10

3. Where is Papa Bear from? (Bonus points for high school)

Ryan Kurnik: Downers Grove, and attended Downers Grove South (Otherwise known as DoGroSo)

Jake Petit: Downers Grove- Downers Grove South High School =10+5

Ryan Christensen: Downers Grove =10

Sean Hill: Downers Grove. Downers Grove South High school =10+5

Brian Rathunde: Downers Grove, Downers Grove south high school =10+5

Preston Goulson: Downers Grove: DGS =15

Brad Bolliger:

Colin Reid: Chicago like everyone else at the U of I. =0

Nate Gibbons: Downers Grove, Downers Grove South High School =10+5

Brian Pierce: -Downers Grove (IL), Downers Grover South High School =10+5

Andy Kilinski: Is this a trick? Papa Bear is clearly a product of Grandma and Grandpa Bear. If we’re talking geographically, he hails from Downers Grove, IL and attended Downers Grove South. I, personally, live a block away from the educational border between DGS and Lemont. How special things could have been. =10+5

Adam Wright: Downers Grove, Illinois

Downers Grove South Class of 2008 =10+5

Jack Rabuck: DGS =5

Austin Lien: Downer’s Grove – Downer’s Grove South =10+5

Joe Sidrys: Downers Grove, DGS =10+5

Jon Hatcher: Downers Grove, IL

Downers Grove South HS =10+5

4. What is his Major? (Bonus points for order in which he changed his majors)

Ryan Kurnik: Progression: Came to college as a math major. Declared undecided until sophomore year when I became a Psychology major. I then picked up Communications as a second major this semester.

Jake Petit: Declared undecided until sophomore year and then Psychology =5+2

Ryan Christensen: Undecided until sophomore year and now he is in Psychology =5+2

Sean Hill: Undecided until sophomore year. Then decided to do Psychology. And now recently a double major with Communication. =10+3

Brian Rathunde: Declared undecided until sophomore year when I became a Psychology major. =5+1

Preston Goulson: Psychology and Communications: picked up a double major in Comm this semester =10+1

Brad Bolliger:

Colin Reid: Mathematics -> Psych -> Psych/Comm =10+4

Nate Gibbons: Speech and sociology major, Two halves make a whole. =(-5)+(-5)+10

Brian Pierce: Psychology/Philosophy =5+(-5)

Andy Kilinski: Papa Bear has done it all as far as his majors. He came to this university with a

Mathematics major (probably because of his history in his high school’s math team. Much like B-Smith, Papa Bear quickly realized he didn’t really like math and wanted to be a Psychology

major. However, in order to not get booted from this campus, he either had to take a math class,

or switch his major to Undecided. After choosing the latter, PBear then pulled a fast one on his

advisors and was officially deemed a Psychology major. Lately, he has picked up a

Communications major to complete the dual degree. This is because he wants to focus on

interpersonal psychology. Or because mac and cheese with hot dogs is so delicious he can’t tell

the real story. Couples counseling, awwaaaaaaaay! =10+8

Adam Wright: Psych/ Communications =10+2

Jack Rabuck: psychology =5

Austin Lien: Undeclared at one point =0+1

Joe Sidrys: Psych =5+1

Jon Hatcher: Psychology =5+1

5. What is his birthdate?

Ryan Kurnik: May 14, 1990

Jake Petit: 5/14/90 =10

Ryan Christensen: May 14, 1990 =10

Sean Hill: May 14, 1990 =10

Brian Rathunde: May 14, 1990 =10

Preston Goulson: I could cheat and look on Facebook, but I won't. And I'm terrible with birthdays. =+5

Brad Bolliger:

Colin Reid: N/A =0

Nate Gibbons: May 14, 1990 =10

Brian Pierce: May 14 (1990) =10

Andy Kilinski: Papa Bear’s birthdate is May 14, 1990. Joe Sidrys and Papa Bear share the same birthday. And I always seem to be around when they remind each other. =10+1

Adam Wright: May 14th, 1990 =10

Jack Rabuck: may 14^th =10

Austin Lien: May 14, 1990 =10

Joe Sidrys: MAY 14, exactly one year before mine. =10

Jon Hatcher: May 14, 1990 =10

6. What is Papa Bear’s FULL real name?

Ryan Kurnik: Ryan Michael Patrick Kurnik

Jake Petit: Ryan Edward Charles Kurnik =0

Ryan Christensen: Ryan Kurnick =-1 misspell

Sean Hill: Ryan Edward Charles Kurnik =0

Brian Rathunde: Ryan Edward Charles Kurnick =-1 misspell

Preston Goulson: Ryan Charles Edward Kurnik. Not really, but I don't know his real middle name(s). =0

Brad Bolliger: Ryan Edward Charles Kurnick

Colin Reid: Ryan Kurnik is what I think I have heard people mistakenly refer to him as. =3

Nate Gibbons: Ryan Edward Charles Kurnik =0

Brian Pierce: Ryan Edward Charles Kurnik =0

Andy Kilinski: Papa Bear’s real full name begins with ‘Ryan’ and ends with ‘Kurnik.’ How he gets there is a mystery, but I can assure you it does not involve ‘Edward’ or ‘Charles.’ =0

Adam Wright: Ryan Patrick Kurnik =9

Jack Rabuck: Ryan papa bear Kurnik =0+5

Austin Lien: Ryan M(ichael?) Kurnik =9

Joe Sidrys: Ryan Michael(?) Kurnik (his middle name is neither Edward nor Charles) =9

Jon Hatcher: Ryan Edward Charles Kurnik =0

7. What is Papa’s favorite color?

Ryan Kurnik: Red

Jake Petit: Turquoise =0

Ryan Christensen: Blue =0

Sean Hill: Green =0

Brian Rathunde: Magenta =0+1

Preston Goulson: Honey? =5

Brad Bolliger:

Colin Reid: Green just because. =0

Nate Gibbons: Macaroni orange =0

Brian Pierce: Green =0

Andy Kilinski: Papa Bear’s favorite color is blue. Although it should probably be red, much like the blood of his enemies. =0…(so close!)

Adam Wright: Green =0

Jack Rabuck: pain =0+5

Austin Lien: Blood =8+2

Joe Sidrys: Blue =0

Jon Hatcher: Blue =0

8. How many Theatrical Plays has Papa Bear been in?

Ryan Kurnik: 2. The freshman play at DoGroSo and the Cannon Theatre Group Production sophomore year.

Jake Petit: 2. Freshman play at Downers Grove South HS and the Production sophomore year. =10

Ryan Christensen: 2 =10

Sean Hill: 2. Freshman play at DoGroSo and The Production sophomore year. =10

Brian Rathunde: 2. The freshman play at DoGroSo and the Productio sophomore year =10

Preston Goulson: Two =10

Brad Bolliger:

Colin Reid: At least one =0

Nate Gibbons: 2 =10

Brian Pierce: 3 =0

Andy Kilinski: Papa Bear wasn’t in drama club in high school. However, he took part in one play whilst in college. More details in the next answer. =0

Adam Wright: Between 3 and 5. Even though I think they’re moronic wastes of time that he could have spent playing more ultimate. =0+2

Jack Rabuck: acted in one, worked behind the stage numerous times =0

Austin Lien: 8 =0

Joe Sidrys: 3 =0

Jon Hatcher: 3 =0

What was the name of the Play Papa Bear participated in during the spring of 2010?

Ryan Kurnik: Journey Journey

Jake Petit: Annie =0

Ryan Christensen: Hail Mary? =0

Sean Hill: The Production =0

Brian Rathunde: N/A =0

Preston Goulson: Something about zombie Shakespeare. Half credit? =2

Brad Bolliger:

Colin Reid: Dunno, it’s the one I referred to above. =0

Nate Gibbons: Romeo and Juliet =0

Brian Pierce: He and She =0

Andy Kilinski: The aforementioned play is titled “Journey Journey” and it is the story of a metal band from Canada travelling to Norway during a zombie apocalypse AS WELL AS the making of the Cannon Theatre Group, as this was their first, and to this date, the only production they have put on. It featured a live performance of a Rammstein cover band. The singer was intense. PBear played the roles of Warren and Kyle. He wore a white I See Stars t-shirt with a robot on it, black jeans, and black high top Converse Chuck Taylors. He stole the show. =10+7

Adam Wright: Papa bear was in a fictitious parody of The twilight series called Twinklight where he played Bella. The plot of this parody is that all of the vampires and werewolfs are after bella because she is the transgender keymaster to the portal back into the nether where they are from. When they cannot trick Bella into opening the portal, they try to seduce her with their charming good looks and promises of living together until eternity. She obliges and then the vampires and werewolfs find out that she is a he and has a penis. At this time they just run with it and have a huge gay/transgender/vampire/werewolf/human orgy. Turns out that this play was more of an erotic pornographic gay orgy play. Disturbing. =0+5

Jack Rabuck: something about nuclear vikings and shit, i was there =0+5

Austin Lien: Through the Looking Glass =0

Joe Sidrys: It had a heavy metal band that played Rammstien, that's all I can remember =4

Jon Hatcher: Journey Journey =10

When Papa Bear goes to sleep at night what does he dream of?

Ryan Kurnik: Usually awkward social situations. I just took a nap and had a dream where I got shot twice and was lying on the ground waiting for the ambulance. It took me a few minutes, but I realized I was being a bitch and just walked it off instead.

Jake Petit: Growing sexy facial hair =1

Ryan Christensen: Ultimate =0

Sean Hill: When Papa Bear goes to bed at night he thinks of his cubs. He thinks of how awesome he is at being papa bear and protecting his cubs. Most of his cubs are on the Frisbee team, but he does have some other cubs that do exist…but they aren’t as important. The dreams consist of great adventures where one of Papa Bears’ cubs gets into some kind of trouble and needs help. Papa Bear ALWAYS comes to the rescue eventually and saves them in some kind of heroic manner. In the most recent dream there was an angry Mamabird that stole one of Papa Bears’ cubs. The Mamabird was going to feed the cub to the young birds. Luckily Papa Bear was much smarter and all around better than the Mamabird and took out Mamabird and all of the young birds without even trying. Basically Papa Bear is unstoppable when it comes to protecting his cubs. =6

Brian Rathunde: Ultimate =0

Preston Goulson: Protecting his cubs =4

Brad Bolliger:

Colin Reid: I feel like he must dream of all his little cubs, but that could be taken the wrong way be some people so let’s say Ultimate (of course). =2

Nate Gibbons: Pickles and Sex =1

Brian Pierce: Giant discs filled with beer and bears =5

Andy Kilinski: This is simple, yet oh so complex. His dreams consist of a utopian society where bears and humans coexist peacefully, yet there is the occasional ex-boyfriend trouble which Papa Bear then needs to go Scott Pilgrim on his ass to win the affection of one Ramona Flowers. “Lady dudes! Tell me what you know about Ramona Flowers.” =7

Adam Wright: Papa Bear dreams of his Dream Man. My "Dream Man" should, first of all be very elaborate and yummy. He should have a physique like Tom Cruise, a profile like Kanye West, and the intelligence of a/an Western Grebe. He must be polite and must always remember to shave my legs, to tip his top hat and to take my purse when crossing the street. He should move haplessly, have a/an institutional voice, and should always dress haplessly. I would also like him to be a/an lamentable dancer, and when we are alone he should whisper little nothings into my ear and hold my feet close to his face. I know a/an fruitcake is hard to find. In fact the only one I can think of is Kevin Bruns. =0+5

(this is a mad libs) im not very creative.

Jack Rabuck: protecting his cubs =3

Austin Lien: Papa Bear doesn’t sleep. He waits. =5

Joe Sidrys: Bathing in natural spring waters with Meryl Streep and sensually rubbing her down with Johnson & Johnson baby shampoo. =8

Jon Hatcher: Honey =3

FINAL STANDINGS

Advancing:

Andy Kilinski-97% (K-Train woo woo!)

Adam-87%

Joe Sidrys-77%

Austin-76% (At least the captains know who you are Papa)

Preston-74.5%

Snacks-74% (Three freshman advancing to the next round?)

Jake-68%

Brian Rathunde-66%

Eliminated:

Jon Hatcher-56.5%

Ryan C.-56%

Nate Gibbons-53%

Jack Rabuck-53% (This is what we call a waste of two years)

Brian Pierce-52.5%

Colin Reid-46.5% (Someone needs to learn how to Facebook stalk)

Brad Bolliger-DQ (Too much Brolliger)

Mean: 66.93

Median:67

Mode:53

Remaining:

1. Freshman-3

2. Seniors, Juniors-2

3. Sophomores-1 (Preston is the last line of defense)

Some Holiday Gift Ideas

I received my favorite email of the year recently. It was my good ole ma asking me what I want for Christmas. The one day of the year I can feel comfortable asking for all those things I’ve put off purchasing myself. As I responded I realized that everything I asked for is related to Ultimate. So for everyone out there looking for something to give their favorite Ultimate player, or for every player looking to fill out a Christmas list, I got you covered.

1. Cleats! Everyone who routinely came to practice throughout the fall surely has heard the debate between soccer and football cleats. Personally I like football cleats for the toe spike and the ankle support.

These are the cleats Papi and I bought. We both felt that the investment was way worth it. They are extremely light, and once broken in they provides tons of support.

http://store.nike.com/us/en_us/?cp=USNS_KW_0611081618&cp=USNS_KW_0611081618&l=shop,search,c-1+100701/pn-1/sl-Nike%20Vapor%20Shoes#l=shop,pdp,ctr-inline/cid-1/pid-301899/pgid-301897

P.S. Anyone that believes soccer cleats are lighter than football cleats and that slows them down should talk to me.

2. Water Bottles! When you go to a tournament you should always have two water bottles. (Because there are two sidelines) I don’t think anyone will argue the superiority of a good Nalgene.

3. All it takes is one good pair of socks to get you through an entire day of ultimate. Ideally buy something that wicks away sweat and keeps the inside of your cleats dry as well. As Lieutenant Dan would say, “There are two standing rules in this outfit. One, take care of your feet. Two, don't go doing something stupid.”

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=nike+athletic+socks&tag=googhydr-20&index=apparel&hvadid=4367808495&ref=pd_sl_42wtoq9ax_b

4. A stress ball is a really easy way to strengthen your grip on the disc. Also it is easy to toss it around during class and improve catching reflexes.

http://www.campsaver.com/gravity-gripp-ball

5. Since Mother Nature tends to hate ultimate players it is nice to have cold gear. It can’t be rainy and cold in Vegas again can it? Well just in case.

http://store.nike.com/us/en_us/?cp=USNS_KW_0611081618&ref=http://store.nike.com/&l=shop,search,searchList-Sports%20Clothes#l=shop,pdp,ctr-inline/cid-1/pid-158934/pgid-158930

6. There is probably nothing more annoying that being called on the line and then having to fumble around with taking off a hoodie. Simple solution, get a zip up.

http://www.eastbay.com/catalog/advancedSearch.cfm?SID=8035&inceptor=1&keyword=mens+nike+hoody+apparel&cm_mmc=SEM-_-Engine-_-Google-_-nike+zip+hoodies

7. If you want to be as good at ultimate as Kennedy, then buy one of these and ask him how to use it. http://www.target.com/Ultimate-Foam-Roller-Red/dp/B0007W2FEU/ref=br_1_1/184-1771962-3640059?ie=UTF8&id=Ultimate%20Foam%20Roller%20Red&node=1254512011&searchSize=30&searchView=grid5&searchPage=1&sr=1-1&qid=1291587531&rh=&searchBinNameList=subjectbin,price,target_com_primary_color-bin,target_com_size-bin,target_com_brand-bin&searchRank=pmrank&frombrowse=1

8. http://www.rei.com/category/4500614 Because no one should have forgotten Muddy Gras by now.

9. Anything on this link can be beneficial. http://www.target.com/b?ie=utf8&node=1254512011 a good New Year’s resolution would be to add in a short workout every morning or night, and any of these things could help with quickness or strength.

10. http://www.walgreens.com/store/catalog/Outdoor-Living/HotHands-2-Hand-Warmers/ID=prod6008113-product?V=G&ec=frgl_&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=sku6007247 and http://www.samsclub.com/sams/shop/product.jsp?productId=130060&pid=CSE_Froogle&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=104296. Ideally we would have hot ice, but for now it is more realistic for you to just get some heat packs and cold packs. Hot for during the day and cold for Saturday nights.

Illinois Ultimate Biathlon

Day one of tryouts is in the books. The first part of tryouts included going head to head with the some of the best players in the program. After being beat around by the best, the captains turned the team lose for some Randy Moss in order to separate the men from the boys.

The day began with a physical test to make sure everyone who would be considered for the A team is in good enough condition to survive the demands of a spring in college ultimate.

Going into this "Biathlon" I believed that Sul Ahmed was the favorite to take the gold, with Brian "Papi" Pierce following.

The results of the Illinois Ultimate Biathlon:

Top 5 in the Mile Run:

1. Tyler Anderson 5:30

2. Papa Bear 5:32

3. Brandon Smith 5:35

4. Mark Hirschman 5:37

5. Brian Pierce 5:40

Top 5 Pullups:

1. Steve Haake 21

2. John Rowe 20

3. Tyler Anderson 19
4. Kyle Wanner, Sul and DMac 17

Combining overall results from both events Tyler Anderson is the Winner of the 2010-11 "BEAST" Award. Congrats Tyler!

Judgment Day

One year ago, I was a returning C teamer discussing with Jack Rabuck the correlation between nerves and how close to the bubble an individual was. My own nerves were threw the roof. I had spent a year at the bottom of the barrel of Illinois Ultimate, and an entire Fall trying to find my way onto the A team. At the end of the day, the nerves did nothing to help me that day. I had put in about 5 months where everyday I played Ultimate consciously thinking. I had already developed the skills necessary. If I had the confidence to just play it would have been better. So in order for me to pass on some confidence, I've jotted down some thoughts that I wish I had been thinking about last year.

Defense is the fastest way to the A team, look at our O line players from last year. They all made the team because they could play defense at first. If you can't play defense you can't be on the field.

Effort is the easiest thing to notice; never give up on a play.

Listen to the experienced players and ask questions. If you are willing to learn it will help your development.

Don't be worried about one throw. One throw is not going to make or break anything.

TALK in every drill, our focus all fall.

Focus, don't just be talking to your friend about the rest of your week. FOCUS on ultimate for the 3 hours you're going to be there.

Stretch every night and morning or as often as you can, it will help.

Never believe that you have arrived.

KB

Hole for new Roles

With the anticipation of tryouts looming, my personal excitement has reached maximal levels. While day dreaming about the tryout process and the formation of the 2011 A-team I started to think about the holes that were left by graduated players. This week I'm taking a good look at last years A-teamers who won't be at tryouts this year.

James Matthew “Kurley” Kurley III:

Kurley came in as a freshman with the 2006-07 rookie class. He used his track/cross country speed to help himself make the A-team as a sophomore. The following year he decided that school prevented him from making the full commitment to the A-team and took his talents to Boomland. He helped the 2008-09 B team become possibly the best in Illinois history. The following year, with school work under control, Kurley was ready to be a big part of the O-line. He held down the fort as the O-line 6, and became famous for utilizing the “grapes” call better than anyone. Kurley made 2 nationals appearances, and won 1 regional title.

Kyle "Prez" McKinley:
Kyle joined Illinois as a sophomore in the 2007-2008 rookie class. He spent his first year with Boomland, and captained boomland his Junior year. As a captain he brought Boomland dangerously close to Regionals. It was the best b-team in recent memory. Without him many current juniors would not be where they are today. During his time as a Boomland captain he had a huge impact on making Illinois become a program. The shear number of current juniors who are ready to contribute are in partly because of him. During his senior year he made the A-team and filled a role as a D-line handler. He spent two years as team treasurer, faithfully fulfilling the duties of the position. He made 1 nationals appearance and has 1 regional championship.

Charlie "Chuck" O'Brien:
Chuck never actually liked being called Chuck. He came in as a Freshman in the 2006-07 rookie class. I believe he was the only Freshman to make the A-team that year. Charlie had really good height, and even better athleticism. The combination made him our best deep threat, and his ability to make catches in traffic helped him to become a game changer. His signature was pointing when he made his deep cuts. It is believed that this point had a sort of mind control over the handlers which made them boost it more often. Charlie made 3 nationals appearances and won 2 regional titles.

Jon “JonO” Ogrodnik:

Jon O came in as a sophomore in the 2006-07 rookie class. He spent his first year on the C-team, a place where champions are forged. After two years with Boomland his effort was rewarded and he made the 2009-10 A-team. Unfortunately Jon O got injured during a Randy Moss drill at Vegas. This prevented him from seeing much time on the field, but his sideline presence and off field support made him an important part of the Team’s identity. Jon O made one Nationals appearance and won one regional title.

Brian "Phenom" Phelan:
Phenom was part of the 2005-06 rookie class. He was one of two freshman that made the A-team that year and by the end of the season he was awarded "Freshman of the Year" honors by the region. I believe Phenom spent some time on D-line before he arrived as a 3/4 cutter on the O-line. His Junior year he and Pat Stephens carried the load. For his senior and fifth year as a grad student, he held down the 3/4 spot with Chris Hidaka. For his last two years Phenom was a captain of Illinois Ultimate, and as captain he led the team to 2 Nationals appearances. His achievements during his time at Illinois include, FOTY, 2nd team all region, 1st team all region, 3 nationals appearances, 2 regional championships and the best long on the team for his last two seasons.

Kurt "Kurtesy" Zoellick:
Kurt was our fearless spirit captain of 2010. He came to Illinois Ultimate as a grad student with 3 years of eligibility remaining. His Ultimate roots stem back to Valparaiso University, where he captained an upstart program. During his Illinois rookie season of 2008-09 he made the A-team as a reserve. After a year of really hard work he established himself as one of the best D-line handlers in the program. Throughout 2010 Kurt provided the A-team plenty of laughs, an obscene amount of layouts, plenty of scores, and above all several new pregame cheers that got the team through some long weekends. Kurt made 2 nationals appearances and won 2 regional titles.

I’ve been asked to not include Walden Nelson, because he will be coaching the A-team for 2010-11 and is still active in the program.

The write up on Chris “Halvies” Hidaka is pending/postponed.

Moving Indoor/Tryouts

11-15-10

Now that MLC is done and the FAR/PAR fields are officially closed, we are forced to get our Ultimate fix indoors. The Armory is great for us because it gives us the opportunity to work really hard all winter and to keep us mentally strong. Every other team that is working with a goal of getting to nationals will also be hitting it this winter. As a rookie I remember feeling as if the time indoors was when I improved the most as an ultimate player. I found myself getting faster and more fit. The game itself also started to make more sense to me, and I slowly found myself grasping what it means and takes to be a player in this program that contributes on and off the field.

Unfortunately for us, the Armory has one huge and fundamental flaw. There is no wind. This absolutely stinks. Great teams like Florida and Texas don't have this problem because they can practice outdoors all year. For us northerners that know what snow looks like it is unrealistic for us to have practices outside. Just because we hold our practices indoors does not mean that throwing outdoors should be completely ignored. I know that many of us belief that throwing on the quad is a great way to get in some extra throwing practice, but I encourage everyone in this program to find time to go outside, CLEAT UP and really FOCUS on your throws with a partner. If there is snow on the ground, grab a shovel and clear out some room for you to throw, if it's really cold think about how being able to throw when it is cold will make you a better warm weather thrower. It's pretty obvious after MLC that we can all dramatically improve our throws. Working on stretching out your release point on both backhand and forehand is something everyone can do without wasting their time. During practice watch the teams best throwers, see their form and what kind of fakes work really well for them and then go outside and experiment or work on replicating what you saw.

When I was a freshman a wise man named Jasper Chu pointed something out to me that I still believe is very true. While watching the A team be awesome I asked him what the difference between the A and B team was. His response to me was that anyone on the A team could be the best or one of the best handlers on the B team. This does not mean that A teamers should be comfortable with their throws either. Reflect on all the teams that have abused our poor marking this season and last season, and imagine how good we would be if everyone on the team could break their mark. This ability to be a threat with a disc takes time to develop and the winter is a great time to start throwing with the intent of becoming the best thrower on the team.

TRYOUTS

I know I just gushed about how important it is to be a reliable thrower, but the reality is that being an intense and hard working defender is the easiest way to be useful to the A team. For everyone trying to make the A team throws need to be something that you work on everyday. Defense however is a mentality thing that needs to register and become a switch that you can throw on and leave on for extended periods of time. Last year Kennedy shared some knowledge about shuffling your feet and trying to not commit to a cut until the last possible moment. I encourage all of you to look again at what he wrote. I want to add and highlight just a few things:

1. Do not commit until the last possible moment, shuffle with your guy until they are busting either deep or in so hard that you have to throw your hips to defend it.

2. Stay on the balls of your feet and try really hard to be light footed, heavy steps are never good.

3. Never turn your back to your cutter nor the disk. See the disk and your guy as much as possible.

4. I'm pretty sure no one will frown upon a little physicality. If guarding a handler who wants to get upline, don't hesitate to give them a little body. Try not to use your arms like a blocker, instead just use your chest and core to hold your ground.

5. If guarding a long named Dan McDonald, he will try to spin move and go deep. Making Dan go in makes him very sad.

6. Trust your sidelines, and return the favor when you are on the sideline.

KB

MLC Wrap Up

11-14-10

Sunday morning brought sunshine and warmer weather, and along with that a much more focused Illinois team that was ready to put together a positive day.

It was almost impossible to not wake up for a round one game against Kansas. Being the last team we faced at Nationals 2010 and a program that we share a colorful history with, Kansas brought out some intensity in the returners which trickled down through the new guys. 2 early breaks put the Illini up 4-2, maintaining that momentum we turned it into 6-2 lead. Kansas is not a team that just gives up, and they showed their grit as they fought to earn 2 breaks back before Illinois took half at 7-5. The second half Illinois was determined to not lose focus. A back and forth second eventually brought the game to 11-11. The next O point was all business for the Illini, and then the D line came out with a very solid break to put end the game 13-11

Round 2 began the tour of regional rivals. The Wisconsin Hodags and Illinois matched up in the quarterfinals. After being a terribly focused team on Saturday, we saw this as a great opportunity to test ourselves against one of the best mentally conditioned teams in the country. A strong start put Illinois up 4-1, but in classic Wisconsin style they came storming back to take the lead 5-4. Wisco would take half 7-5, but despite being down no one on the Illini side doubted that they could still take this game. Fighting with Wisconsin every single point found the Illini losing 10-8 and running out of time before cap went on. A couple monster hucks from each side brought it to 11-9. The Illini hung in this game the whole time but in the end lost 13-10 to our new regional rival.

MagnUM round 3, was the 3rd round game. For the third time in one month Illinois and Michigan would clash. Unfortunately Michigan came into this game frustrated and had struggled the weekend to get to their normal high intensity. Illinois took care of business against this downtrodden Michigan, going up big taking half 7-1. Michigan would try to fight back and got as close as the final score 11-6. I believe everyone on the Illinois side recognizes that the next time we face Michigan they will not roll over as easily.

Final round of 2010 was against Wisconsin Whitewater. The Captains of each team had agreed to play wide open lines and really give the younger guys opportunities. Illinois got out to 4-2, when a marathon point ensued. Thanks to our fearless captain Kennedy for about 6 turnovers on this point as well as a few ridiculous D's by both teams, the point lasted around 20 minutes. I don't believe Illinois won this point but we bounced back to take half at 7-3. From here the game really seemed to crawl until it was 10-4. I kindly informed the K-Train that I was very cold and wanted this game to be put out of its misery. Conveniently getting an early D on the point, Andy "K-Train" Kilinski boosted it for a quick score and quick point. The last 3 points of the game moved at a much better pace and Illinois hit up Wendy's after a 13-5 win.

Fifth place at MLC...acceptable, but not good.

Mid MLC thoughts

11-13-10

Illinois Ultimate took a strong team to MLC this weekend. Saturday morning we opened up with a good win against Iowa. After losing to Iowa at Nationals it was nice to be able to give them something to worry about early in their season. The final score was 11-5.

Round 2 we gave D-mac a chance to take down his old team for the second time this fall. After getting off to an extremely strong start to the game, which included a Kennedy callahan created by lock down D on the longs, Illinois closed the first half 6-1. However, a scenario which is becoming far too familiar to Illinois Ultimate ensued. GoP went on a run to close the gap to 9-8 Illinois. Soft cap was on making it a game to 10. Fortunately Illinois pulled this one out, but the fact that we needed to pull it out should not be ignored.

Round three against Colorado brought the first beating of Illinois' young season. Going down 7-1 and eventually losing 11-3. This smack down showed us what it will take if we want to get to the highest level that we can. Emotionally out gunned and a serious lack of focus separated Illinois from the perenial power.

The final game of the day against Minnesota brought a similar scenario. Going down 6-3 at half and losing 11-6. Maybe Illinois wasn't able to bounce back from the tough Colorado game, maybe we Minnesota was just better than us, or maybe we just need to work harder in practice.

Tomorrow morning Illinois will play Kansas, the last team Illinois played at Nationals and the game that got us off the schnide.

Halloween Weekend/Number Ceremony

October 29th was our Halloween costume party and contest

Before I announce the winner of the costume contest I want to give a quick recap of some of the highlights:

There seemed to be a theme of dressing up as your favorite Ultimate player.

Kennedy dressed as his idol Denis Agniel

Mark raided Austin's closet and pulled it off perfectly

Ryan Christensen attempted to pull off the Adam Wright. Unfortunately Ryan was unaware that Adam injured his right knee and never played for mustache moonshine

D-mac whipped out the flux capacitor brilliantly

Joe Sidrys was probably the sexiest cop I saw all night

Joe might have been the cutest person at the party if not for Wego dressing up as an adorable little bumblebee

Gibby and Yakoff had a fashion nightmare as they both showed up as the Green Man, Sean Hill dodged a bullet dressing as the Orange Man (If he didn't have snacks I would have lumped him in with Gibby and Yakoff)

Brian Rathunde played off his new nickname showing up as a blue crayon

Sid showed up as himself...

AND THE AWARD FOR 2010 BEST COSTUME GOES TOO!!!!!!

Ryan Christensen for dressing up as Adam. I guess to win this award you just have to flatter the judges.

The 2010 Rookies underwent the sacred number ceremony on October 30th. Now that I feel like I can acknowledge them as human beings I'm please to introduce the newcomers.

Sean "snack man" Hill: 3

Year: Freshman

May be suffering from handleritis already. Hopefully he doesn't turn into another perennially injured character.

John "JR" Rowe: 10

Year: Junior

JR brings tons of speed to our squad.

Eric Hansen: 11

Year: Junior

Eric was MVR at Whitesmoke for team X, and is a defensive force.

Brian "Crayon" Rathunde: 22

Year: Freshman

Brian claims he can dunk, yet to be proved. Struggles with putting on the right mark, hence his nickname.

Chris Ohara: 34

Year: Junior

Chris transferred from Marquette last year, he took a year to get grounded and is ready for some action.

Ryan Christensen: 37

Year: Freshman

MVR at Whitesmoke for team Y, has ridiculous layout form and very good timing on jump balls.

Nate "Gibby" Gibbons: 44

Year: Sophomore

Was too intimidated to play for us last year, but now holds his own as good defensive handler

Brad: 73

Year: Junior

After spending his first two years studying engineering Brad decided he wanted more. He joins us looking to flex nuts everywhere in order to get out some pent up physical energy.

Jake Petit: 80

Year: Freshman

Petit deserves credit for the recruitment of Brian Rathunde and Ryan Christensen, and apparently 3 more mystery recruits. Right now is a very cerebral long. After a winter in the armory he will be a very good long for Illinois.

Bringing it up to speed

Let’s bring this blog up to speed:

After winning the back to back titles in the Great Lakes Region, Illinois Ultimate turned its sights towards Natties in Madison, WI. The weekend of Nationals Illinois went 1-5. The number doesn’t look good, but the effort and heart Illinois showed did not go unnoticed. Chris Hidaka summed up his feelings very nicely, “This is a nationals I want to remember, I don’t want to remember 2009.” I guess that is improvement, but by no means were the younger boys of Illinois content with a 17^th place finish.

2010 UPA College Open Championships
May 28	8-15	Harvard
May 28	12-14	North Carolina-Wilmington
May 29	14-16	Iowa
May 29	12-15	Carleton College
May 30	10-15	Wisconsin
May 30	14-13	Kansas

The team went home and spent the summer and returned in the spring locked cocked and ready to rock. A bunch of awesome rookies introduced themselves to the program, and those that have stayed have shown a lot of promise for the future. This class of rookies played a large role in a Whitesmoke XV! championship as well as 10^th and 12^th place finishes at No Wisco. In my opinion the future of Illinois Ultimate is in very good and capable hands. It is not inconceivable to believe that every 2010 rookie will play large roles for this program in the next couple years.

On October 23^rd The Illinois sent a team to Rivalry Reheat in Ann Arbor and Glory Days in Lowell Indiana.

GLORY DAYS

Apparently the weather was atrocious. Returners on this team compared in to a warmer 2009 Chicago Invite. It was raining sideways on Saturday and the games were dramatically upwind downwind all weekend. The team put up a fight all weekend but was never able to put out a W. I didn’t attend this tournament and really don’t know too much more about it. However I did hear someone mention that this tournament should be good motivation to work harder and become a better team, and to that I say cheers!

Highlight: Rob Dreier’s pep talks “Let’s get a point guys.”

Lowlight: Jacob Nelson hammer pulled and it went backwards.

RIVALRY REHEAT

Ann Arbor is a whore, just kidding, but seriously. This tournament was a great idea by MagnUM. They invited 5 teams to join them and their B team for a weekend of hard hitting ultimate.

Illinois didn’t start until 12:10 on Saturday (Thank you Ollie). So the team woke up at 9:30 and had a nice little team meeting where we all just shared our feelings.

First we played Grand Valley State. They were a very spirited team to play and all in all I believe it was a good experience getting our feet wet as a team and starting to identify our identity. Unfortunately Adam Wright suffered a weekend ending injury to his right knee. I was playing at the moment and had my back turned to the play. I turned and automatically thought that the Iron Horse would just get back up, but after seeing him dragged off the field I felt a small piece of me die. The team put this tragedy behind us and took care of GVSU.

Ohio University was Illinois’ second test. Ohio had an impressive ability to catch pretty much anything. However the depth of Illinois’ roster was the driving force behind our victory of Ohio.

A rematch of the 2010 Regionals Championship game highlighted the next round. Michigan State took the field against Illinois. Both teams were very focused and kept the intensity high the whole game. This time Illinois came out on top and attempted to ride this into the next round.

Basically the reason we came to this tournament was to play MSU and UM. With MSU down, we set our sights on MagnUM late on Saturday. This game was not very good. MagnUM brought their usual intensity and I believe they overwhelmed the inexperienced depth of Illinois. They took us out of our game, capitalized on our mistakes, fast broke us, and pretty much threw whatever they wanted. There were several points where they might have only thrown breaks all the way down the field for the score. The captains kindly informed us that this was not okay.

We went to dinner at Chili’s that night, (Sean Hill aka the Snackman decided he was too cool to come with).

Papi, Kennedy, Wego, Adam and myself all tried to GChat Walden with the phrase “Sul say’s hi” (Sul did actually say hi), we were excited to see who he would respond to first. This was our silly way of testing his love for us. As it turns out Walden’s Sith powers are stronger than ever, he simply never responded to Sul and left us all hanging. Out smarted again!

SUNDAY

We woke up and played two uneventful games against Eastern Michigan and Michigan B. Illinois took care of business and killed some larva, as they amped it up for a second dance with MagnUM.

ROUND 2 V MAGNUM

We brought the intensity, we kept it hot for the whole game but we just didn’t pull it out. This was a much improved game, like night and day. We had observers for this game which turned out to be interesting to say the least. Kennedy decided to “some guy” once, but Michigan recovered it before it hit the ground. So “some guy” went upline and Kennedy laid it (I like to think because I told him to). Anyway Michigan people thought “some guy” got stripped, Illinois people were jacked up about the D, and the observers thought that their view from about 20 yds away was good enough to make a decision on a very close call (screw ref’s ultimate needs slow motion replays). A little jacked up Kennedy tells us to throw our hats on the field and says “I guess I’ll just have to get another D” and hand blocks “some guy”, three D’s on the same guy, on the same point the perfect hat trick…and he called it, WOW! Kennedy then finished the point by being an offensive force and scoring it. The whole team went crazy we were pumped and ready to take on whatever MagnUM threw at us. The intensity we drew from Kennedy never died, but a few mental mistakes and continued struggling on the marks separated us from Michigan this weekend. They played well and continue to look like one of the premier teams in college ultimate, but that does not mean it’s okay to lose to them. Hopefully the next time our paths collide we will put tons more pressure on them.

Highlight: Kennedy’s hat trick

Lowlight: Adam Wright’s knee

Rookie number ceremony is this weekend. The big question on everyone’s mind is who will take number 31(Reggie Miller is the greatest basketball player of all time)? Also who comes out with #8, the Suleymonster of yours truly?

MLC in 3 weeks.