This post expects to be a report of my play this weekend. I'll be sure to write a more interesting read very soon.

Last weekend was Cooler. This means I've had what feels like 20 tournaments since my last update. It's not, however, hard to wrap up my personal play into a compact and accurate summary: 4 highlights and an innumerable number of errors. With that, I'm thankful for 2 things: to be a part of a incredibly talented team (Moe) and that the Championship Series doesn't begin for another 4+ weeks.

Mad-disc-on was most likely my worst tournament statistically since 04, featuring a point in which I threw 4 incomplete passes -- more than my total at Regionals last year, when I was playing 80% of the points as our primary handler. I partly wish that the reason for the increased number of turnovers is that I'm throwing high reward type throws, but it's just not. I'm throwing 10 yard uncatchable passes. Embarrassing. At least I still have my hands. My only legitimate drops this season were in a Ding Wop jersey (I dropped one in heavy rain in Bozeman and one this weekend on a layout trying to catch an errant pass that wasn't intended for me). And I've still got my D, more on that in a moment.

Cooler was a little better for me offensively. I played roughly 42 points, give or take. I had 7 turns, 3 of which were completely uncatchable, 2 those 3 were completely unforced. The other 4 required a challenging or really difficult catch. I had 4 hucks: 2 backhands that were completed and impossible to defend (1 was 70 yards into a light wind) and 2 forehands that gave the game a true TCUL feel. I had at least 6 thrown goals, one received, out of probably about 25 that the line I was on scored over the weekend.

Until this weekend, I think I'd only been scored on twice in a Moe jersey. A perfect throw to Seillor in the MUDI finals was one. The other was a chump in Bozeman who picked up a garbage throw. Boy did that run come to a screeching halt this weekend. The only consolation was that it was only on hucks. In one game, I played 6 points and got scored on 4 times on hucks, almost half of the other teams points. Then there was a fifth time in the game against Meth with the score 12-5. I was running down on the pull, the cutter made a move in and I accelerated towards him almost to top speed and he bolted deep. A nearly perfect throw came and the receiver made a nice play to milk an extra couple yards out of the throw and landed 2 inches inside the goalline. In total, my offender was hucked to 6 times. Four of the throws were perfect. I had a line on one of them, but got cutoff by a teammate. And on the last one, I knocked the disc away and a very suspect foul was called. I contested, but the first throw after the stoppage was a huck to a girl completed for a goal.

Apart from that, my D was solid. I'm challenging myself to completely shut down the receiver (handler or cutter). The only weakness is a huck. Although, calling it weakness may be a bit liberal. The only time I wasn't right in the play was on a perfect 50+ yard throw. I can play containment if necessary, but that's for game-to-go D, not quarterfinals at Cooler D. I'm on the D line to create turnovers, not to slow down the opponent's offense, hoping they give it to us. Which is precisely what I did this weekend. I had 8 takeaways total (2 point blocks, 1 layout underneath on a cutter, 1 big layout in the goal on an upline cut in the finals, 2 poach D's, 1 in the air on a floaty upline throw, and 1 in the zone). I had another catch "D" on a poor huck in the finals and probably another 2 or 3 other pressures that indirectly caused a turn. So, maybe cumulatively 10 Ds, which I'm sure was at or near the top of the team stat sheet.

Oh, and I pulled about a dozen times -- 2 out of bounds, 1 only made it just past midfield, the others ranged from the 5 yard line to 10 yards deep (none of which were all that great on hang time), all were "upwind." We had 3 comical pulls this weekend. One, our puller fell over, another didn't wait for the opponent to signal, and I had the one that landed two fields over and barely past our own brickmark. Ugh.

On the season:

First, at the beginning of the season, when I was still on the bubble for making the team, I was told that my huck completion percentage should be 90%. At the time, I laughed a little to myself because it's my personal goal to complete 100%. And at that point, my hucks WERE completing at a 90+% rate. And in the huck drills, I was completing like 14 of 15, whereas everyone else was completing less than half. Since then, though, I've been trying to keep a season long log in my head. Including practices, I'm somewhere in the neighborhood of 35 for 50, with the majority of the incompletions coming in tournaments. So, even if I complete the next 50, I'll still fall well short of 90%. It's just strange that my throws have regressed so significantly since the start of the season. My best huck of the season was at Bozeman where I threw a forehand about 80 yards perfectly to a female receiver whose defender had no chance -- well, at least not until the receiver caught it and was tackled by her defender. The receiver dropped it and no foul was called. Since then, I've only had one good completed 50+ yard forehand in a tournament (thankfully, it was in the MUDI finals for a goal).

If there's any consolation in my offensive slump the last 6 weeks, it's that in the 3 finals games, I have 5 good Ds, 5 thrown goals, and 1 incomplete pass. My incomplete pass was this weekend. I picked up in our endzone about 5 yards deep and Davey said "do it." I looked up and saw Alicia open by a good 25 yards behind everyone. I let off a pretty weak forehand that went no more than 50 yards and hung for way too long. Turned out Alicia wasn't even watching or expecting the huck so early and didn't find it for about half the flight. Tai closed the gap and layed out for the D.

The big question is WHY I've had so much trouble throwing lately. Davey suggested I ditch the nickname Grandpa. Only problem is, you can't really pick your own nickname. I was the last on the team to go to bed after the Cooler party and I woke in the morning to tell everyone Grandpa died of old age the night before and Hot Lou is back. No avail. Everyone still called me Grandpa Lou throughout the day and my carmates even bought me an "Over the Hill Gift Grab Bag" from a gas station, complete with oversized playing cards, a "50" button, a black rose, and some trick chewing gum. Oh well, I'm satisfied knowing that my 2 big layout Ds are among the 3 best (and most timely) the team has had all season. Call me Grandpa if you want, but Joe's Brother is Hot Lou.

I think the problem is that for the past 4 years, it's been my routine to play 4 or 5 consecutive points, then sit 1 or 2. I'm having a little trouble achieving my Ideal Performance State (IPS) in this adjusted playing routine, but I definitely made some headway this weekend. I noticed in the couple times I had an opportunity to play consecutive points, my offense (and defense) was more comfortable, calm, and confident. It's not realistic, however, to think I'll have the opportunity to play consecutive points in games that matter, especially given that I'm on the bottom half of the depth chart right now because of my poor offensive output and that we have 12 other super athletic men on the team. The good news is I'm confident my D is currently among the best on the team and improving on offense is easy (compared to learning to play better D). Just throw the easy pass, Lou, just wait for the easy pass.

So, I'm convinced I'm starting to find my method in achieving my IPS for this level of playing time. I've got 2 more tournaments to see if I can make a full transition in time for the games that start mattering.

And that's more than enough time.