Two Days

1. Drink more water. If you can't drink any more water, go to 13th street and buy some gatorade/vitamin water/powerade and drink it.

2. Work on the mental imagery that was posted yesterday. Truly envision greatness, if you can imagine it, you can become it. Take 10 minutes where you stop freaking out about work, elevate your legs, close your eyes, and envision your favorite part of ultimate frisbee. It is important in those 10 minutes you avoid thinking about the paper you have to finish, the final next week, blah blah blah. No excuses, just get it done.

3. Find personal zen in the next two days. As Ziperstein said himself: "30 April 03: before a tournament - before you play in a big tournament come to terms with each aspect of your life. schoolwork, friends, jobs, women...be happy with wherever you plan to leave them and then do just that. this is the final weight that needs to be lifted from your shoulders." When we step on the field Saturday morning, we all need to be there ready to play. For the few hours we are playing ultimate this weekend, we are there to play ultimate. There should be one thing on your mind: "run. catch. throw."

Respect: One more little thing...

Intensity and dedication has been significantly higher than previous practices but in our quest for perfection we have set higher expectations and expressed disappointment in our teammates for missed throws, poor spacing on cuts, incorrect timing. This weekend, we should work together to play the best Ultimate we have this season. In order to do so, we must show great respect for our opponents and even greater respect for our teammates.

While I am equally, if not more at fault than many of you, of getting frustrated and making direct, accusatory comments towards people - it wasn't until today at practice I realized many other teammates have been doing the same thing. This is not an example I want to set, nor something that is beneficial to our team. This weekend, I ask that you make an effort to communicate with your teammates rather than command them. By no means does this excuse you from not knowing the force, the play, who to mark, etc. It has nothing to do with that - if you have no idea what the force is in April...you should not be on the field. This means, if someone makes a bad cut, picks in the endzone, cuts at the wrong time - we make an effort to talk to them after the point ends on the sideline in a constructive manner that falls in line with team love and chemistry. i.e. "Hey ____, let's talk about that endzone. I think that I should have made that cut because I had better positioning. What do you think?" And as a recipient of such advice, don't get so defensive. Yes, it is possible that everyone will make a mistake (surprise!) so if you happen to mess up, accept it and do better next time. Together we can be the underdogs that win it all, but only if we stand together on the line - so pull your own weight, respect your teammates, and play balls out.

“If you're not making mistakes, then you're not doing anything. I'm positive that a doer makes mistakes.” - Wooden