ultimate stock

well, to say "alot has happened since i last post" would be to state the obvious. and it would be redundant (alot was happening before the past week). in fact, me saying that lots of things are happening is all of the following: the truth, obvious, redundant, and exciting.

and exciting isn't a word i have been using very much.

the most notable news is me beginning coaching ultimate for the University of Southern California men's team... they call themselves the Ghettobirds. the guys seem pretty cool, laid back but enthusiastic about improving, hard-working and spirited. since i left my volunteer coaching position with the GaTech women, Wreck, i have thought that I could not repeat such a great time, bond, and general experience... coaching USC will not be a repeat of my time with wreck, but it offers growth in new areas. overall, the feel i get, like their comraderie and support for their school's other club ultimate team (for wreck: buzz, for the ghettobirds: hellions) from the team, is great. side note: a couple players hail from atlanta, one woodward ultimater and another st pius athlete.

first off, the ghettobirds have a few strong voices and a handful of veterans. this explains part of what they are looking for in a coach and the direction in which we'll be moving as a group. wreck's leadership structure reflected a less even leadership team...two coaches and two captains shared the responsibility of talking, teaching, organizing.

secondly, i'm coaching men. i was coaching women. i have a feeling, based on all socially-encouraged generalizations, that men tend towards egos in their work with leadership and teammates. this tendency diverges from women in that women's moods, rather than egos, take precedence amid the stress of team-play and life.

i think the ghettobirds require similar early working themes as the wreck women did, including the fundamentals of throwing, the stack offense, plus field sense and defense. that's not true for every player, but the same held true on wreck.

i'm worried, as a kind of coordinator of skills, drills, and the team voices, that the same communication success at wreck will not be doubled here at USC. mostly, i think this because i'm not in the leadership position; i'm merely one of the leaders. a potential lack of communication could impact the team because of leader's lack of unity on a schedule or even on the important skills for a particular activity.

also, i'm concerned that i may not perform my best as coach largely due to inactivity as a player. i can't practice with chain each weekend; its unlikely that i'll even be at another tournament with them. the season has progressed too far for me to join another team. LA leagues aren't going on right now. pick-up seems to be the way to go, except that i may want to hang out/sightsee on the weekend; even if i did want to be somewhere for pick-up, say the Autry Museum on Sunday at 10:00, my lack of personal transportation means that the confidence i have as a player and coach relies on a 45, a 76, maybe a 751, or any other number of bus seemingly going in every but no direction at the same time.

i got a package in the mail today. my picture of wreck is going up as soon as i can secure a nail or two in the wall.