Shadrach did pretty well at Sectionals over the weekend, holding seed and qualifying for Regionals in just a few weeks.

It’s extremely unlikely we’ll win enough games at Regionals to qualify for Nationals, but it’ll be fun to play a lot of high-level teams, and also to watch some exciting games. Three of the top contenders in the Mixed division (rather than Open or Women’s) are in our region, and they’ve got quite a rivalry going on. I’m rooting for Shazam, and predict they’ll win it all. Given their extraordinary record so far, it’s not a very risky prediction, but they’ve worked hard to get where they are, and if they win, they’ll deserve it.

One thing I’m wrestling with these days is that I definitely have good days and less-good days when it comes to playing ultimate, and I have a hard time knowing ahead of time what kind of day it’s gonna be. The biggest difference between the two seems not to be physical, but mental – on the less-good days, I know at some level that I could be playing harder, but I just don’t. I don’t lay out for discs, I don’t run as hard as I could on defense, and I make more unforced errors. Any good sports psychology books out there that might help? Of course I’d love for every game to fall into the ‘good’ category, but I’d even settle for knowing in advance how I’ll play.

Also on the frisbee front: I’ve got a couple old discs that’re no longer usable for one reason or another (one cracked, another was thrown on to an oyster bed and torn up by the shells). I emailed Discraft to find out if they’re recyclable, but the answer is ‘no’ (apparently, they kind of plastic they use, which they wouldn’t divulge, isn’t one recyclers will accept). Maybe there are some other uses for them that’ll keep them out of a landfill – any ideas? Frisbee clocks? Bowls (like these)?