CMUA Indoor Ultimate 101 - Introductory Indoor

This is an introductory post, intended for those unfamiliar with the sport of ultimate and, more specifically, the sport of CMUA Indoor Ultimate. It is considered a prerequisite for later study in the more advanced post (CMUA Indoor Ultimate 405 - Advanced Indoor Theory). Students of this post with gain an understanding of the rules of CMUA Indoor Ultimate and the basics of attending and playing.

The Central Maryland Ultimate Association (CMUA) runs a winter league at Landsdowne High School. It's a indoor league played in a fairly small gymnasium. It's similar to real ultimate in that you need to advance the disc to the endzone by passing it from player to player. However, the stall count begins at 6 rather than 1 and the endzone is a mere 5 yards deep. There is also no stoppage of play or change of possession when a point is scored. The field reverses on a score and the team that scores begins attacking the other endzone, this is referred to as "make-it, take-it" as in pick-up basketball. If the disc lands out of bounds, it is put in play at the nearest boundary, including the back of the endzone (unlike regular ultimate).

There are also basketball hoops obstructing some of the airspace in and around the field. You have the standard two hoops for the regulation high school court running the length of the gym. These objects are considered in-bounds. Any disc striking these objects is still in play and can be received by the offense. There are four hoops for the smaller courts running the width of the gym, two of these can be hit with a throw that bends out of bounds. These hoops are out of bounds and a disc striking these hoops (including the net) becomes out of bounds. Finally, any throw striking the ceiling or lights is immediately considered out of bounds.

Each team consists of five players of either gender. Often, some effort is made to make gender ratios, but it is not necessarily required.

I believe that this concludes the background post. Congratulations, you are now ready to consider further posts on Advanced Indoor Theory.

This post doesn't have very many links, so here's a link to an Indoor Ultimate Frisbee Tournament in Bratislava, Slovakia.

You know what's a good movie?

Match Point.

You may remember it as the movie with Scarlett Johansson, Emily Mortimer, and Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Or you may have heard that Woody Allen wrote and directed the movie. Don't let this fool you, just because the cast is incredibly attractive and Scarlett Johansson is the most famous actor and Woody Allen has recently been known for directing absolute crap, do not for a minute think that this movie is not going to blow you away.

I can't tell you what it's about. I know that this may not be the best way to sell a movie, but it is necessary. The last thing I want to do is give away the movie, it has a twist to it that really blew me away the first time I saw it. I'm watching it on DVD now and I think I appreciate everything a lot more now that I know where it's all going.

If you really like a great drama and spectacular film making, go rent or buy this movie at your first opportunity. Just don't go reading any reviews that might spoil the plot for you.

Carbonated Soft Drinks

"Coke Rewards" is one of those customer loyalty programs that Coca-Cola runs to try to get people to drink more soda. Basically, if you drink a 20 oz. soda or by a 12-pack of Coke or Diet Coke they give you a code to enter into their website to earn points. Eventually you can redeem points for merchandise (I estimate that if I did this for the next 20 years, I could get an X-Box).

Anyway, recently I was asked to take a survey for them. I think it rates at least a 6 out of 10 on the unitentional comedy scale. Here are some questions (please rate from 1 to 5 with 1 = "strongly disagree" and 5 = "strongly agree"):

"Within the last six months I have spoken to a lot of people about carbonated soft drinks"
- Ok, seems like a reasonable question. I haven't, but maybe some people who drink more soda have had such conversations.

"I often speak about carbonated soft drinks with my friends or family."
- That could be considered distinct from the first question, if you are a person who has deep, involved conversations about soda with strangers on the street.

"When I speak about carbonated soft drinks with my friends and family I usually give them a lot of information."
- Huh? Like calorie content? The price of a twelve pack at the local Shopper's? (Answer: $3.50)

"My friends and family would probably consider me a good source of advice for carbonated soft drinks."
- Come on, has this ever really happened to someone? Have you ever had a conversation start out, "Well, son, I think you're old enough now that you've probably started to notice soft drinks, would you like some advice?"

"During a conversation about carbonatd soft drinks, it is very probable that I would convince my friends and family about my ideas."
- You know what Jim? You're right, I had never really thought about the difference between Coke Zero and Diet Coke before, your theories on the overall carbonated soft drink experience have really opened my eyes. I don't know what I'd do without a brother-in-law who was so knowledgeable about carbonated soft drinks.