Ella and Francisco

As our friend John put it, “Look who’s rockin’ the Austin Winter League flyer!”

Ella and I are playing ultimate Frisbee on Sundays in December, January, and February. This is a fun league started by our good friend Gary who has incorporated many fun elements like food, beverages, and a weekly showcase game that everyone can watch while enjoying the food and the day. Last year’s theme for team names was Classic Rock and Roll. My team was called “Deep Purple Lays”. This year’s theme is the TV show “the Office”. I’m hoping for “Wrestle with Fear” or “So Shall I Plant my Seed in You” or “I Hope It’s Urine”.

In case you’re interested, the web site for winter league is:

http://www.austinultimate.org/winterleague2008/

Yes, I wrote miscellanea in the title, and I meant it! Ella and I have been wantonly participating in various Ultimate Frisbee contests over the past few months. They include:

• Spring Leauge 2006
• Summer League 2006
• Texas2Finger 2006

I coached the league teams while trying to stay in shape for the Fall series. Ella has been helping build a women’s team, Fluffy Kitten. Summer League and Texas2Finger both took place in July, when the high temperatures in Texas cause spontaneous disc combustion, making catches and throws extra tricky. Thankfully Ella is a hydration expert and she keeps me from passing out, fully aware that carrying me off the field would require more than she can bench press.

The only other remarkable item from our playing this year is the first ever documented proof of the Cisco Roll. Deborah, our Riverside photographer who makes our exploits look inspiring, caught me doing my patented roll at Texas2Finger. This is a maneuver I learned to execute whenever I have to catch a disc that is below knee level. It spares me from undergoing arthroscopic surgery and adds a little pizzazz to my game.

On March 18 and 19 I participated in my sixth CenTex (Central Texas) Ultimate Frisbee tournament. Teams from all over the region and country come to Austin to compete, including my team ”Riverside”. This tournament signals the start of the Ultimate Frisbee season that ends sometime in September with the championship series. CenTex usually catches advanced players like myself by surprise. And by “advanced”, I mean “aged”, and the “surprise” is the lack of conditioning and stamina that comes from not training over the winter. Although one could argue that this should not come as a surprise year after year.

Despite the windy and rainy day I showed up early to join my equally ”advanced” teammates. Many of the teams we play against are from colleges or consist of young athletes in their twenties. Riversiders tend to be older with the exception of the son of our captain who is just entering high school but plays like he’s in his twenties. Woody’s young age skews our median to somewhere around 34, which gives you an idea of how much older the rest of us are. During games our sideline becomes a collection of grumpy old guys rooting around their bags for Ibuprofen and sticky IcyHot tubes.

The games take place at the University of Texas’ intramural fields, probably the best fields in Texas. Because of the rain we had to relocate to fields in San Antonio on the second day. We did well this year, winning  a couple of games against teams we don’t usually beat.

Deborah Fulton, Greg’s wife, took some fabulous action photos of our games using her expensive-looking camera and lense. Her amazing photography proves that technology can triumph over slow and ailing reality. Thanks Deborah!

 http://www.pbase.com/skibaby/riverside

I included a few photos below from past tournaments to give you a taste of the fun and camaraderie we enjoy on the field and in the parking lot after the games. The parking lot is where we embellish the day’s athletic moments over beer and chips and enjoy the company of our good friends in Austin. Normally our team is the last to leave a tournament. As we pick up our chairs and coolers and bottles and get into our cars, you can always hear our parting call: “We won the parking lot again this year! Yeah Riverside!”.

Austin has been experiencing a very warm winter this year with temperatures in the 70s and 80s and no precipitation. So we decided to go skiing last weekend to get reacquainted with winter. Ella’s friends Ellen and Brian from San Francisco organized a large posse of skiers and rented a beautiful house located right on Main Street in Breckenridge, CO. The place had a full kitchen, multiple fireplaces, and great bedrooms with lots of blankets. Oh, and an outside hot tub complete with a very chilly run from the front door.

In one day Ella went from learning to stand on her skis to going down the green runs on her own. I enjoyed exploring my limits as I tried ever-increasing difficult runs, stopping just shy of hills that looked more like cliffs. I also managed to drop a glove from the chairlift which I recovered by taking note of the surrounding landmarks (thank you Minnesota YMCA summer camp!). On the third night we had dinner with Nicole and Ryan (from Austin) at the Breckenridge Brewery. So-so food but good beer!

Thanks to John, Tony and Gloria, Belle, KJ, and Cheng for lending us their coats and gloves and other ski wear items. If you want see what your stuff looks like on our bodies, and I know you do, take a peek at the photos: