Winter Won't Waiver...So Neither Will We

Temporary Ultimate Hiatus

Kapoor FTW.  Alex Rentzis - Ultiphotos.com

Well...sorta. Although it has been three weeks and a day since the Infinity Debacle and two weeks since Hopp Double Dipped in MHU Finals, to say Inception has taken a break entirely would be incorrect. Chewy will probably even chime in that there has been 6-10 overnight indoor tournaments since then. And he's skyed girls in every one. I believe at least The Saint, and maybe more Inceptors, played in a winter league final in Boulder. Since Boulder, CO is affectionately known as '25 square miles surrounded by reality', I'm going to have to say we're only counting results in the "real world", so the winter league win doesn't count as true offseason ultimate. Sorry, Boulderites.

Despite the numerous caveats, it's seemed like ages since Inception could be found tossing the plastic en masse. Cleats lay dormant in bedroom corners, slowly being covered by increasingly dirtier laundry. Inadvisable hammers going unthrown upwind. On the field, Inception is merely an afterthought in a dream (that metaphor worked out well!). 

Conversely, as dormant as Inception's on-field presence is, the off-field activity is abuzz. Email threads longer than Weezer's infamous sweater still stuff incoming mail boxes on the daily - nay - hourly. Arranging any type of organized sport gathering takes at least some preparation. And currently Inception is doing just that...along with typical offseason workouts, hangouts, and of course trash talking. The term "3-peat" still finds its way into any conversation longer than twelve seconds. Not going to live that one down for a while, apparently...

Here's a list of some of the things Inception is doing off-field, in the off season:

Countdown to Spring (Leagues)

I'll go ahead and speak for everyone in the Denver-based contingent of Inception (sorry again, Boulder dudes) and say that the word of the spring is: revenge. Twaffl-ers want it on the Hot Cacas, and the newly crown MHU League champs want to avoid the title from pendulum swinging back to their pink-clad rivals. As the days grow longer and warmer, the ultimate in the MHU Spring League will get better and better. Also typical of MHU Spring League, the playoffs - which usually pit Inceptors' teams against one another in both semis and finals - will be an absolute bloodbath. With so much on the line this year (in part thanks to this blog), there will assuredly be no holding back from anyone. Twaffle wants that title, and Hot Cocoa wants to keep it. Meanwhile, the other smattering of Inceptors on the other teams in Monday's A League want to end this championship love affair between Twaffle and HC with a title of their own. Everyone's invested.

Speaking of investment, Kapoor may win the silver medal in offseason, behind-the-scenes ultimate work so far in 2014. Second only to me, of course. As the Open Coverage and Ad/Marketing Manager for Skyd, I guarantee I do more behind-the-scenes work for Skyd Mag - and therefore the game of ultimate - in a day than most ultimate players will do in a lifetime. If you think you got me in unpaid hours worked COME AT ME BRO! You'll quickly see you are in over your head.

Ok, I'll put my junk away now. This pissing contest is over. Anyway...

They must teach extremely effective organizational skills in law school, because Kapoor has done the leg work to arrange a men's (and for the most part, Inception) only 4v4 league on Tuesday nights without so much as a hint of a hiccup. Unlike MHU, the 4v4 challenge will include both D-towners and Boulderites. Players will be continually intermixed each week, with a few requesting baggage with one another. Cheaters. Players/teams with the best overall record by the end will be crowned champions. 

Personally I love the concept, but also fear it at the same time. Love it because we'll have a larger base of understanding on how to effectively cut in a small space (read: handler movement). Fear it because mini games are fucking ass kickers. Love it because we'll have our sprinting legs under us earlier than teams who are still parked on the couch. Fear it because in a small space, while typically not as severe, injuries can really rack up quickly. 

Like Winter, Offseason Ultimate Not Quite Done

It's important for teams to never overlook any one opponent, team, or tournament for future tilts. The same can be said about the remainder of ultimate to be played before Spring has sprung. This Saturday marks the return of the Trent-run Indoor Regional Tournament. (Easy, Chewy.) Because it's the offseason, and moreover because it's Trent, Inception didn't even have a starting 5 participating in the mixed tournament until Monday of this week due to lack of information on the tournament itself. One measly 36 thread email chain later and we're suddenly the favorites to win it. To be fair, the competition is such that Inception was the favorite to win it even before committing. 

On paper, Inception could win this evening-long tournament with their eyes closed. A perfect time to practice mental fortitude. In other words, it's a good exercise in not fucking up because despite the low bar, there IS a "nationals" bid on the line. For a bit of extra motivation, I'll also add that while an infinitesimally small amount, we somewhat owe Trent the victory. Why? Because we own him. And it's important for the masters to give their puppets a little hope of running the show every now and again. 

When Trent caught wind (I'll take that blame) that the "Inception Ski Weekend" was happening the same weekend his Regional Indoor Tournament, he changed the date to accommodate us. To ignore the fact that Trent's motive is obviously self serving - more players more moolah - would be naive, but the fact remains that he threw us a small bone. So in turn we'll throw one back. By doing our jobs and humiliating the competition. BOUGH.

Working in a Winter Wonderland

Yesterday it was 70 degrees. Today it's a white-out blizzard outside. The months of March, April, and to an extent May bring extremely indecisive weather patterns to the state of Colorado. Peering through my window currently, I'm pretty ok with no longer having frequent outdoor ultimate commitments for the time being. Humans need time to thaw out, too, ya know. Since elementary school it's been taught that the movement of molecules determines a system's specific heat. The more those molecules are moved around and displaced within a system, the quicker that system warms up. In order for Inception to get hot at the right time in 2014, molecules must begin moving in the offseason. And so they have.

Fucking Regular Joel, Hopp, House, DJamie, and myself still lift 1-2 times per week. I'm personally training for the Horsetooth Half Marathon in April, and I know other guys have similar, non-ultimate related events upcoming. Don't get me started on how long distance running isn't the best training regimen for ultimate. As a Skyd staff member I'm well aware. I would contend, however, that building a firm, long distance muscle base is a better start than nothing at all.

Additionally, as mentioned above, this past weekend was the annual Inception Ski Weekend. While team cohesiveness was paltry due to a split in who bought what season passes, it still afforded the opportunity for teammates to be active around one another. Team Chemistry: +1 mana point. Nothing builds togetherness like taking cliffs way bigger than you ever have before simply because your teammate (read: mother fuckin Priester) just did it in front of you. I'll once again speak for everyone when I say thank god Harry wasn't in town for the ski trip. The things that dude jumps off would have killed any one of us, including LRF. Health: +1. 

Post by Andrew Priester.

Gabe and Sweet Joe getting some. Prob ~15 footer. Nice. Video Courtesy of LRF.

While the short-term goals of beating teammates in leagues has temporarily ceased, the long-term goal of Nationals remains. I was always taught as a young kid training for my black belt in Tae Kwon Do that no matter how hard you train, there is someone else out there training twice as hard. This motto keeps me motivated to this day. In observing all the different ways Inception is training this offseason, I have to say that it would be tough to find another team working twice as hard as we are. Even still, we know you're out there, running shuttle drills while we sleep. We're coming for you, because while training for a goal can be time dependent, wanting it is never stops. We will be the team that works twice as hard as yours does, if we're not there already. We will work tirelessly for one, long-term goal: The next step. Club Natties 2014.

BOUGH