As inclement as the weather was in the first round of CCC, it got worse in the second. Although the snow started to melt and the sun started to emerge from the gray clouds that had shrouded it all morning, the conditions began to worsen. The wind began to pick up and the ground began to turn into a slippery muck of mud and mire.

In our eyes, this became the great equalizer for the day. It was grossly apparent that during the Georgia/Delaware game, the conditions negated almost any athletic advantage that individuals may have had.

The wind appeared to immediately be a factor as Georgia sophomore Caleb Edwards caught an in-cut on the first point and immediately turned around to launch a flick downfield without a moment’s hesitation to give Georgia a 1-0 lead.

Also with the wind at their back, Delaware answered with a quick score of their own to tie the score.

The third point of the game saw the first turns for each team before Edwards was involved in his second score for Georgia, a force side catch in the endzone to take a 2-1 lead.

Following that point, Georgia earned the first break of the game, an upwind push pass from fifth year Taylor Nilan, to take a distinct advantage, 3-1 and forcing Delaware to fight the wind. However, Delaware showed some foreshadowing and proved that they weren’t scared to work into the wind as captain Sean Keegan broke his mark to score and bring Delaware within one. 3-2. Broken marks became a theme for Georgia throughout the course of the game.

“We talked about (our marks) during and after the game,” Fifth year captain Peter Dempsey told us after the game. “Unfortunately it just didn’t show during the game.”

However, Georgia’s team looked strong at points during the game. Including towards the end of the second half, after the teams traded scores to go to 4-3 Dempsey jumped into the lane with Delaware on the goaline and looking to score. Dempsey shouted at his mark to prevent the dump and, at a high stall count, laid out for a block that led to another for Georgia. The Bulldogs now led 5-3 and earned another break on the next point to take a 6-3 lead.

At this point a lot of teams would fade away. Down three breaks heading into half but Delaware was not one of those teams today. They scored again to keep the score reasonable and though Georgia scored the next point to take the half, Delaware was still in it at a score of 7-4.

Delaware would earn one break back after half thanks to a fantastic layout block from Keegan, who worked his hand just in between the Bulldog player’s hands to tip the disc just before rotation was stopped. Early in the second half the score sat at 9-7 and, with the cap quickly approaching because of sloppy play and long points, one would think that Delaware was more or less out of the game.

Delaware didn’t hear any of that talk though, the team broke Georgia’s offense yet again to go to 9-8 as the soft cap went on, game to 11. Dempsey would take over on the succeeding point, breaking his mark for to throw a score to go up 10-8.

However, Delaware would just not go away.

“We didn’t give up,” Keegan told us after the game. “We wanted to win it.”

“They wanted it more than us,” Dempsey said. “I have to give them that.”

Delaware would score upwind on offense and then break Georgia to score again and tie the game at 10s.

On double-game point Georgia received the pull with the wind at its back. After an outlet pass Dempsey took off and the disc went up to him. The pass was just a bit too tall and it tipped just off his fingertips. Delaware took over possession and started to slowly work the disc up the field. However, senior Clay Heinzel-Nelson got trapped on the force side sideline, with Georgia forcing backhand, and, into the wind, launched a huge inside-out breakmark throw that floated into space and into his unharassed receiver’s hands.

Delaware wins, 11-10.

They say that success is contagious. If that’s the case, then Jojah is certainly in for one of its most successful seasons of all time.

Since 2003 Jojah has only missed Nationals once. It is safe to say that the Bulldogs have made themselves a staple of the competitive Ultimate scene. However, apart from their trip to the semifinals on the back of future World Champion Dylan Tunnell, Jojah has not had much in the way of success once Nationals has rolled around. Last season was no exception as Georgia, the No. 2 team from the Atlantic Coast, won one game in Columbus and finished tied for 19th in the nation.

“For all our players that were on the team last year,” Jojah captains Peter Dempsey and Rob Herrig wrote us in an e-mail. “(That) was an embarrassment.”

However, Jojah has been surrounded by success this offseason, as two of men who play pivotal roles on the team, fifth year captain Dempsey and coach AJ Tiarsmith helped lead Atlanta’s Chain Lightning to its first UPA Club Championship.

Tiarsmith plays the role of coach and Herrig and Dempsey believe that his role on the team cannot be understated.

“We believe that we have the best coach in college Ultimate in AJ Tiarsmith,” Herrig and Dempsey wrote us in an e-mail. “His knowledge of the game is incredible and he is great at indentifying what we need to work on, both as individuals and as a team. He inspires a passion for the game and, at the same time, he helps keep us loose and having fun.”

No one benefited from that knowledge in the last year than Dempsey. A staple of Jojah’s season last year was to see Tiarsmith and Dempsey consistently discussing strategy between points and games. On top of that, Dempsey spent the club season gaining supplemental coaching from Tiarsmith and the rest of Chain’s experienced roster and it showed on the sport’s largest stage.

Dempsey’s near Callahan will most likely be a familiar sight for Jojah’s opponents this season as he and fifth year senior Taylor Nilan, who was the last player to not make Chain’s roster this season, anchor the Bulldogs’ aggressive defensive-line.

On the the other side of the disc, the Bulldog ties run as thick as blood. It’s tough to beat the chemistry that Jojah’s best cutter and Jojah’s best handler have. Rob Herrig, who Dempsey refers to as “the quarterback of the UGA offense,” works as one with his younger brother, Charlie. The Herrig brothers are a force to be reckoned with and with Georgia’s offensive style, it’s not a choice of how to defend them, it’s a choice of how you want to be beat.

“We run our defenders tired all over the field,” Dempsey and Herrig wrote. “On the open side, we get open consistently. In the red zone, we break the mark and play possession. Our cutters are extremely athletic, they are quick and fast but they will throw the huck if the deep pass is open.”

To say that Georgia has a complete team is a bit of an understatement. 14 members of Jojah’s roster have been playing together for at least two years and the Bulldogs are ready to prove that this year is their year.

“We expect to win every game that we play in,” Dempsey and Herrig wrote. “We’ve got the talent and we put in the work. If we stay focused, we know that we can beat anyone we play.”

Winning their home tournament for the first time in its history would certainly be a nice place to start.

I posed the question on LinkedIn…

“Would you recommend your ETMS/CRM”

The question was phrased to solicit comment from people within the industry who would actually recommend the system they were using.  I also requested that no vendors respond to avoid a barrage of ETMS suppliers using this forum as a vehicle for self promotion.

http://tinyurl.com/yejxf3o

As expected the traditional pharma vendors, Cegedim-Dendrite, Seibel & Microsoft all got a mention.   What I hadn’t expected however was the support and discussion of Salesforce.com.

Prominent in the discussions was the relationship and support provided by the vendor.  But I wondered if the reason support and relationship with the vendor is so important, is because you can’t change the fundamentals of most pharma CRM platforms without advanced technical knowledge and/or input from the vendor.

In other words, if you can’t enhance your system to cope with the rapidly changing competitive environment, without engaging the vendor to do the work, then of course the support and relationship you have with the vendor is of paramount importance.  On the other hand, what if you had full access to a user friendly system which can be updated, enhanced or amended by your system administrators? Would the support and relationship with the vendor be anymore important than the relationship you have with Microsoft when you need to create something in MS Word, MS Excel or MS Powerpoint?

Salesforce.com promote their platform as very user friendly and almost entirely “internally managed”.  In order words, you purchase the required number of licenses, work with them to replicate the legacy system and then manage the tool internally. Updates, changes, enhancements are all completed internally by your system administrators who have completed a week of training and can access an extensive support network.

Of course there are risks associated with this model.  If you don’t know what you are doing, you have the potential to cripple your most important sales lever… but if you can get this right… you have the power to do as you need, when you need without waiting or paying for the vendor to implement their interpretation for your requirements.

I am not in a position to personally endorse the salesforce.com platform, but I have to say they paint a very attractive picture.

So, somehow, without any plan and with a lot of stubborn persistence, Houses & Motions has now been running for three years. Just why it keeps going remains to be seen, but if you want to know why this all got started, last year’s retrospective may help. Anyway, today’s post isn’t related to any of this, I’d queued it up a while ago so I’m tacking on the intro now…

Mr DEMPSEY: I implore this state government to be realistic in its approach and make sure that it
pays teachers adequately in comparison to teachers elsewhere in Australia for the hard work that they do.

Mr Schwarten: How much? What’s the offer from the opposition?

Mr KNUTH (Dalrymple—LNP) (9.56 pm): In speaking to the Education and Training Legislation
Amendment Bill, I acknowledge the minister’s intention to streamline—

Mr Dempsey: How much is enough?

Mr Schwarten: How much?

Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! Member for Bundaberg.

Mr Schwarten: Just gratuitous waffle.

Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! Minister!

Mr Schwarten: No offer.

Mr Dempsey interjected.

Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! I am on my feet. I will ask the member for Bundaberg to withdraw
that unparliamentary comment.

Mr DEMPSEY: I withdraw that comment.

Mr Schwarten interjected.

Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! Minister, the member for Dalrymple has the call.

Mr DEMPSEY: I rise to a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. What was the word—parrot? Was it
parrot or was it to do with brains because if brains were rubber bands they could be wrapped around a
parrot’s ankle.

Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! Member for Bundaberg.

Mr DEMPSEY: I withdraw.

Mr Hinchliffe: It’s a bit too late to come back at that point.

Opposition members interjected.

Mr Schwarten: No wonder the coppers got rid of you.

Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order!

Mr Schwarten: No offer; no guts.

Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! Minister!

Mr Dempsey interjected.

Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! Member for Bundaberg, you leave me no option but to warn you.
This is it. The member for Dalrymple has the call. Any further interjections will be treated that way.

Mr Schwarten interjected.

Mr DEMPSEY: I rise to a point of order. I take offence and I ask the minister to withdraw.

Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Minister, he has asked you to withdraw.

Mr SCHWARTEN: I withdraw, Mr Deputy Speaker. I don’t like him winking at me.

Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Minister, withdraw unreservedly.

Mr SCHWARTEN: I withdraw. I ask him to stop winking at me across the chamber. It is quite
embarrassing.

Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Minister, I will ask you to withdraw again unreservedly.

Mr SCHWARTEN: I withdraw unreservedly, Mr Deputy Speaker.

Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you. The member for Dalrymple has the call.

Subject: Education Legislation Amendment Bill / Education and Training Legislation Amendment Bill [Legislative Assembly - Second Reading -- Cognate Debate]

Date: 6 October 2009

Hansard reference: pp. 2569 – 2570 [online (pdf)]

Yesterday, I was at Dempsey Hill to catch a local Rugby Match.
Blacks Vs SRC.

*Note to everyone: Please wear slippers if you’re going to watch Rugby @ Dempsey.The muddy field is the undoubtedly the minus point.

The match was Blacks (Seniors)Vs SRC (Seniors).

Blacks: Black & Gold
SRC: White & Red

Formation of Ruck by Blacks.

A fully formed Ruck.

There was definately much tension felt in the air cause of the both team’s intense rivalry. Even though the Blacks were at a losing end, they put on a great fight,despite the muddy pitch.

There were several injuries during the match.2 Blacks players had to be replaced due to severe injures before half time. One fractured his leg while the other fractured his arm. Both of the players had to be sent to hospital immediately. Thankfully, an ambulance was called for a standby.

I felt that this game was a give away game for the Blacks because they could have easily won the match if the pitch was in perfect condition. But, I know its not called “Good Sportsmanship” to blame it on the pitch. The sudden substitution of 2 new players found the Blacks in a little miscommunication. Blacks found themselves at the losing end.

Hopefully, The Blacks will be able to bounce back from the defeat. And I pray that the injured players will be fully recovered for the next game.

*All pictures were taken by me on 14th Nov 2009.

So the first double gameweek came and went and I was not best pleased with Aston Villa’s attempts at getting a clean sheet. I gambled on bringing in Dunne to complement Collins but Villa decided to draw 1-1 with a team who have an injury list big enough to fill a teamsheet (Everton), and then lose to then second bottom team (West Ham).

I guess it was to be expected they weren’t to be relied on with two away games and I’m glad I took my own advice of not going for a Villa or West Ham player as captain. Our suggested choices of Fabregas or Lampard but got double figures and whilst we picked the wrong Burnley player, the thought was correct. Europa League action means half the fixtures are on Sunday/Monday this week and there’s a clash between the top two to look forward too as well.

Gameweek 11 Top Gun (aka Tom Cruise Approves):

Maverick approves of the score but not so much of the hair.

Defenders who score are always likely to threaten the top points scorers lists and so it proved as Burnley’s Graham Alexander scored twice, kept a clean sheet and earnt three bonus points for an excellent score of 21 points. I feel a bit sorry for Aruna Dindane of Portsmouth. Useless/unlucky (depending on who you speak to) up until now, he scores a hat-trick plus assist and three bonus for 20 points which would win Top Gun most weeks.

Elsewhere Joey Craddock was another two goal defender but the lack of clean sheet means just 15 for him, while Van Persie notched his biggest score of the season (and sixth goal in five games) with 15 in the destruction of Spurs.

.

Three Captain Choices:

With Chelsea facing Man Utd at Stamford Bridge it means you should probably look elsewhere for some easier pickings. That said Drogba is perhaps the only player I’d consider from those two this weekend, and depending on who Utd play at centre back may result in another good score for the Ivorian.

1. Van Persie or Fabregas/Arsenal –  Take your pick from these two, both have been in excellent form recently. RvP has six goals, two assists and seven bonus in his last five while Fabregas has two goals, six assists and 12 bonus in his last five. Indeed the Spaniard has been man of the match for the last four games, and has recaptured the form of 06/07 & 07/08 where if Arsenal won you didn’t even have to check as you knew he’d get three bonus. Arsenal face Wolves away and whilst Mick McCarthy’s side have only let in six goals at Molineux so far, they haven’t faced anyone especially good or free scoring. Arsenal are still averaging over three goals a game and while I don’t think it will be a thrashing, either Cesc or RvP should be good for points in a 2-0 win.

2. Adebayor (or maybe Petrov)/Man City – As sure as night follows day, Burnley win at home and lose away. Man City haven’t been great recently with four straight draws but I don’t see Burnley making it five. Adebayor missed last week and is a slight doubt but by it should be clearer later today whether he’s fit. He’s only failed to score or assist in one game so far so should do well against Burnley. Alternatively Martin Petrov is the form player.

3. Dunn/Blackburn – Pompey are the visitors to Ewood Park this week and while they won 4-0 last week I don’t expect a similar outcome. Blackburn are struggling but have been ok at home. Dunn has been by far their best player this season and I would expect him to do something on Saturday.

Gets a Captain's tick

.

Three Potential Transfers In:

1. Dempsey/Fulham – A pre-emptive transfer for Gameweek 13 when Fulham play twice but to be fair he isn’t a bad shout this week. Wigan away (masters of inconsistency) following two goals in two games. I like Dempsey as a player, he tends to get forward to support the strikers and takes a lot of shots. Fulham don’t score that many but he’s a better shout than Zamora who could score in five straight games (as if) and I still wouldn’t bring him in. Only masochists would do that!

2. Gibbs/Arsenal – Now that Clichy is out for at least a month (note: you should take this as Arsenal time which is usually half of real time meaning he’s out for two months at least), Kieran Gibbs gets thrust into the left back role. He’s generally impressed when coming into the team and costs just £4.5m. He’s not as good defensively as Clichy but Arsenal don’t really do clean sheets so that’s not a factor. He’s definitely better going forward though so may get an assist or two down the line.

3. Ivanovic/Chelsea – In a similar scenario to Gibbs, he’s replacing an injured full back in Bosingwa. Quite pricey at £5.6m but cheap for a Chelsea defender. They have six clean sheets already this season.

Might be worth a pick.

.

Three to avoid:

1. Torres/Liverpool – Yes he’s currently top scorer but I feel it’s only a matter of time before his suspected hernia starts keeping him out of games. Rafa talking about how they have to be careful with him does not fill me with confidence. Cash in and use the money on Drogba, RvP or Rooney.

2. Clichy/Arsenal – Out for ages.

3. Burnley players – Three away games in the next four.

Are you taking the mick?

.

T.

Yesterday afternoon I sat in on an interview with MOCRA’s Director, Fr. Terrence Dempsey, S.J., and Michael Byron. We were at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum on the campus of Washington University in St. Louis, and host John Lanius was recording the interview for the Saint Louis Art Map: On the Air podcast (available on iTunes or as XML).

The conversation was wide ranging, from broad questions about the potential for art to lead the viewer to an encounter with mystery, to specific questions about the genesis of the Cosmic Tears series and the interplay of text and image in Michael Byron’s work. I was particularly intrigued by Byron’s observations about the transition from the solitary environment of the studio to the public display of work in a museum, and the effect the public setting has on the art and the artist, as well as how he sees his work situated in the grand terrain of art history.

The podcast will be available online early next week, and we’ll have links to it from the MOCRA website…but I encourage you to subscribe to the Art Map podcast and stay up-to-date on the contemporary art scene in St. Louis. It’s an important contribution to the St. Louis arts scene, especially given the increasing paucity of print media coverage, and a great complement to the Saint Louis Art Map blog.

Sitting in on the interview whetted my appetite for Michael Byron’s talk at MOCRA on Sunday, November 15, 2009, at 2 p.m. I’m looking forward to hearing him expand on some of his comments from yesterday, and to hear what questions audience members want to pose about his work. More details about the talk are found here. We hope to see you there.

– David Brinker, Assistant Director

Kompilacja najlepszych pięściarzy XX wieku.

Przecena w sklepie Pretorian – sprawdź teraz!

Kompilacja najlepszych walk Jacka Dempseya.

Bestsellery w sklepie Pretorian – sprawdź teraz!

So todays been a good day first I come home and see Eletewater have sent me some freebies (review here) gotta admit I’m genuinely quite impressed by it. I was expecting something that tainted water and was somewhat pointless, but it really seemed to help wake me up. Not sure I’m too happy to drink a letter of it every day, but it’s decent quite stuff that may just have been incredibly cleverly sent to a loud mouth who is giving away some of their samples already to people actually requesting it from the review…not bad really.

Secondly I’ve going to re-start an idea I had began last year, well rather re-do the idea, which was for a really in depth heavyweight boxing history book. It would now appear as I’m pretty much writing online biography pieces anyway I’m going to attempt to do every heavyweight champion in history and inter link every page to the others they’ve faced. As well as that their will be pieces on the biggest fights (Thrilla in Manilla, Rumble in the Jungle, “Bite Fight”, the 3 fights dubbed “Fight of the Century”), the major title belts and (if I figure out a way of doing it) a spider diagram to show who fought who fought who.

The spider diagram seems simple when you go:
Sullivan fought Corbett, Corbett faced Fitzsimmons and Jeffries. Fitzsimmons faced Jeffries and Johnson, whilst Jeffries faced Johnson and “handed the title” to Marvin Hart.

However when it comes to fighters like Louis,  Ali, Holmes, Tyson who each faced a multitude of  former, future and contemporary champions it becomes rather confusing, especially in the multi-title eras where the IBF begin and then the WBO decide to add salt into the wounds, never mind the WBU or IBO. So starting with the champions that didn’t have a great amount of fights would seem the better idea rather than going straight into the fighters with numerous major fights (in other words the simple ones first).

Anyway everyone should try Eletewater I tell ya.

MOCRA’s Director, Rev. Terrence Dempsey, S.J., is honored to deliver the 2009 Dillenberger Lecture at the Graduate Theological Union (GTU) in Berkeley, California, this Thursday, October 22, 2009.

Titled “The Wounded Body of Christ and the Modern Social Conscience,” the lecture will offer an overview of how images associated with the suffering and death of Jesus still have vitality, even in a pluralistic world. Images referring to the events of Good Friday have been employed by the artists of our time not only to manifest an expression of faith but more frequently to address life and death realities such as war, bigotry, poverty, oppression, genocide, sickness and pandemics in order to stimulate empathetic responses within the viewers.

Among the modern artists to be discussed are Georges Rouault, Kathe Kollwitz, Max Beckmann, and Graham Sutherland, as well as contemporary artists such as Michael Tracy, Juan Gonzalez, Eleanor Dickinson, Stephen de Staebler, Daniel Goldstein, Luis Gonzalez Palma, Adrian Kellard, Dinh Q. Le, and James Rosen.

The lecture takes place on Thursday, October 22, 2009. A reception precedes the lecture at 5:00 p.m., followed by the lecture at 6:00 p.m.

It will be held at the Graduate Theological Union (GTU)
Dinner Board Room, Flora Lamson Hewlett Library
2400 Ridge Road, Berkeley, CA

For more information, click here.

Again, the US-Player Dempsey gets his own “Superfly-IDs”

By Joe, www.Bettingexpert.com

Fulham and Brede Hangeland will be hoping to keep a clean sheet against Hull City.

Monday night at Craven Cottage will see Fulham face fellow premiership strugglers, Hull City, visiting London. Both teams are in a need for points as they are currently stuck at the bottom half of the Premier League. A winner here would definitely pull either club out of the dangers of the relegation zone and Fulham look favorable here.

Roy Hodgson’s men are set to help the club to celebrate their 130^th anniversary by beating Hull City on Monday night. Fulham have a solid defense and plays in a strict traditional 4-4-2 formation. Their attacking drive will come from Danny Murphy and Clinton Dempsey to feed the striker, Andrew Johnson, who is still searching to find his form. Hodgson will be without suspended Kagisho Dikagcoi as he will start his three match ban suspension and Simon Davis is ruled doubtful. Irish winger, Damien Duff, returns to the squad from a calf injury.

The Tigers will hope that the international break has helped them to regroup and find their mentality to cope with the upcoming matches. They have been struggling and currently placed 18^th in the Premiership, just on the wrong end of the relegation line. Coach Phil Brown will hope that their fortune with change with Jimmy Bullard and Anthony Gardner returning to the squad from injuries. Hull with be without Cooper (hamstring), Ashbee and Garcia, both sustaining knee injuries.

Fulham did the double over Hull last season and that something Roy Hodgson knows he has to repeat if he wants to avoid the relegation dog fight. Hull City have not won an away game since they encounter against West Bromwich Albion back in October 2008. They also conceded ten goals in their last two away game and Fulham could set to take advantage of the situation. Check out Betsson is offering Fulham to win at 1.70.

Find out and read all about casino and their reviews by visiting BettingExpert.com.

2 Octobre 2009

In a rush to getaway from the city’s hassle and rush and wanting to be part of a ‘district area’. Went up to dempsey hill on a friday night. Probably my first time going up on my own too; on a cab of course! Love to be in a ’secluded’ area though. It makes one feel particularly different! Exorbitant area.. yes I wouldnt deny that. I popped into Margarita’s while I waited for Vampy to reach; noting the hmphs, higher-than-expected prices. Then again, it seems like each meal outside cost at least…………… since……………………..

Painted with Red and Blue and ready with a bunch of city-dwellers who were already ready to embrace their weekends! The boss who spoke with an accent made sure that I wasnt neglected too by attending to me once in a while.

Pretty nice chillax place too but coz we had ben&jerry in mind.. we gave the drinks a miss! Not to forget that Vampy needs to drive.

loves the sour green tomatocillas.. *hope i spelt it correctly*
vampy had their signature dish… rich crabby stuffs! hehs.

And i know exactly how it feels to be with a man who’s super free in doing nothing and with one who’s loaded with work like mad. Exactly know how it feels! Still love the man though!

The usual few culprits!

3 Octobre 2009

Had a heart-to-heart talk with vampy with regards to my sudden emotional changes these days. What he said perhaps made sense… and love those same words from him. Havent heard that for ages. Especially when everything about Vampy now is work! hahas.. from his heart, mind, lips, eyes…. I don’t know if it helps… but thanks anyway.. I appreciate it

6 Octobre 2009

Still remember how he ‘braved’ through the rain this morning to send me home in my drowiness still.. risking a potential late arrival in school, insisting a comfty ride back home for me. Everything happened almost in an instant ..before i even got fully awake.

And when melodies are gone,
In you I hear a song, I look to you.

Chain Lightning's Rob White skies Doublewide's Kiran Thomas for a goal. Photo courtesy of Ben Deneka.

From the first point in the Regional finals on Sunday, it was easy to tell that things were just a little bit different for Chain Lightning in this year’s UPA Series. The team from Atlanta brought home its first Regional victory in three years with a 15-10 over Texas’ Doublewide.

After Doublewide caught the opening pull it was only a matter of throws before Chain’s Mark Poole (our former summer league captain) sold out for a layout block on a breakmark throw. Poole had to take an injury after his mark landed on him but his replacement, AJ Tiarsmith, would find John “Kid” Hammond in the back of the end zone with a hammer.

Though Tiarsmith’s hammer was anything but advised, it was clear that Chain now had, not only the mentality, but also the talent to execute something that it hadn’t done in three years, win the South Region.

“Some of (Chain’s success) is talent,” Chain captain Rob Barrett said. “We have the physical talent and ability to go a long way.”

Where Chain had failed in past years, it would succeed this year. That being said, Doublewide would not go quietly and quickly scored to Rory Orloff after easily marching the disc up the force side of the field.

However, that talent that Barrett spoke of would rear its powerful, fast and unmarkable head in the form of Chain’s Josh Ziperstein. Ziperstein would set up Chain’s next score by bringing down a huck and dumping to Asa Wilson before making the score cut himself. Though the score would fluctuate back and forth, even including Doublewide earning its break back and taking the lead, Ziperstein was ever present for Chain, by the time the score had reached 5-6 in favor of Doublewide, Ziperstein had caught three goals himself and threw another.

“Aside from the goals he threw or caught, he probably had four or five sixty yard gainers throughout the course of the game,” Barrett said. “I know that Josh was frustrated after last year, like we all were, but I could tell, listening to him talk, that he had more focus than usual and I think it was reflected in his play. He played like one of the short list players in the game and that’s what that looks like.”

Doublewide was riding on the coattails of captain Kiran Thomas, who beat Chain defenders to the endzone left and right until had earned its break back from the first point and tied the score at 6 goals a piece.

Joel Wooten gets a block to turn the tide for Chain against Doublewide. Photo courtesy of Ben Deneka.

At that point, Chain made a defensive adjustment and called on the speedy Joel Wooten to mark Thomas. Wooten, who has speed to match Thomas’ and some length over the Doublewide star pulled out a block in the endzone after Chain lost the mark and allowed an easy break huck.

Chain rookie Peter Dempsey laid out for a huck near the endzone and Rob White brought down the score to take a 7-6 lead and, though Jeff Loskorn would catch a goal to tie the game at 7-7, it was clear that Chain wasn’t going to look back.

After college teammates Dylan Tunnell and Mark Greg Swanson hooked up for the score to take half for Chain 8-7, would score two straight, one on offense to Ziperstein and another on D from Poole to White over Loskorn in the endzone for a break to put the score at 10-8 in favor of Chain Lightning.

The two teams would trade to 11-9 and Chain would earn another break but it all but looked over after Chain’s Jason Simpson made up for a turfed throw earlier in the game by coming up with a block in the air. That turned into Chain’s all lefty line working Doublewide’s handler defense as Chain rookie Robert Runner and Jonathan “Frito” Monforti found the endzone after working the disc between themselves for several throws.

Doublewide would find the endzone one more time but Frito would finish off Doublewide by hucking the disc to Russell Snow, who at 5′9″ skied for the disc and found a teammate in the endzone to finish the Texas team off, 15-10.

After the game Doublewide captain Max Cook was impressed with his Regional rival’s play.

“Chain’s a tough team, Chain’s an amazing team,” Cook said. “They have five or six guys that can burn you deep and that’s their game. Put your best defender on one and another is going to get you. That’s their game and we know that’s their game but you try to shut that down and it’s difficult.”

While Cook may be certain of Chain’s style, along with most of the rest of the field at Nationals, as he says, it is difficult to stop. Chain’s offense went the entire Regional final and turned the disc only twice. For a team that plans to peak in a month, that is an impressive number to say the least.

It was a long time coming for several of Chain’s players, who were thrilled to finally take home the Regional crown in front of the home crowd.

“As far as today, we’re really happy,” Barrett said. “We cared, maybe more, you always care, you always want to win but we may have cared a little bit more. If you want to win it all, you gotta get used to playing well along the way.”

Det finns en hel del skatter kvar i behåll för de som gillar boxningshistoria. Det finns nog ingen annan sport som har en sådan mytomspunnen och fascinerande historia som just pugilismen.  Dramatik är ju helt klart ett av boxningens viktigaste element, både på ont och gott. Men det är ju också detta som gör den intressant. Här kommer i alla fall lite smakprov på affischer som sattes upp innan historia skapades.

1892 – John L. Sullivan vs James J. Corbett

John L Sullivan var den förste världsmästaren genom tiderna under markisen av Queensberry-reglerna (Ungefär de regler vi har idag och som gjorde att boxningen fick mer legitimitet i samhället). Sullivan förlorade senare världsmästartiteln till James J Corbett.

Jack Dempsey vs Georges Carpentier

Se fighten mellan Demspey och Carpentier nedan.

1898 eller 1899 – James J. Jeffries vs Tom Sharky

Förmodligen var affischen reklam för att se fighten på en biograf. De möttes i två fighter, en utan någon världsmästartitel och en om världsmästartiteln i tungvikt. Se fighten nedan.

1916 – Jack Johnson vs Arthur Cravan

Jack Johnson var den förste svarte världsmästaren i tungvikt.

1951 – Sugar Ray Robinson vs Jan De Bruin

Sugar Ray Robinson vann på knock out i den 8:e ronden över holländaren Jan De Bruin.

och så lite fler psoters…

1920-talet

1949 – Filmposter för filmen “The fight never ends” där Joe Louis spelar sig själv.

1970

1985

Atlanta's Chain Lightning poses after winning the Chesapeake Open. Photo by Kevin Leclaire. Courtesy of Rob Barrett.

On a rainy Thursday night in northern Washington four young men careened out of control in a rental car and flipped twice before finally coming to a stop. Those four men were Atlanta, Georgia’s Asa Wilson, Rob White, Paul Vandenberg and David Berendes, all members of Chain Lightning. Wilson, White, Vandenberg and Berendes all emerged from the vehicle unharmed and unwittingly stumbled into the perfect metaphor for their team’s history.

The Ultimate community has long since known that the powers at be in Atlanta have underneath them a powerful vehicle. Chain Lightning and Atlanta itself, largely thanks to Paideia High School, has been a hotbed for young Ultimate talent for many years. However, for some unknown reason, that vehicle has often careened out of control when it comes down to the slick roads of UPA Nationals at Sarasota.

Though Chain has occasionally made it as far as the Semifinals of the UPA series, the boys from the Dirty South have never graced the Finals of the UPA’s mainstage event. However, as the years have gone by, so too has Chain’s fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants persona and it has been replaced by a serious (only when necessary) attitude that has resulted in a good amount of Championship talk for the team this season.

One of the men in charge of navigating the slick roads of the UPA series is Chain Lightning captain Rob Barrett. Barrett himself is a marvel of a player as he continues to lead and contribute on the field for Chain at the age of 39 (as the team’s website points out, 40 by Nationals). Barrett himself feels that Chain is just now, just prior to the start of Regionals, beginning to realize where this season could lead.

“I think the team’s expectations for itself may have changed over the course of the season,” Barrett wrote in an e-mail. “We’ve started to realize how well we have the potential to play.”

That potential has started to take shape in the form of tournament wins at Heatout and The Chesapeake Open and a strong performance at The Emerald City Classic. Barrett believes that a new, young group of players, along with the returning elder contingent are to thank for the performance of the Atlanta team so far.

“While we had some personnel losses from last year – which have to hold some significance given that this has been a run of Chain’s most successful three seasons ever – we were fortunate to retain almost everyone who was considering retirement,” Barrett wrote, giving examples such as AJ Tiarsmith, Jason Simpson and Jay Hammond. “That said, our additions, Brandon Perales, David Berendes, Nick Lance, Peter Dempsey, Robert Runner and Will Lokke have been tremendous as well, likely competing with 2008 and 1995 as Chain’s strongest rookie classes.”

Chain Lighting's Brandon Perales lays out for a block at The Emerald City Classic. Photo by Bil Elsinger. Courtesy of Rob Barrett.

No doubt that assessment is true as Chain’s entire rookie class, with Dempsey excluded, comes into this season with at least one season of Club Nationals experience (Runner in mixed) and read like a veritable who’s who among graduating seniors in the Southeast Ultimate scene.

That rookie class, along with veteran experience came in handy during East Coast Club Sectionals. A competitive affair, compared to most Club Sectionals, that challenged Chain. A challenge that Barrett welcomed and was thankful for.

“I think we were fortunate to have such a competitive Sectional this year (I’d say our section’s strongest field ever),” Barrett said. “We were reminded that teams like Tanasi, El Diablo, and Duel won’t roll over just because they see green or purple on the other line.”

That reminder will come in handy as Chain enters into a dogfight this weekend. The South region, though not the strongest in the nation, will be a highly competitive affair as the 16 teams in the field will battle it out for only two bids to Nationals.

Though most of the talk and scuttlebutt around the Ultimate community has Chain easily advancing Barrett thinks that his team is anything but complacent.

“Hopefully as a team that has never played on Sunday at Nationals, made semis only twice, and not won its region in three years, we won’t be complacent just yet,” Barrett said. “To me, hearing or reading that sort of talk should be a positive motivator for a team still trying to reach the top level, but nothing matters in the end besides what get done on the field.”

Barrett acknowledges that even Chain has areas to improve in before the end of the season in order to play at the top level of Ultimate.

“As we enter the last month of the season we’ll really be trying to lock down the areas we’ve been working to improve,” Barrett wrote. “Occasionally using the other 38 yards of the field, putting defensive pressure on handlers, pulling in-bounds, etc. I want us to play like a championship team – focus on complete games, be involved on the sideline, execute what we’ve talked about.”

As the city of Atlanta prepares to host Club Regionals, Barrett admits that, while Nationals is the goal, this year may mean a little bit more to some Chain players.

“We’ve done well in recent seasons at peeking for Sarasota, whether or not we had great Regionals,” Barrett wrote. “Nevertheless, especially since it’s in Atlanta, I personally want to win this one badly.”

While the ending of this season may still be as clear as mud. What is clear as that the members of Chain Lightning have taken control of their vehicle and are steering it with steady hands and bright eyes into the slick and curvy road that leads to the final point in Sarasota.

One of the reasons that I haven’t posted in such a long spell (some may call it a “coon’s age”) is my obsession with Nazi Zombies on Call of Duty: World At War. Anyway, after literally days of playing, I came up with the idea of a Nazi Zombies movie using the four characters introduced in the map-pack 3. I think I nailed the actors to play Takeo and Richtofer, but the jury’s still out on who would play “Tank” Dempsy and Nikolai. Please feel free to add suggestions. Here is a casting montage showing the actors I think would be great for the characters as well as a little background info on each actor.

Dr. Richofer played by Christopher Waltz. If you saw “Inglorious Basterds” then you know that Christopher Waltz MUST play Dr. Richtofer. Charming, extremely intelligent, scary as all hell, and totally insane.

Takeo Masaki: Ken Watanabe plays the ultimate Japanese soldier/bad ass! You may have seen him in The Last Samurai with Tom..ughh..Cruise and Clint Eastwood’s companion film shot from the Japanese soldiers perspective to Flags of our Fathers, Letters from Iwo Jima.

Nikolai Belinski: Viggo Mortensen. Rent “Eastern Promises” and you’ll know why, plus he may pull out the Sword of Elendil and turn a few undead Nazis into halflings.

Tank Dempsey: Michael Chiklis…meh…couldn’t think of anyone else. He was The Thing in that shitty Fantastic Four movie

What do you think?

Seems like the group of us were the only customers. But I was told it can get quite packed in the evening. Thanks to Andrew, we got to eat here for free.

Fried chicken and fried beef sticks.

Glistening with oil. Though they tasted quite ok, I shuddered at the oily feel as I chewed them.

The mains tasted better. But I preferred the pizza. Forgot what kind of pizza we ordered.

Can’t really go wrong with chocolate and vanilla for desserts. I liked the chocolate tart, the pastry had a nice buttery taste, went well with the charred base. It lent a smoky aroma which I thought was nice, accident or not.

Ben&jerry’s @ Dempsey with cousins
Love the place. love the surrounding.
Love the pscafe there too.
I want more.  hehehe