Hi Barry,
I'm writing regarding the payment of UK Ultimate membership fees. I registered online and rostered with Plastic Factory online about five weeks ago; about two weeks before Tour 1. I attempted to register for a Pay Pal account and pay my ・ｽ27.50 membership fee. However, after five minutes of minor frustration, I just decided to dash off a cheque and post it to the address on the UK Ultimate website.
Unfortunately, several weeks have now passed and have heard no confirmation of receipt of my cheque, which has been cashed. I am still not registered on UK Ultimate. Coincidentally, I have instead received in the post a parcel from 'Ultimate Promotions Limited.' This parcel contained a small bottle holding five large green capsules labelled, 'HORN: 100% Herbal Product, Safe and Natural Erection Capsule.' Also included was an order form advertising for purchase a wide range of additional products, including but certainly not limited to the 'Erotic Rabbit Vibrator' and the 'Super Erection Pump.'
As the 'HORN' capsules were valued at ・ｽ28, this suggested to me that perhaps I had posted my check to the wrong address. Imagine my surprise when I noticed that the address for Ultimate Promotions Limited was identical to the one for UK Ultimate. Ideally, I would now like to swap my five HORN capsules with a more needy member of the Ultimate community, perhaps someone who is based in London and a member of the governing board, who could either find a use for these capsules or perhaps negotiate with their London neighbours a return of the ・ｽ27.50. At the very least, I would like to not be excluded from Mixed Tour 1 and think that the UK Administrator should make contact with 'Ultimate Promotions Limited.' Beyond alerting them to the possibility of future confusion, there could be additional benefits. Given the large number of single men playing the sport and the fact that we have yet to achieve a 50:50 gender balance, perhaps there is the opportunity for a positive engagement between the two communities.
Please do not force me to consume all five capsules prior to our match on pitch 5 on Saturday....
All the best,
Rich
On balance a good weekend I reckon. Although we started out with a team which in general had little experience playing together and also included a couple of virginal young ultimate players, we succeeded in getting better and better throughout the weekend.
Our first game against the GB Mixed B team was predictably something of a rollover for them, but not only did we not get bagled, we also managed to take three points off them. Much of the rest of the day is now lost on me, someone else might fill in the details. We did however beat Lords and Ladies! Sweet.
Sunday we really began to get it together [could it really have been the 'Top Gun' theme?] and our first two games were only just lost by a couple of points. Hard fought and a very determined effort by all. Then for our last game against Lords and Ladies, we capped off our weekend with a well earned 13-2 victory [or something like that]. This was wholly deserved and included many points of most excellent ultimate, flow, flow, flow, score. Sweet!
In summary: Everyone played well and all played their parts in the weekend. I hope we can get the ladies to come out again next time so we can have another go as I reckon there are a couple more teams out there we could take next time!
See you down the park!
Steve
Plastic Factory #13
There it is folks, one of our stated goals for the club this year, to get the 2nd team into the top 16.
Saturday started out with a game against Red Dog 2 which we were slow to start, but as soon as we switched on we took away to 13-4. In the second game against Discuits we were once more a little slow off the blocks but with a focused effort we again went on to take the game 12-8.
The next game was a tough little bugger [Stig] but with our offence and defence getting stronger and stronger as the day went on we eventually walked away with another scalp 10-7 this time. Our D had also managed to turn it on by now and the team was really building into a strong little unit with a focus on our goal, that all important crossover into the A tour.
Last game of the day was against Cardiff. Again a very tough game but with that crossover spot growing closer and closer we continued to play some great ultimate. There were lapses at times of course but we always seemed to manage to refocus and get back to it. We eventually took the game 11-8 despite all of Will's attempts to thwart us. It probably also helped that everyone had been warned not to get caught chatting up Taz!
All of our saturday games were won from behind, a fact that showed how well we were developing our focus and determination. Some of them were wrestled back with 3 or 4 straight points to recapture the lead, followed by a continued onslaught to take the victory.
This is getting a little long so I'll skip the first sunday game [we won]. The big game was against UTB for a place in the final. What a game, probably our best of the weekend. At the beginning of the game we scratched out a bit of a lead for ourselves but then they came back at us hard, drew level, then took the lead. Fortunately Marco was on hand to refocus the team and a little chat later we came back out teeth bared. We eventually went into the cap 8-9 down at which point we turned it on and took the next 3 straight points to seal our place in the final. Av' some of that!
The final, what can I say? It was the only game we lost the whole weekend. And we certainly didn't roll over for them. Although it got a little heated at times, as can easily be the way with these big matches, we put on a good show and in no way disgraced ourselves! I actually had a quiet word with some of their players I knew later on and they really didn't feel there had been any big problem with the spirit, we all just wanted to walk away with that trophy and both teams were simply giving it their all to get there.
Special mention must go to everyone. Couldn't have done it without each and every one of you! Now let's get a team together and go dip our toes in the A pond!
Steve
Plastic Factory #13
Damn, I've written one and Sven's beaten me to it. Well, here's mine anyway...
Sat:Red Dog 2 - The first of two pool games. A shaky start against the Red Dog 2nd team who only managed to provide a complete line-up a minute after the start hooter. Points were traded with the iron-man team with only a small lead (a point or so) being established. Strangely, as the opposition's numbers began to swell with their late arrivals, so did the factory scoreline, factory streaking ahead in the 2nd half to win.
Discuits - Another shaky start including some offensive errors (mainly chuckaways and inadvertant use of trees along sideline). Some excellent D (have to mention Roger's full-stretch layout D) eventually crushed the Discuits offense, causing factory 2 to come through to take the win and maintain the top of the pool position.
Emo 2 - First of 2 pool games. Toughest game so far. Stig's well drilled 2nd team played some smart offense which gave the factory some bother at the start of the game. The factory eventualy turned up the gas on D, wearing down Emo's offence and replying with some slick offence on the turnover. Marco's prediction that the opposition would crumble after losing a few points on the trot was proved to be correct as they did just that. The opposition's heads went down and the factory scoreline went up, factory eventually winning.
Cardiff - Tougher game still. Hard fought game which saw us trading for a large part of the game. There were some tough challenges for the disc, one of which unfortunately saw joint-captain Sven receive an injury which would take him out of the rest of the tournament. Sven compensated by doing an excellent job as primary line selector, managing the sideline effectively. The factory switched up a gear near the end of this game to become eventual victors by 3 or 4 clear points - an ending which was much more prefereable to the multiple turnover, sudden death fiasco which occurred against Cardiff at tour 1.
Sun:Ltd Release 2 - Due to a mathematical anomaly, the outcome of this game was of no consequence. Apparently the southampton 2nd team could only come last and we could only come first in the pool. This information, in addition to a certain amount of Sunday morning bleariness probably contributed to a lack-lustre start to the game by factory 2nds. After a motivational speech by captain Marco, the tide was turned and the factory started to opererate at full efficiency again. The factory performed some text-book offense including some inspired precision hucking from Sonic to Kylie when her marker abandoned her in the zone. Factory 2 eventually took the game by a comfortable lead.
UTB 1 - The semi was probably the most important game of the weekend, the trophy for winning it being promotion to tour A. The youthful birmingham team fought hard and fast against the factory, trading most of the way through the game. Some errors close to our zone allowed UTB to aquire a run of two or three consecutive points which put the factory behind, being 1 point down at the hooter. More words from Marco in a timeout produced another excellent performance from the factory, taking the next three points to win in the cap. A great conclusion to a tough, spirited, nail-biting semi final.
Smash & Grab - Marco won his tactical 'kit' toss to put factory in green shirts and Smash & Grab out of theirs and into whites. A factor which could apparently swing a game in favour of one team (if only by a small percentage) when playing against a backdrop of trees, as was the case for this final. A well-prepared factory team went into battle, applying the self-focussed attitude which had developed so well over the weekend. The factory D proved to be an effective answer to Brighton's quick, precise offense (including some great long play), causing them to make a few mistakes which allowed the Bristol offense to put in some great undefendable points. A few flutters in the fatory O unfortunately allowed Smash to do the same. The factory did not get too sucked into some of the uglier spirit failures which ensued on the pitch, remembering their status as spirit winners of last year. The tour B final escalated into a gnarly, bloody battle for points in the cap, Smash & Grab coming out on top with a score of 12-8.
As a closing note, it is worth mentioning an excellent joint captaincy by Sven and Marco who were motivational throughout. The usual high standards from Jamie P, Marco, Stato and Dean (to mention only a few) inspired everyone to provide some outstanding factory work throughout the weekend. Exceptional performances from Stu 'Tree Hugger' Waters and Pete Gaston who played well above their levels as well as student Ali (Bath Uni) who was pivotal in the huge factory D line and is likely to be a player to watch in the future (look out first team). Factory MVP went to Roger who impressed everybody with exceptional O and D all weekend as well as an inspriationally focussed attitude and the sweatiest factory shirt by far. Job done. Seeyer in Tour A.
Sinbad
And there was more. . .
Dear All,
I just want top say how proud I am of how everyone played this weekend. We had a strong spirit that never gave up or drifted off as we have been known to do in the past.
Everyone played better than I have seen before. Stu and Pete Gaston are notable examples of this as well as Ali who must have been the scourge of every team we played on D and O. Tom was a great handler especially on homeboy and Steve Grant was a great first cutter, always free.
I hope you are sat down for this next bit・ｽ・ｽRodger was the most outstanding man all weekend. He has picked up his game hugely. He never gave up running and got a lot of D. His offence was impeccable. Rodger was always free and made a safe pass. His extra turn of pace is apparently down to one or two sessions of ice skating a week. I just think his been kidnapped by aliens who have taken over his body.
When ever we went down to a team we always put up the work rate to get it back, and we did this without bubbling over. We had cool heads but with boat loads of fire. Tour A had better watch out.
Stretch out those, limbs eat well and get prepared for tour 3.
Marco
Another great weekend!
Team 2 continues to go from strength to strength.
Saturday morning. . .
We started out with a game against Tenacious Devon which we won quite comfortably. By the end of the game everyone's heads seemed to have woken up after the early start to the day.
Next up was LLL2 which we thought was going to be more of a struggle than it actually turned out to be. Offence was structured and smooth, defence was determined and unrelenting and Pete Gaston finally sealed the result with an awesome catch on the farside of the endzone.
The big game of the day was Smash and Grab. We had something to prove after the last game in Eastbourne. Again the team came out strong and after a long battle we ended up in a sudden death situation which we only just failed to come up on the right side of. Despite this narrow loss, points difference set us up as winners of the pool. A great result for the day.
Sunday morning. . .
First game was against Abstract. It started out well, I got the ・ｽ42 from Scholesy [in cash this time] and we came out strong to take a 2-0 lead. At about this point they woke up and despite the teams best efforts in the deteriorating conditions, they proceeded to take this one away from us.
Next up was Tenacious Devon again and this game was a fight to see who would move on to the next game for 13th and 14th position and a spot in the A Tour for Edinburgh. despite the fact that Devon had now picked up the rest of its key players who had been absent the previous day, we fought hard and once more came away with the spoils!
For the last game of the day we faced Limited Release. Again a hard fought game, which we just narrowly missed out on winning.
I'm sure there are plenty of details I've failed to recollect, but the important thing about the weekend was that the whole team played as a strong unit. I don't think there were any particular stars since we were allstars. Special mention should go to a couple of players however, our guest player Boston fitted straight into the team and worked all weekend as a solid and safe handler for us [after he'd worked out a few dodgy hucks in the first game]. Roger turned it on again with some great team play, Tom Cave in his last tour outing for us this year put in yet another solid and reliable performance, keeping a cool head throughout. Lastly but not leastly Dale, in his first ever tournament at this level continued to answer the call and played an invaluable part in the team, on several occassions making the strong cut that got us out of a tricky situation.
Congratulations to the whole team for another great result. See you all at practise.
Steve
Plastic Factory #13
Dear All,
I had a great weekend guys. I just want to say that our win against Tenacious Devon the second time to come back from 4 -0 down to win convincingly was a triumph.
To cunningly lose by 1 point to Smash and Grab so they had opposition they couldn・ｽt beat and get knocked down to tour 2 was visionary.
Our fight at the last game when we were truly knackered, and our trouncing of Leeds who ended up higher than us prove we have what it takes to be in the tour A.
Thanks to Boston who was a great steady influence to us and JB who ran hard and played well, and to everyone else who picked up the baton left behind by the guys who couldn・ｽt make it. Everyone played their hearts out when it really mattered and showed true grit. I can・ｽt choose a MVP because everyone deserved it.
Well done also to Tom who won・ｽt be with us for any more open tours because he is chasing tail in the states. You will be missed.
If you are uming and ahhring about the next tour don・ｽt. Let・ｽs get as big a team as we can up there so we really kick ass. I think that by next tour we need to work on our fitness and our D a bit more, and maybe some other O structures.
Stretch lots and do some fitness work in the week.
Good job everyone
Marco
|