Lightning Doesn't Strike Twice

[[DISCLAIMER: At 11:18pm, 9/9/09, Firefox crashed on me. And I didn't save. Frustration fills me. Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck. Sorry. I'm working on a version of what I was almost done with. SOMD. All over it.]]


HELLO EVERYONE.
So
A. I'm not dead.
and
B. I haven't given up on this blog just yet. I've just been so busy with ... life that sometimes I don't have time to write.

H'alright, so you all know that I'm long-winded and I like rambling, so here is an amalgam of random thoughts before I get to the meat of my post:

a. A lot of people ask why we put Michelle Obama on our LISTEN bar crawl shirts, well tonight, Barack showed the world that he and Michelle basically invented LISTEN. Ain't no thang.
b. In case anyone in the world is wondering, Stanford Staff beat the students 13-7 or something ludicrous like that. I just thought I should let the world know. It was hot as shit, I was on the verge of MANY an asthma attack, and if we didn't all SOODs in the second half, the game would have been a blowout. The day didn't start off with a whole lot of promise, but the staff sure got our shit together and made it work. I knocked one of my own not-so-flesh-and-blood children over. Steve played without shoes on. Emily got some monster run-through Ds. Becky was fierce, as always. Sameer was throwing bombs for scores. Doc was doing physics homework. Brittany manned The Tank. Carter wore a sweatband and pulled many a Cozza. Beardy was hacked left and right. Milan was our energizer late in the game. There were layouts, some nasty jukes, monster hucks ... I'm sure that random Mischief guy (who apparently also plays for Berkeley, according to Beardy) thought we were HILARIOUS. Whatever. Our victory was hard fought, and very much a team effort. It made me proud to wear the red and white. Suck it, children! That said, huge props to the Adams Family, who made up basically half of the student team. Suck if allofyou, Adams Family for the win. The student team would have been nothing without Kwame Minnis, who is lowkey a KILLER. He had many a huge grab that just killed us. They would throw this bat shit crazy hospital shit and he'd come down with it, shit on my dick. He might be '09's Alex Eckert. Speaking of which, I think that kid's going to be a freshman this fall. I don't know where, but hopefully he picks up ultimate, because with some practice and some coaching, he's going to be GOOD. I called it last year. Nathan Allen too. I just wanna see some of the Robinson boys make it big in the world of college ultimate, and hopefully they remember all those games Beardy and I played with them. Sigh. I miss JSA Summer School.
c. SOMD -- it's a movement. Get on board, or else it'll be some real shit on your dick, if you know what I'm talking about. Are we moving this operation to Canada, Team Stanford '09?
d. I need Lasers, and I need Th/Sainthood. I couldn't be more starved for new music. Speaking of which, would it be awk. if I made video updates like T&S? Probably.
e. As we are currently in the midst of rushing season, I have ridden my bike past MANY a frat barbecue, and have made the following observation: MGMT is SUPER fratty. If I got a penny for every time I've heard "Kids" while biking past a group of shirtless guys (some of whom should NOT be in such a state) in basketball shorts and dunks throwing a football, I might have enough money to buy a can or two of Axe.
f. Speaking of douchebags, I'm going to need someone to explain that lacrosse incident on Saturday night to me. Honestly, waving a lacrosse stick around and shouting doesn't mask the fact that you're still completely dickless. And it doesn't make you more of a man to call another man a "faggot" while you have all your buddies behind you, laughing and high fiving. The way he said that word, it seriously made my skin crawl.
g. Night of Mayhem was ... interesting, to say the least, but at least I defended my title. I came home and listened to Rumadai and began laughing. Thanks for that one, kids. But you know what would make my year? If I heard that song at Firehaus. And I'd like it to be on Tuesday, with Jamie as my waitress, while I'm scarfing down my second $2 burger with a pickle on the side. That's what I would like. And while I'm on the subject, why aren't I majoring in math? Because I can make 6.5 look a whole lot like 10.


Okay, so away we go:

This post began with a negative spin. I started this post at the outset of July, on the anniversary of my uncle's death. I wrote about how fleeting life can be, and about how great things don't always come around twice, and in many instances, they don't come around again at all. I wrote all that, partly because I was having second thoughts about my return to the JSA Summer School. Obviously, if you've been reading, you'll know that I changed my mind about it, and had an absolutely life-changing time. But at the beginning of the session, I just wasn't so sure. I sort of hated my job and it just didn't feel the same. I didn't know how it would be, returning to the place where I had what I called "the best summer of my life" without some of the people who made that job so great and memorable. My bosses were gone, my kids were gone, and my friends were gone. It was going to be all-new and I wasn't sure how I'd deal with all of that. I didn't want to be that bitter person who was always saying, "last year this" and "last year that". In that first week I was at Stanford, that's who I felt like. I was constantly comparing everything to last year, and feeling a little bit of resentment towards the job because it wasn't like how I remembered it, and I missed some of my co-workers who didn't come back to the job. That's when I was constantly thinking of the adage, "lightning doesn't strike twice".

But you know what I learned?
Lightning can strike twice.
I don't mean to get all Gatorade commercial on you (points for the reference, I LOVE 'rade commercials), but look at the Manning brothers. Look at the Williams sisters.

JSA Stanford '08 changed my life. It came at the perfect time in my life, and I became whole again. I met people who I will be friends with for the rest of my life, and made memories I will never forget. I found a place to call home, however temporarily, that wasn't Chicago. After a winter of heartbreak and discontent, summer '08, and JSA Stanford '08 specifically, helped to pick me back up and rebuild me.

JSA Stanford '09 changed my life, too. Not in the same way that JSA Stanford '08 did, but it changed my life. I made friends that I hope to be friends with for a long time to come, and I strengthened old friendships. I was challenged and pushed to my every limit and beyond, and I learned to rise above. I learned so many things about myself that I never knew before. I had 32 kids this summer who changed the way I want to live my life. Who would have ever thought that I would fall in love with 32 screaming, constantly truant, fucking insane, creepy as shit teenagers? But I did, and I left California this summer a changed person. The two experiences are different in some ways, but I count both as two of the best experiences of my life, honestly.

At this point, I know everyone is tired as shit of hearing me blubber on about JSA Stanford and my kids and Team Stanford Bro Eight/Nine, so I'll make the connection here: I believe that good, and even incredible, things can come around more than once. I don't believe that everything good and amazing is a one and done deal anymore.

I hope you can see how clearly this connects: Illinois is building a program -- while all graduations hurt, a graduated class doesn't sink an entire program. UCLA is an amazing example. They graduated that sick class with Pooja and Anna Nazarov and Lisa Vampola and others, and they were right back in the semis of Nationals the next year. They graduate another stud class and still make it to Nationals this year out of a TOUGH region. A program is good year after year after year. It's about every player learning to play the game well, every player being able to make contributions, and every player being able to step up, year after year.

I'm not saying we're UCLA yet. GOD no. But that's what we want to build towards. All I know is this: This is my LAST year of ultimate, and I will be DAMNED if I play my last year of college ultimate like it's a rebuilding year. I know we're losing a lot this season. We're not just losing in sheer numbers, but we're losing in talent, too. The team we took to Motown Brodown? That's our team for the year, essentially. We barely beat a high school team, and lost to another one. There were glimmers of brilliance, and flashes of promise, but we also saw a LOT we need to work on this season.

If you asked me now, straight up, what two teams from the Great Lakes region are going to Nationals 2010, I will hesitate to tell you Illinois. But that doesn't mean I'm counting us out come May. Right now, we're not ready. That's a fact. But in May, when Regies Ten rolls around, I expect us to be ready, and we'll be contending for a bid to Nationals. I believe it, wholeheartedly. My mother (of all people) told me to approach the season like this: Go all in, or it's not even worth it. I need to make the decision now, whether I'm going to throw myself all in again. I wasn't sure I was ready to do that last season, not after 15-12 and May '08. But I found the fire somehow, and it paid off. I'm all in again this year, no matter what the outcome looks like right now. I know what a lot of people are thinking: Illinois just graduated the only kids they had who could play and make a difference. Illinois was a weak, spotty team in '09 who could only muster one win at Nationals, and they're going to be a worse team in 2010.

I'm not saying it's going to be easy, and I'm not saying there's not going to be a whole lotta red on our score reporter this year. We're going to need to work hard. There will be growing pains. It's our turn to step up, there's no one to bail us out. But I believe in this team, and I believe in our heart and our ability to get better and win when it matters. There are some ballin' teams in our region, like Michigan, Northwestern, and Case Western, and other really good teams that can't be overlooked, like OSU and North Park, and it's gonna be rough. I would dare to say that no team in our region is losing the personnel we're losing. But that won't kill us. It won't be the end of Illinois. We're going to Nationals '10.

Hey, crazier shit has happened.


You remember Work Hard, Get Bank, Natties '09?
This year it's Natties '10: Live every week like it's tourney week.