tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20449107556242935592024-03-21T07:43:48.348-07:00A Ranelagh Player at WUCCMark Earleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07580295168604007868noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2044910755624293559.post-19968509895249675222014-08-11T06:10:00.004-07:002014-08-11T06:10:59.348-07:00D*ck of the dayDuring the course of an Ireland tournament in 2009, Enda Naughton and Rory Kavanagh turned up with a red cap that had a soft toy style penis hanging from it. It became the Dick of the Day prize, a tradition that made it to Prague in 2010 (in the form of a pink tutu - one I had the joy of wearing repeatedly) and to Lecco. In Lecco it the 'award' was a 15 lbs watermelon that had to be carried around the following day, until the dinner-time vote. As you'd expect the award was won by any sort of perceived mistake/wrong-doing and was often a dimple lynching by a biased kangaroo court!<br />
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Below are some of the recipients. Brian Henderson, with his hurt shoulder, wasn't photographed. And the award winner for D*ck of the Week went to Conor Hogan, who will be presented with a gift at training soon. Well done Conor.<br />
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<i>Mr. Cillian Flynn</i></div>
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<i>Mr. David Perry</i> </div>
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<i>Mr. Enda Kelleher</i> </div>
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<i>Mr. Sam Mehigan</i></div>
Mark Earleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07580295168604007868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2044910755624293559.post-50744701145746277042014-08-11T06:00:00.000-07:002014-08-11T06:00:10.826-07:00We won Spirit!!Wow! What an incredible feeling and justification for positive attitude and hard work. Given they publish the Spirit scores each evening we got wind of this on Friday night, although one of the team's many mathematicians had worked out that a score of 20 from Revolver to Sockeye would send it to the Seattle boys... It wasn't to be though and during the last half hour of the Open final we were told the good news.<br />
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<a href="http://www.ultiphotos.com/wucc/2014/awards/e34e4bb9f" title="Ranelagh Team Photo (Open Spirit Winners) - WUCC Saturday Awards"><img src="http://www.ultiphotos.com/img/s6/v142/p887405471-3.jpg" width="580" height="386" alt="UltiPhotos: WUCC 2014 - Awards &emdash; Ranelagh Team Photo (Open Spirit Winners) - WUCC Saturday Awards" /></a>
We'd played a few physical games during the week but throughout each one we'd spoken with other teams and players and we'd all agreed on what needed to change. It's rare that such discussions happen and the game changes as a result - we saw it firsthand in games that we lost and won, something that I reckon other teams appreciated too. To come home with a medal from this week means a lot to me, it being my last run out in Open (even if it ended in injury!) at this level. Collecting the medal in front of hundreds of friends and even more strangers, all clapping and cheering is a moment I will never forget... A great team of friends.Mark Earleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07580295168604007868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2044910755624293559.post-41206671318695334702014-08-08T11:19:00.000-07:002014-08-08T11:19:21.321-07:0043rd place for Ranelagh! So this post will be brief, mainly because I have an end of tournament party to attend and my beer is only getting warmer.<br />
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Today we played 2 games - the first was against Gigolo and we started poorly, giving up 4 of first 5 points. It was about as badly as we've played all week and with half at 9-3, the game was all but beyond us. A much improved second half display saw us make a game of it but in the end a 15-9 loss was the result and we left the field angry, knowing we'd let ourselves down.<br />
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Game 2 was against Mor Ho from Slovakia, a team who had beaten some of us in Prague in 2010 when we played with DU. We started well, forced lots of turns and converted with ease. It ended up being a one-sided game that we dominated, leading to a 17-6 rout. A great way to finish a tough week.<br />
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More news tomorrow when I have time. For now, it's beer o'clock! Mark Earleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07580295168604007868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2044910755624293559.post-30514527078001881382014-08-07T15:16:00.000-07:002014-08-07T15:16:47.062-07:00And we are on the board! Our second two day game of the tournament started with our first 9am game of the tournament. To be honest, the sweet schedule we'd been dealt couldn't last forever. We faced our hotel buddies and current NZ Open Division champions the Wellington Wildcats, knowing that a win would guarantee us beating our seeding. We got into the game after a strong warm up but simply didn't perform. We couldn't shut down their O and our O turned on shots we were hoping to avoid. It was a scrappy, disappointing and ugly performance from us - our worst of the week - and it hurt. 15-9 to the Kiwis, a result that sent us down to the 41-48 bracket.<br />
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Our second game of the day was against Flying Angels Bern from Switzerland who were having a strange tournament. They'd won 2 pool games but lost out on a 3 way tie and had then plummeted downwards. We were fired up and keen to improve on the morning display. It showed. A tigh first half saw them shading it 9-8 but we came out and got the breaks back up until 13s when we realised we needed to hold serve to win. Instead the D line closed the game out - a big scalp for our young squad and a welcome win too. <br />
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Elsewhere we watched LMS beat Bristol, a huge result for the girls, and further proof of this teams ability. Later int he day they lost a nail biter against a gutsy Bologna team, 14-15. It was one of the best fightbacks I've ever seen and the LMS team can hold their heads up high and proud.<br />
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We also saw the now famous quarter-final between Clapham, the 8th seeds and Revolver, the 1st seeds. It was a superb display by the London team who went toe-to-toe with the US boys until it came down to 16-16, winner takes all. Revolver have been here before and a 3 pass goal wrapped up an absorbing contest. We were gutted not to see Clapham advance but delighted for them for how well they played. <br />
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I'm shattered so signing off. A swim, pizza, some free beers and postcards (thanks Five & Get Horizontal!) and bed. Fun end to a good day. Tomorrow we play Ukranian team Gigolo. Only 2 games left so lots to give! <br />
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<br />Mark Earleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07580295168604007868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2044910755624293559.post-29312664352085268632014-08-06T13:27:00.003-07:002014-08-06T13:27:53.299-07:00The WUCC according to Spike...I've been a bit quiet about Spike and his adventures. There are a few reasons for this:<br />
<ol>
<li>He's a busy little cactus</li>
<li>I've been busy blogging about the team</li>
<li>He's a popular spikey amigo</li>
</ol>
Either way, here is a pictorial update of the team's WUCC mascot.<br />
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<i>Spike with his WUCC swag</i></div>
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<i>Getting the shift</i></div>
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<i>Even world class athletes need down time...</i></div>
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<i>New evening, new lady #SpikeStyle</i> </div>
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<i>Spike being Spike. The scoundrel. </i> </div>
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<i>Chilling with his old pal Richard I</i> </div>
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<i>Me and Spike with the Maple Syrup from Mephisto #GoodTimesEh</i> </div>
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<i>Perplexed. Gutted. Petrified...</i></div>
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<i>Who puts </i>egg<i> on a pizza? Crazy Dominick that's who...</i></div>
Mark Earleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07580295168604007868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2044910755624293559.post-2285170623882417012014-08-06T13:10:00.001-07:002014-08-06T13:10:11.291-07:00Groundhog Day...Another day, another hard fight and another loss after a tight game until the final stretch. Today can be filed under any of the following: frustrating, disappointing, nearly there, need a W! We were on at 11am playing a team from the Czech Republic called the Prague Devils. They had a host of familiar faces, players who've been playing at the top level of European for the past couple of decades and proved a strong opponent.<br />
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We began the game as we have done many at this tournament - confident, aggressive and relatively assured. Our O was flowing nicely and the D line was generating a lot of blocks, but unfortunately we didn't quite convert as many as we got, something that would haunt us later in the day. We traded for most of the half, ahead a break at one stage but went into half 8-6 down. We began on O and the game was close until about 10s. We then conceded 4 on the trot and with our ambitions went the game. Another 15-11 loss against an opponent we felt we could beat - tough times chez the Ranelagh massif.<br />
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<i>Ranelagh & Prague Devils (Czech Republic)</i> </div>
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After a chat and a long warm down we got the chance to watch some Ultimate, witnessing the biggest upset of the tournament as Canadian team Phoenix eked out a 14-13 win against the highly fancied Buzz Bullets from Japan. This results sends the Bullets in a direction that may well end up with them playing Clapham in the quarters - an unlucky by product of the upset for our UK mates. Elsewhere Emo sent Freespeed packing and Juggernaut (with our own Keith 'Spotty' Hodgson on board) shocked a strong Chevvy unit, sending them out of the top 16. Bad Skid, FAB & Bologna are some other teams in a similar position.<br />
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<i>Ranelagh alumnus Keith playing for Melbourne's Juggernaut vs Chevron</i> </div>
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LMS played their only game of the day at 5pm against Rogue from Australia. After a tight beginning the girls pulled away and a dominant second half saw them pull off their 2nd win of the week meaning they are currently top of their second pool with Nice Bristols to come. It was a polished and impressive performance full of character and hard work, not to mentioned a few layouts and hammers! Great to see them all playing with such focus and enjoying it too.<br />
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<i>LMS' Rosie O'Mahony with a flying catch vs Rogue (Australia)</i> </div>
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Another swim, a kebab and the daily gelato re-up and here we are, in the hotel looking for a bit of banter before an early night. Having my first beer of the week, hardly earned but hopefully it will be a catalyst for change ;) Onwards and upwards as the saying goes. Wellington Wildcats, see you at breakfast and then on the field... <br />
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<i>LMS & Rogue Spirit Circle</i></div>
Mark Earleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07580295168604007868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2044910755624293559.post-76780322027141354122014-08-05T14:32:00.000-07:002014-08-05T14:35:21.128-07:00A solid day but still no win...Today we had just the one game and it was a game that would decide where we would finish in our pool. A 4 point win would send us up to the top power pools by virtue of the maths of a three way tie with Mephisto and KFUM Orebro. A smaller win would leave us in third place (I think!) and a loss would leave us bottom of the pool, as originally seeded.<br />
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Going into the game we knew very little about Mephisto. They're from Montreal and Quebec and they speak both French and English. On the pitch yesterday they'd had a close first half with Clapham before conceding most of the second half points (losing 15-9) and they'd beaten the Swedes KFUM 14-9 in a huck happy affair. We were confident, rested and spurred on by watching LMS chalk up their first win of the week vs Brilliance.<br />
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<i>The longest fussball table ever?!</i> </div>
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The game started tight and stayed tight with neither team able to go on any sort of run. Both offences were very solid and both teams looked pretty even. They took half 8-6 but we fought back to 10-10. With the pressure on and towards the end of such a tight battle we lost our precision and were punished, conceding 4 of the final 5 points to lose 15-11. On one hand it was great to run a Canadian team so close but on the other the bitter taste of a close defeat was ours once again.<br />
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<i>Ranelagh & Mephisto (Canada)</i> </div>
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After the morning games we got to relax a bit at Tournament Central. They've a load of couches, some games - table football, Spikeball, speed throwing etc - and some live music. It was great to sit down (in the shade!) and chill for a few hours before heading out to cheer on the girls again. Their second game was against Fury who showed why they're seeded 3rd. They're full of impressive athletes and looked confident on both sides of the disc. They won out 15-3 in a tough match. LMS enjoyed it and we probably good for a few more points than they got. <br />
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<i>Sinead going up high vs Fury</i> </div>
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With the day's play over (for Irish teams anyways) we hit the lake for a cool down. It was bliss. Lovely water temperature, a ridiculously pretty back drop and a gang of the Cambridge lads laying out into the water from a platform. Good banter until Richard (our watermelon) died. Poor Flynner was gutted, much like Richard...<br />
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<i>Nomnomnom & RIP Richard the watermelon</i> </div>
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Since losing a day the format of the competition has changed. We are now in a group of three teams and will play only 5 more games, 1 tomorrow and 2 on both Thursday and Friday. Tomorrow is against the Prague Devils, a team that Irish teams haven't played in a long, long time. Looking forward to it already, as are these young pups (and Dominick)...<br />
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Mark Earleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07580295168604007868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2044910755624293559.post-16901293412190982812014-08-04T14:32:00.000-07:002014-08-04T14:32:28.666-07:00Tough first daySo today we played our first two games of the week. Before I talk baout them it's worth noting a few things:<br />
<ul>
<li>Moving to a hotel was an amazing call - fresh linen, huge breakfast, comfort</li>
<li>The gelato shop near our hotel is making a lot of money from us</li>
<li>The pitches are heavy mud baths but we at least we are able to play!</li>
<li>The setting is incredible with beautiful mountains as a backdrop </li>
<li>The dinner we got at the fields was large and tasty</li>
<li>No rain today - whoop! </li>
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<i>Waterlogged field site</i></div>
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<i> </i> </div>
We arrived a little early to the fields to help cheer on LMS vs the German team from Munich, Woodchicas. It started out tight with the Dublin girls using a zone to great effect. Unfortunately the game drifted away from them and despite some hard fighting they lost 15-9. They play US team and no.3 seeds Fury tomorrow. Exciting match up! <br />
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<i>Sinead catching against Woodchicas (Germany)</i> </div>
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Game 1 vs Clapham: Lost 15-4<br />
We play these guys a lot and yet still it seems like sometimes we play to their reputation. We didn't convert the many breaks we got and we really played inside ourselves. When we did open up we over threw and miscued and given the blocks we generated in testing conditions it was a frustrating scoreline, even if the result was never in doubt.<br />
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<i>Ranelagh & Clapham (UK)</i></div>
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]Game 2 vs KFUM Orebro: Lost 14-12<br />
If the first game was frustrating, this game was gutting.We started well and traded until midway through the first half. We made a few mistakes and they capitalised, taking half by 1, 8-7. We came back and the D line went on a run and got us in front, a lead we held until 12-11. Both teams were pretty evenly matched and both teams were tired too, heavy legs playing on boggy turf. We made two errors and suddenly the game was up 14-12. What was encouraging was the fight, the team ethic and the grittiness of our display. It bodes well going into the rest of the week.<br />
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<i>Ranelagh & KFUM Orebro</i> </div>
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After the games we sat around and got some food and did the DotD vote (more on that later in the week). There's a much more positive buzz to the venue and to the players now that we've all had the chance to play. Sure the fields aren't perfect but it's still 7 v 7 and throwing and catching. The weather was class today so here's hoping it stays<br />
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<i>The endzone of the Clapham game was a little heavy in places...</i> </div>
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Despite the two losses the team is positive, especially after the gritty and powerful display in the second game. We've got Mephisto tomorrow and a win for us could send us up to power pools if the goal difference is enough. They'll be under pressure to win too so we hope it'll be a decent match up. If nothing else it'll be fun to meet another team and play against some North Americans for a change...Mark Earleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07580295168604007868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2044910755624293559.post-13771507878090268242014-08-03T14:23:00.000-07:002014-08-03T14:24:44.247-07:00Welcome: SpikeSpike is the latest addition to the Ranelagh team. He is a native Irish cactus, born and bred in Italy but with Irish roots and an affinity for our culture, language and traditions. His surname is O'Shea and his middle name is Padraig. Today was his first day with the team and as you can see from the photos below he had an absolutely smashing time of it. He also stopped the rain from falling in Lecco by drinking it all, so we owe him a fair bit. He'll be knocking around for the week so keep in touch.<br />
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<i>Spike getting used to his new surroundings. Beats the supermarket.</i><br />
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<i>Getting right into the thick of local culture. No pints o' black around here.</i><br />
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<i>Hitting on mots is one of Spikes favourite things. There is no stopping him. </i><br />
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<i>Getting assaulted by a crustacean as Kinger & Rosie lol away. Disgraceful.</i><br />
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<i>Celebrating with Birthday Boy Ben. Hero.</i><br />
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<i>Overseeing the D*ck of the Day nominations and voting. Or checking out the waitress...</i><br />
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<i>A well-earned gelato to round off a great day. Gwan Spike.</i></div>
Mark Earleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07580295168604007868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2044910755624293559.post-92209563496096697172014-08-03T13:52:00.004-07:002014-08-03T13:57:19.116-07:00Things are looking up...So today wasn't so bad after all. Early on, the cabin fever set in and took hold but after countless hours of shopping, mafia, spades, hack sack and even some rainy throwing the rain stopped. And then the day did a complete turn for the better with strong sunshine the order of the afternoon.<br />
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<i>Different view from the hotel this afternoon!</i></div>
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<i> </i> </div>
In our hotel there are a few different teams, Scandal from Washington DC - the no.1 seeds in the Women's Division, Catchup - a Mixed Division team from Graz, Austria, ROBOT - the UK Women's Masters team (with lots of familiar faces including Warrior/Woz!) and two Wellington teams - the Wildcats (Open) and Artemis (Women's). We got wind of the Wildcats boys playing Ragnarok at a local field and went down to see if there was room for a throw and jog.<br />
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<i>Eliott Trotter of <a href="http://www.skydmagazine.com/">Skyd Magazine</a> & <a href="http://ultimateglobetrotter.tv/">Ultimate Globetrotter</a> pulls for Ragnarok vs Wildcats</i></div>
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<i> </i> </div>
By the time we got there the sun was out and the field looked perfect - an astro football pitch, completely unaffected by the rain. We got lots of throwing in and a jog and then sat and watched the game. Ragnarok looked good, very good in fact. Bolstered by their 4 Doublewide pick ups and the globetrotting Eliott Trotter, the Danish team look like they are here to do business. Wildcats started slowly but came back into the game as it went on. Both teams will be hard to beat.<br />
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<i>Happy birthday Ben!</i></div>
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<i> </i> </div>
Back to the hotel for some more lounging and then we went for a joint dinner with LMS. It was fun to have 40 of us in one restaurant eating pasta, pizzas and having the craic. some gelato on the way home rounded of a good day.<br />
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<i>Gelato! Nomnomnomnom...</i> </div>
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Tomorrow the competition starts for real - the pitches are meant to be waterlogged (the EFDF tweeted that they've used helicopters to dry them!) and the games have been shortened (80mins, 2 less timeouts per team, shorter half-time etc) but it remains us playing against two teams on the biggest stage we can play on. The squads relaxed and looking forward to actually getting on with it at this stage. It's been a little surreal and very odd. Here's hoping the rest of the week runs smoothly. For now, it's game time!<br />
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<i>Monday Schedule:</i><br />
11am: LMS vs Woodchicas<br />
1pm: Ranelagh vs Clapham (UK)<br />
5pm: Ranlagh vs KFUM Orebro (Sweden)Mark Earleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07580295168604007868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2044910755624293559.post-22481833565761816172014-08-03T02:54:00.000-07:002014-08-03T02:54:07.376-07:00A day of rain...Today is going to be a strange day. We've nothing to do and all day to do it. Obviously getting a run and throw in would be ideal but as you'll see from the below photos, it isn't really an option. Not only is the weather ridiculous but most teams are looking to find the same spare patch of green on google mpas to do the same thing. Rumours abound of teams meeting up to scrimmage against each other but I've no idea where they'd manage to do it...<br />
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Lightning just struck about 5km away. So probably best we aren't out and throwing!<br />
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Anyways, this was a post to show some photos of the weather, here you go:<br />
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<br />Mark Earleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07580295168604007868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2044910755624293559.post-65476748340623972952014-08-02T13:41:00.000-07:002014-08-02T13:52:07.791-07:00All games for tomorrow CANCELLEDYup, you read that correctly.<br />
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Every game in every division of the first full day's play for tomorrow is cancelled. A combination of bad pitches and the expected thunderstorms as far as I can tell. Pretty big anti-climax. Just when the nerves, the excitement and the reality of competing on the world stage were becoming very tangible we get this news. We'd a team meeting planned, we'd bags packed for the first big day and we'd started focusing on the start of the tournament.<br />
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Apparently the Sunday schedule has been bumped to Tuesday and Monday's games will go ahead as planned for now. I guess after that we'll have a game day with an extra game or two in it, not the worst thing in the world and definitely beats anything getting cancelled. <br />
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Hopefully this is just a precautionary measure to rescue the fields for the back end of the week. Hopefully some sun will arrive and cook the pitches back to playability. Hopefully we'll get to play sooner rather than later!<br />
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What an odd end to the day...Mark Earleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07580295168604007868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2044910755624293559.post-45813503500408844042014-08-02T12:32:00.003-07:002014-08-02T12:32:55.973-07:00Lecco at last! So after all the build up, the rumours, the excitement, the worry, the hard work and some travel arrangements that pretty much worked out I found myself in Lecco. It looks like a pretty place, with typical Italian architecture and a laid back style of life only found in Italy. The mountains surrounding the town look stunning and with the lake near by it's easy to see how you could spend a week here and not play Ultimate!<br />
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I arrived by train and with no sign of the people I was meant to meet ended up going looking for a lift at the Captain's Meeting. I found myself listening in on the WFDF explaining the role of the brand new Game Advisors. Apparently a club from each of the nations present will play a game with the GAs supervising (not sure if thats the word!). I for one like the idea and would welcome some sort of official to help us referee our sport better. There have been too many times I've suffered at the hands of players bending the rules...<br />
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From there we went to the stadium, having witnessed a short and seemingly hastily scrambled together parade, and watched the Opening Ceremony and the very first game of the tournament. It was a fun spectacle - a big crowd, a perfect stadium, lots of colour and noise, some bursts of sunshine and two teams who looked relatively evenly matched once the early game nerves settled. Most importantly to me I got to see lots of old friends and catch up with them. And, the feeling of why we are here sank in a little further. Seeing famous players from across the world with their teams, and jerseys from as far and wide as New Zealand and South Africa, got me excited. We've a big week ahead as a team and I've a good feeling that we can do something special.<br />
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We play at 11am local time tomorrow against a strong Canadian team in Mephisto. I'm feeling pumped and can't wait to get a taste of the action. Come on Ranelagh! Mark Earleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07580295168604007868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2044910755624293559.post-9163333697998369152014-08-01T15:52:00.003-07:002014-08-01T15:52:33.799-07:00Made it! Well step 1 is complete. I have successfully got on a plane and made it to Italy - to Bergamo to be exact. A night in this hostel and then a train down to Lecco for the first day. Lightning storms and heavy, muggy weather is what is happening now - hopefully it won't last. It effected a lot of games at the World Juniors event 10 days ago...<br />
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Tomorrow there will be an Opening Ceremony, a parade through the town and then the first game of the week. It's a Mixed Division game between Shiok from Singapore and Crocalli, a local Italian team who finished second at the European Championships last summer. It's always good to see some Ultimate before the long week begins and the sense of occasion is fun. Looking forward to it! Mark Earleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07580295168604007868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2044910755624293559.post-10836088354611582932014-08-01T02:57:00.000-07:002014-08-01T02:57:29.585-07:00Our pool play opposionWe will play against 3 teams in pool play to start the tournament - Clapham, Mephisto and KFUM Orebro. Here is a little information on each of them.<br />
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<i>Clapham (8th seeds)</i><br />
Clapham are a London-based team that we have played many times over the past few years. They are currently the no.1 team in Europe and have travelled to the USA for the past couple of seasons to gain more experience of playing at an 'Elite' level - i.e. a standard of Ultimate that we aspire to but have yet to get near. They are an exceptional squad and will be unhappy to finish anywhere lower than semi-finals. On an aside, one of their starting O line players is Cian O'Morain, arguably the best Ultimate player Ireland has ever produced. He'll be the sunburnt fair-haired chap looking like he should be playing Gaelic Football. <br />
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<i>Mephisto (17th seeds)</i><br />
Mephisto hail from Montreal in the French-speaking area of Canada, Quebec, making them quebecois. They are the 3rd best Open team from Canada having finished behind Furious George and Phoenix at last years <a href="http://wp.canadianultimate.com/cuc2013">CUC</a>. Canadian Ultimate is one of the powerhouses worldwide, along with US Ultimate, and their teams tend to perform well in all divisions of all international competitions. They tend to be fast, aggressive and athletic. Mephisto will likely be an excellent team.<br />
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<i>KFUM Orebro (32nd seeds)</i><br />
KFUM Orebro are a Swedish team of whom we know very little. They are the only team to play at this World Championships who also competed at the very first World Club Championships 25 years ago. Last year they finished 23rd of 24 teams at the European Club Finals. Swedish Ultimate has always enjoyed a powerful presence in European Ultimate with their Open national team currently the silver medalists since 2011. Orebro will provide further tough opposition yet being the 3rd seeds in the group they will be the team we will be targeting the most. Mark Earleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07580295168604007868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2044910755624293559.post-42671909185969096612014-08-01T02:30:00.001-07:002014-08-01T02:30:23.391-07:00My season thus far...2014 has been a strange season for me. I've struggled with fitness and with making trainings. I've picked up tendonitis in my left Achilles (aka old man injury 1) which I haven't had to deal with before (although as injuries go, it's a pretty easy one to placate) and I have have missed a couple of key tournaments too, through weddings and work commitments.<br />
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As a result, I've found it hard to get any momentum in terms of playing at a consistently high level and have drifted down the pecking order in the team - something relatively likely to happen, especially with the impressive talent coming through and the ever-developing speed of the game. I won't be playing at EUCR-SW and will likely miss All-Irelands too so WUCC represents the pinnacle of my season (except the mighty <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/648869295189101">Cork Open</a>) which in some ways makes sense, it being the World Championships but in other ways is odd, given it isn't really the focus of our season. (Ranelagh is committeed to competing at 3 UK Tour events, at the All-Ireland Championships and at EUCR - 3 big undertakings!).<br />
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So after a disappointing few months it is off to Lecco for a gruelling week in an unforgiving division and with few of the players of my age and experience alongside me...So optimistic! ;) All that said, the team is strong and with each tournament the new, younger players are learning. You can see and feel the development week by week as players hone skills and grow in stature and confidence. The athleticism across the squad is something we didn't see in Irish club teams previously and bodes well. The attitude is a good one too - focused, determined but enjoyable. It's going to be a great week and I'm relishing the chance to face up against teams we don't see in Europe. Might not get another bash at this so time to enjoy it! #Moretti<br />
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<br />Mark Earleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07580295168604007868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2044910755624293559.post-31056701887556783992014-07-31T01:40:00.000-07:002014-08-01T02:58:13.377-07:00The Schedule & FormatThe full schedule has been released and can be found on the WUCC website <a href="http://www.worlds2014.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/WUCC2014-Schedule.pdf">here</a>. A simpler version can be found on the excellent Ulti Apps site <a href="http://ultiarchive.com/#/tournament/d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e/clubOpen">here</a>. There is a live-scoring website that <i>should</i> give score-by-score updates <a href="http://www.wing23.com/">here</a> but it worked very rarely for the World Juniors event last week so right now we won't expect too much!<br />
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We are in Group H. We will face the 8th seeds Clapham Ultimate (UK), the 17th seeds Mephisto (Canada) and the 32nd seeds KFUM <span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">Örebro (Sweden). </span><br />
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<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">Our pool games schedule is:</span><br />
03/08 11am vs Mephisto<br />
04/08 1pm vs Clapham<br />
04/08 5pm vs KFUM <span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">Ö</span>rebro<br />
(All times are local Italian times so take one hour off for Irish time!) <br />
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Once we finish pool games we join new pools with the <span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".43.1:3:1:$comment765445536839438_765465373504121:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1:$comment-body"><span class="UFICommentBody" data-reactid=".43.1:3:1:$comment765445536839438_765465373504121:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1:$comment-body.0"><span data-reactid=".43.1:3:1:$comment765445536839438_765465373504121:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1:$comment-body.0.$end:0:$0:0">top 2 teams in each going up, the bottom 2 going down. We will then play in a new pool of 6, carrying one result with us from our original pool. </span></span></span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".43.1:3:1:$comment765445536839438_765840193466639:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1:$comment-body"><span class="UFICommentBody" data-reactid=".43.1:3:1:$comment765445536839438_765840193466639:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1:$comment-body.0"><span data-reactid=".43.1:3:1:$comment765445536839438_765840193466639:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1:$comment-body.0.$end:0:$0:0">After power pools there's top 16, 17-32, 33-40, 40-48 brackets. Confused? Well go check out the 43 page long (!) <a href="http://www.worlds2014.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Libretto-frisbee-speramo-convert.pdf">Player Handbook</a> for more info or just keep an eye on our progress and we will explain as we go! </span></span></span>Mark Earleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07580295168604007868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2044910755624293559.post-54941318525839133492014-07-31T01:13:00.000-07:002014-08-01T02:58:00.667-07:00LMS UltimateIreland's representative in the Women's Division, and the only other Irish team competing, is LMS Ultimate - our Dublin-based sister team. They are seeded 30th out of 32 teams and we fully expect them to break seed. Despite their seeding this is an explosive and aggressive team who have had a strong season and are ready to compete well above their ranking.<br />
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Where possible I will post their results, some photos and a report or two but for all information on their progress keep an eye on their Twitter and Facebook pages below. We really wish them the best of luck and will be cheering them on whenever possible!<br />
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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/LMS-Ultimate/227961557261593<br />
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LMSUltimate<br />
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Good luck ladies - see you in Lecco!Mark Earleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07580295168604007868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2044910755624293559.post-8881138893237828242014-07-31T01:06:00.000-07:002014-08-01T02:57:47.898-07:00IntroductionHello.<br />
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My name is Mark Earley and I am one of the Ranelagh Open team players heading to the <a href="http://www.worlds2014.org/">World Ultimate Club Championships</a> in Lecco, Italy this August. We are representing Ireland in the Open/Men's Division, a division dominated by North American, Japanese and Australian teams. We are seeded 41st out of the 48 teams, testament to both the high standard of teams we will battle against and to how little impact previous club teams have had on the Open Division at this tournament. <br />
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The purpose of this short-term blog is twofold:<br />
1 - to keep those following our team from home updated<br />
2 - to reflect on my own experiences and (ideally) to learn from them <br />
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I've no idea what the WiFi situation will be like in our hotel but will do my best to post each evening with some photos, game reports and stories. The team will try to post on the Facebook page and on our Twitter account too.<br />
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<i>Facebook:</i> https://www.facebook.com/RanelaghFC<br />
<i>Twitter:</i> https://twitter.com/RanelaghFC<br />
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Post 1 complete. Now to start packing... <br />
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<br />Mark Earleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07580295168604007868noreply@blogger.com0