I've tried this before

I've tried to put youtube videos on here before, but it never worked. It might this time and that would probably be the raddest f-ing ever.

This is what is affectionately know to Knicks fans as "The Dunk". It's back when the Knicks/Bulls were one of the biggest rivalry in basketball. Chicago was busy dominating the league and keeping Patrick Ewing from ever getting a championship ring, while half of the kids in my class were Knicks fans and the others were miracuously Bulls fans. That used to bother me so much. You would walk in to school and the kid who grew up down the street would tell you all about how awesome "his" team (located 1000 miles away) played last night and about how my favorite team (25 miles away) was going to lose whatever series it was.

But this one play will always serve as a reminder of how good those Knicks teams were...championship caliber and only held back by some of the greatest teams of all times.

John Starks drove the lane and dunked over I believe it was Horace Grant with Michael Jordan unable to prevent it as well. But this 6'1 shooting guard throws down powerfully, left handed and posterizes the world champions. I remember my brother used to have a poster of this dunk in his room and he hated the NBA and the Knicks. It was that awesome. take that take that.

I'm all nostalgic today and have been for the past few days. This past weekend was the final tryout weekend before Truck Stop made its final cuts. We went to a tournament, conviently named CUT (Cazanovia Ultimate Tournament) and the team was decided by the 5 person selection committee last night. I found out this morning that I made the team. For the past few days I had gone through all the emotions of what it would feel like to make the team, to not make the team, and what it will feel like if certain players get cut and other do not. It's sad because we can't just have the same team as last year. We wouldn't be successful that way and not everyone deserved to be on this years team.

But in a lot of ways, there are likely people who are on the team but don't necessarily deserve to be on the team...or at least not yet. There were 3 tryout practices and 3 tryout tournaments. I made it to all 3 tournaments and 2 of the 3 practices. I know there were some people who only made it to 1 of each. This troubles me if only because these players feel they can make it through the season and continue to show up only when convenient to their schedule.

This may sound kind of harsh, but I don't mean it that way. Playing ultimate, be it practice or tournaments, every weekend takes a real committment and a lot of sacrifice. Some people work numerous hours a week, some with school on top of that. Others are just kind of looking for any excuse to get out of it and are skating by on talent alone. I envy those players because I have to work really hard both at practice, at tournaments and on the majority of off days just to be able to touch the disc every now and again on any of the points I play.

In the end, I remember back to senior year at GW, playing Cornell on day 2 at regionals. I remember after we won that game, walking onto the field with my arms raised and fist clenched and feeling like I deserved to celebrate that way. I think that was the only time in my life where I knew that I put in the total effort for the entire season and I was rewarded. I felt that no matter what happened in the final game, I was walking away from my college career with my head high and a wonderful accomplishment. I also knew that all of my teammates had put in the same efforts and sacrifices and earned that victory and that feeling.

That is what I want from Truck Stop this year. It may be my last season playing ultimate, or at least it may be my last playing for Truck Stop. I might be moving next summer. If it is, I want to share a tremendous season with my new teammates and I want to remember the efforts that we collectively put in as a team. I want to be able to recall all the workouts, all the long practices in the miserable DC summer, all the long drives, expensive flights, pain in the ass to deal with tasks like getting hotels and jerseys and rental cars...all of that I want to remember every last detail like I remember my last season at GW. I want to feel like I felt when I saw John Starks throw down over the Bulls. Like it didn't matter what else happened because we accomplished a great feat.

Hallelujah holla back.