Feelin' Good. It's Wildwood.

This is my fifth trip to the vast swath of sand located between the waves of the Atlantic Ocean and the fried Oreos of the Wildwood boardwalk. I look forward to it every year because even in times of injury two days at the beach with a disc pretty much rules. The layouts are legendary and the good times are close behind. I joined the nucleus of Red Delicious who became Donk-a-phant Dance Party and were now Stillerman's Beach Blokes. Our intended jerseys were British Flags, a nod to Stills who was in Europe and unable to join us on the field. My flag was iron-on, one was drawn, another was the full jersey, others were tankinis, or neck ties or still flying somewhere in the great part of Britain. The word uniform took a turn to the individual last year when we went plaid and seemed to continue on its movement away from uniformity. With only four to a side on the playing field, uniforms really don't matter much.

I'm going to recount my weekend and as I formulate it on the screen I can already see that the action will dominate. If I could do this well, I'd mix the action in with the good feelings of being at the beach with my friends. I don't know that I can. Somehow layouts are easier to talk about than just enjoying time spent in the presence of others. The layouts seemed less frequent this year. It's hard to tell if that was a direct effect of our style of play which seemed to either be pretty accurate or pretty inaccurate or if it was a sign of something else, like exaggerations of past flight. We may never know. Friday night was familiar territory as the car I was in arrived late. I assume only people who leave on Thursday manage to arrive early. We arrived late and found the mansion of a tent already in place. Sweet relief was moments away, but wasn't as AJ, AH, and BH drank and talked well into the night while I curled up thinking violent thoughts and wishing for ear plugs. Finally quiet came and was soon followed by morning. Morning hit us hard and when we stumbled on to the puddle-covered beach we came out slowly. The other team had a step on us and we were dispatched in a quick game.

That loss lead to some fire and we tried to recreate the magic of last year, but taking down a superior-seeming team. We jumped out early on some beautiful throws from MH and hard work and good luck from everyone. One of my personal highlights came in that game, as I put up a loopy outside-in flick to a cutting MH. He was headed to the back corner. It was headed to the back corner. Meanwhile, MH's defender gave chase and the 6 foot 8? inch monster of a player came to help. Yet, the angle of the throw prevented anyone but MH from making the grab. We continued to celebrate. Then, the superior-seeming team clamped down in a flash of superiority and brought us back to earth. Fast. We didn't do much scoring after our 6-2 lead and lost 12-8.

In other years two losses might have put a dark cloud over us, but we seemed to be playing with very little in-game emotion. Instead we played with an almost calm familiarity and the tide began to turn. We won a game and then another really long game and ended our day 2-2. MH had sweet throws. MB had some sweet moments outfoxing his defenders, including one where he let two defenders fight over a disc in the air as they batted it away. He was able to react and recover the ricochet for a score. It wouldn't be the last time he would use smarts to make good things happen. HG was a valuable pick-up and she really worked the disc well and brought thoughtful comments to our sideline. She made us all handlers and she kept us calm and smooth when our edges started to get rough.

In the evening, when other teams went to the beer garden, we were cooking out on the grill. MVP awards to AJ, MD, and MH for some brilliant campground cooking. The kebobs and burgers were the tastiest creations this side of the state park. The relaxing outdoor meal in this on-going incredible weather of summer was the flaming marshmallow (non-cancer causing) in this s'more of a weekend. When our heads hit pillows Saturday night, we fell hard into slumber.

We bounced up on Sunday and still puttered around enough to nearly be late to the fields. The sand conditions had changed quite a bit as they had mostly dried out. SM did her captaining best to get us together and going again. JM was supplying some sweet odd cheers and we got out and rolling. We won our first game and then carried that tired swagger into the second. The puncture wound on my foot started to bug me, so I tried out my shoes. The other team complained about them for various reasons, but they were sweet relief. After the complaints kept coming, I ditched the shoes, got a layout D, had another hand block and we were in position for victory. Recent coaching time has brought me to a more strategic place and I was pushing for a timeout call. In a time game, the timeout is apparently more controversial than I knew as the other team reacted poorly. Discs were slammed down, but we took our time, scored the goal, got the horn, and headed for the bracket championship game.

We've been to championship games or pseudo-championship games the last two years. We were playing for the plastic cup of the third bracket. Again, the usual jitters were gone and we seemed to be ready to continue to play and then go home regardless of the outcome. Rather than time, the structure dictated the best two of three games, the first two to seven, and the third to five if necessary. JM threw down a wicked cheer, "In England, they drink tea in golden cups. Golden cups. GOLDEN CUPS!" Then the Beach Blokes went to work. Lightning-like we were up in the game. We threw some zone. We threw some hucks. Everything seemed to be working. MH put a throw in traffic to AJ. He went up and with two guys helpless below him and snagged a two-pointer. We took the first game 7-2. I felt a moment of jitters, but we discussed what adjustments the other team would probably make. If they made them, it was not evident. In the blink of an eye and on the leading edge of a storm, we took the second game 7-2. The other team seemed flat and stunned.

We jumped and danced and hugged. SM had wanted a cup and it was great to see her with it. AH stopped complaining for a moment and as the rain poured down we could gather our stuff like winners and make the long drive home. We sipped our victory drink from the cup and later continued our celebration over dinner and DQ ice cream. The spoils tasted sweet*.

*It's a funny thing, winning. We keep score and I do want to emerge victorious, but more and more getting to play is such a joy. To play with people that I care about means even more. We may not spend time practicing or working together much, but to share the field and to have those moments where we count on one another and then for it to work out in more wins than losses, that's something. That's one of the reasons I keep playing.