New Joisey- what a curious place
Forget the fact that my 3 hour drive to a town outside Princeton was delayed 3 hours by a jumper not 15 miles from home. Jumpers are for skyscrapers, not highways. Come on, people. At about 3 a.m. I settled into the appropriate place for the elder statesman of an Ultimate team, the parent's bed. The parents weren't home, thankfully. I still felt a little awkward, but fortunately I was only there for 3.5 hours. Then it was off to the beach.

Beach Ultimate. I know what you're thinking because I was thinking it too. Sand. Sun. Bikinis. Plastic. This could be heaven? Where's the record scratch when you need it? The gray overcast skies were only out-grayed by the beach and the pools of water that had collected on the beach. The sand was more like mud. The sun played hooky. Bikinis aren't really Ultimate attire, although I did see one guy with a hole cut out of his shirt to reveal his batman-shaped chest hair. Plastic though? It was out in force. There were more Ultimate fields than I've ever seen. I've heard reports of 180 teams. I don't remember a lot from Saturday. I know that the sand was soft and I did my share of laying out in it. When I say laying out, I'm not talking about tanning. I'm talking about diving, which I did inbounds, out of bounds, for discs, for defense, for kicks. I kinda like sand. I was accused of playing the best Ultimate they'd ever seen me play. It's not worth arguing about, especially when Sunday would restore balance to the universe. Saturday, I basked in the overcast. I soared. I scored. I threw full (short)field throws for scores. I had a sand and mud covered blast as the team went 3-1. Between games we took dips in the Atlantic. In games we took dips in the puddles. I ate more sand and dirty water than I care to admit. Everybody was doing it. Every direction I looked it seemed like someone was flying through the air. Soft landings encourage people to attempt flight more often. It was almost unreal.

If Saturday was unreal, Sunday was all too real. At least, too real for my throws to hit the mark and my defense to keep pace. It was a reality where we quickly found ourselves at 3-3 on the weekend. It was a reality that involved "Drive-by biddings", free meals, quirky little sisters, and the repeated singing/hollering of Kelly Clarkson's Since you've been gone. Ok, so not that real, but quite enjoyable.