Discaholics Anonymous

My name is Tisha, and I am a discaholic.

Damn. It annoys me that all I can think about now is playing disc--and my weekend was just packed with all things disc-related! This is an obsession, and I don't like it. I don't like getting hooked on something this much, because it just makes everything else seem...irrelevant.

Saturday training

Saturday morning, I was at the Sunken Garden to introduce Mike's co-workers to disc. (Disc and dancing are probably the only two things that can get me out of bed early on a weekend without feeling resentful about it!) Doc and Superstar Peng were also there to help out. Cacho was around, showcasing his awesome throws (honed since his younger days) yet again.

Afterwards, we all (sans Cacho) went to Katips for a big lunch, before heading back to UP to drop the Superstar off. He told us about disc burnout, his two dogs (Olga and...I forget the other one's name), and how he likes "pinchable" girls. ("OK lang ang pinchable...huwag lang grabbable." Haha.)

Mike, Doc, and I stayed a bit to watch a few "holes" of discgolf. It was the first time I got to see it, and realized that it's great for practicing long throws and accuracy. Hmmm. Warriors discgolf, anyone?

We then proceeded to Urda for our 4:00 pm training. Alas, we were early, and ended up getting drenched. By the time the others arrived, the rain had stopped and we were the only ones rain-soaked. Oh well. I spent a couple of hours with H before calling it a night.

Muddied but unbowed

Next morning, had to get up at 5:30 am to make it to 6:00 am mass. (Our last game was scheduled to end past 5:00 pm, and I figured I'd be back in Manila too late to make it to mass.) Met up with new teammate Felix at Farmers--finally, someone I could hitch with!--before heading south. We found that we had to share the field with a bunch of German Shepherds, all taking part in some dog show. Ahh, the smell of dog was thick!

Our first game was versus Espana United, probably one of the best teams in our pool. We spoke with a couple of them at PowerUp last week and joked, "See you at 12:00!" when the game was actually at 10:00 am. Unfortunately, a lot of them showed up on time. Haha.

We didn't think we would win that game, so our old quota was alive again! We were aiming for four points, but went over by one--I scored the last point on an assist from Lawee Boy. Yay! (I also quite liked my block on that dude posted near the endzone. Hehe.) We lost, 9-5, but it was a good game. It was uber muddy that day, so by the end of game one, we all looked dirrrty (except for Ivy, who used her sakit as a get-out-of-mud-free card).

Next game was versus Jogadores, a team we had previously played against during Summer League. This time, there was no sun beating down on us--but we had rain coming down in torrents! Mighty hard to see anything amid all that falling water. A lot of the boys stripped down (and it was one of the rare times I was wishing I were born a boy--that jersey was heavy!), including "Skeletor" Ian. "Nagtatago nga ako sa mga aso, baka habulin ako eh!" he joked. It was so hard to score and there were a lot of long points, given the rain and the wind, but we came out on top, 7-4.

In between our second and third games, we watched SP01 versus SP02! It was a highly entertaining game--they played barefoot, and made a rule that points wouldn't be counted unless the goal was a layout! We heard stuff like, ".5 lang 'yon, hindi maganda layout mo eh!" Some guys on D, including Teacher Christian, tried to "camouflage" themselves, patiently lying on their stomachs at the endzone; when the disc would come flying in, they immediately sprang into action! One guy even sat at the corner of the endzone with the cone on his head, saying, "Hindi niyo ako nakikita!"

Fun time over, we trudged across the mud to Field 5 to play our last game of the day, versus Molokai. Our previous meetings with this team were pretty intense, but we all agreed we would play a good-spirited game. "Kahit hindi manalo, basta good spirit tayo," said co-captain White Dragon. "Let's just have fun!"

Mundz had a highlight play, catching the disc in the air and throwing it to Jacq before landing out of bounds. It's funny coz I was visualizing this scenario the day before, and it actually happened! The game was tight all throughout; we were deadlocked a few times, then Molokai took the lead, 7-6, with four minutes to go. Then we scored, with two minutes left! Tied at 7-7, we were playing for the last point. I was exhausted, but somehow Sarah managed to cajole me into going in for the final point. (She later confessed that she was at the sidelines about to have a heart attack.) Each time we were so close to scoring but ended up with nothing was agony. And each time Molokai came close to their endzone was torture. But finally, after two previous fumbles (if I remember right), Lawrence caught a pass from Papa G. Game over, Warriors win, 8-7! I knelt in the mud, screamed, and nearly cried (from relief), while those on the sidelines ran to Agent 0 to give him hugs. "'Have fun lang' pala ha!" I said. "Kung alam ko lang kung gaano kalaki 'yung pressure, baka hindi ko nasalo 'yon!" said Lawee, not realizing just how badly those in the sidelines were willing a win. He said that he thought he couldn't reach the disc, which was really sailing overhead, but that he gave himself one last push. Thank gawd.

Because the man behind the all-important last point deserves some blog space: Agent Zero to Hero, lookin' all intense. (Mr. Danekalbo, Sir, please don't sue me for stealing your photo. I'm not making any money off this blog... Thank you!)

I am bummed that I can't play on the third day of Monsoon. I'm going to be out of the country, whooptidoo, but I think I'm so addicted that even a free trip can't take the sting out of a day without disc. Bisyo na 'to. I'll see everyone at the finals!