Houston Ultimate Community

Hello Scuzzalicious Vermin,
It's here! The only day of Winter League that really matters :)
GAMES START AT 9 AM!!!!
Bracket is here: http://houstonultimate.org/WinterLeagueTournament
Current forecast says the rain will stop by tournament time, but word on the street says that even if it's raining we're still playing.
Our turnout and spirit has been awesome this season, inspiring the jealousy of many. Let's keep it that way and have a great time playing ultimate with your favorite people.
See you at the fields!

<3 Cynthia & Erik (from Spain)

Ok, so it's the final weekend before the final week. The tournament is coming up in a week and this is our final chance to get out as a group and play. Saturday morning promises to be high 60s and partly cloudy - perfect weather for playing ultimate! While it might be a surprise to some, we could conceivably move up to two spots in rankings for the tournament with wins this weekend. The majority of the teams have not won more than 6 games up to this point!

This week we'll be playing on field 1 followed by field 4. Our first game is against team 9, the only team we've never played due to a rain cancellation. Game two is team 8, against whom we played a VERY close game last time. So bring your water, sunscreen, and cleats and look forward to a great return after a week off.

See you at 9:30!
Cynthia and Erik

Stay in the sewers, verminous scum! This week we gather our strength as the Indoor Tournament plays out. Good luck to those of you competing!

Cynthia and Erik

Hello Scuzzy Vermin!

Did you know that this Saturday it will be -20 degrees Farenheit in Cedar Rapids? Or that it will be -30 in Minneapolis? By comparison it will be a sunny, balmy and beautiful 40-50 degrees in Houston. Grab your cleats and your favorite sweatshirt and head on out. Don't forget that this is the second to last week before the tournament!

This week we'll be playing on field 6 followed by field 5. (Fields subject to change.) We've had a lot of close games lately so let's go out this week and close a few out in our favor!

See you at 9:30!
Cynthia (from California) and Erik

Scummy Vermin!

For all of you now back in town and those who never left - Winter League is back and in full effect as of tomorrow morning. This week promises to have good games against Melvin and his planeteers as well as Diego's south-of-the-border-banditos. (I'm sure both teams have real names but they can't compare to Scummy Vermin.)

The weather is looking sunny but chilly so be sure to layer up when heading out. We'll be on Field 3 for the first game and Field 6 for the second. Be sure to bring your game face and plenty of water. Let's kick of 2010 with back to back wins!

See you at 9:30!
Cynthia (currently meditating on a mountaintop) and Erik

Greetings Scummy Vermin!

It is, with a heavy heart, that I inform you that our team name has been wrong all along. For purposes I don't wish to discuss, I went looking for an image of our illustrious illustrated leader only to find out that his name is actually Verminous Skumm!!! (And was voiced by Jeff Goldblum!!!) Anyone wanting to know more about him can find information here: http://www.turner.com/planet/verminous.html. This name change doesn't exactly roll off the tongue so my vote is that we keep our original name and all its permutations. That is just my opinion, though, and I'm willing to hear counter-arguments. Before you do though, go to your front door and yell "Verminous Skumm" at the top of your lungs 3 times and then decide if you still want to keep the name.

Oh yeah, and we have a quick early reminder that this weekend we are doing the Toys for Tots drive. If you happen to find yourself at Target, Walgreen's, or even HEB, stop by the toy aisle and pick one or more somethings up. It's amazingly easy to find a couple of great affordable toys once you are in the aisle, like Match Box cars, Barbie dolls, G.I. Joe, Lincoln Logs, or jigsaw puzzles. Bad toy ideas include firecrackers, balls of yarn, and toothbrushes. If in doubt, try to imagine how much fun Steven would have playing with it and use that as your guide. If you do it right, you won't want to donate what you got...but you should anyway.

Thanks!
Cynthia and Erik

Hello sweet Scuzzy Vermin,
More tidbits of possibly useful information:
1. Two fabulous games of ultimate this Saturday with your favorite people. Let's take the momentum from our smashing win last week into this week's games.
2. Start thinking about the annual Winter League charity drive. This year is Toys for Tots. Bring unwrapped new toys/gifts to the games on Dec 19th (next Saturday). The toys will get picked up by Marines and then distributed to children who might not otherwise get holiday gifts.
3. Might be drizzling a bit Saturday AM. Squishy landings = prime layout time. Just um, keep your mouths closed and wear dark-colored underwear.

Excited for another Saturday morning with you all!

<3 Erik & Cynthia

Hello sweet Scuzzy Vermin,
More tidbits of possibly useful information:
1. Two fabulous games of ultimate this Saturday with your favorite people. Let's take the momentum from our smashing win last week into this week's games.
2. Start thinking about the annual Winter League charity drive. This year is Toys for Tots. Bring unwrapped new toys/gifts to the games on Dec 19th (next Saturday). The toys will get picked up by Marines and then distributed to children who might not otherwise get holiday gifts.

Hi lovely team Rat,
A few tidbits of useful information:
1. At this time, games ON for Saturday!! If this changes there will definitely be messages sent out, so keep an eye on your email.
2. Be ready and warmed up by 9:40 am so we can go through a bit of strategy and do some drills before gametime. We'll be on field 1 all day.
3. For those of you new to the game or desire a refresher, the delightful Mary Fuzat will be teaching a skills clinic starting at 9am. You'll get some free quality coaching from one of Houston's best players.
4. It'll be kind of chilly, so in addition to bringing your game face on Saturday consider dressing in layers. (All the non-Texans/Californians can scoff at this, but dude, 40 degrees is COLD).

Can't wait to play some kick@$$ ultimate with you all :)

Any questions? Email Erik (ekosobud@yahoo.com) or Cynthia (cynthia.v.nguyen@gmail.com).

<3 Cynthia & Erik

Hello Team 1!

A couple of reminders for you:
1. We are playing this week so make sure to get your running in before Thanksgiving comes around!
2. Bring sunscreen and water. Lots of people underestimated the need for this first week.
3. Team Rat still needs an official team name. We'll be deciding on Saturday so put some thought into it.
4. The new shirt order has come in so if you still need to pick yours up, please show up early. All those still waiting on shirts can now rejoice. Anyone looking for an excuse to go topless no longer has one...
5. Starting this weekend the games are now going to be played to 13 rather than 15. We can't wait until the other team is at 12 to mount our comebacks anymore.
6. The beginner's clinic went so well the first week that it's going to be repeated. If interested, please show up by 8:45.

Please reply to this email letting us know whether you plan to show up this weekend as well as if you are out for the season with injuries, relocation plans, tournament overload, etc. We need to have a good idea of how many people are showing up as this affects not only Saturday but how the draft will go as well.

We'll see you there at 9:30 on Saturday!
Cynthia and Erik

Hello again!

As a recap for those who were away this past weekend, Team 1 went out an played two tough opening weekend games despite missing more than half our team. We were running with just three subs while both of our opponents had full line changes. While we didn't win either game, the team showed vast improvement in the two games we had and I'm confidently predicting a very successfully season once we can field a full team.

The tournament director has handed down a theme for us all to work with. This year's theme is the Chinese zodiac. As Team 1, we get the first month - the rat. So any rat-themed names would be fantastic. Send your suggestions out to the group and let's start getting ideas and feedback.

And a reminder to you all: there is no Winter League this weekend. Please do feel free to show up at the fields to see the UH ultimate team host its first tournament. Otherwise, sleep in, have brunch, and enjoy the day.

Please try to come up with suggestions for team names. We'll see you in a week and a half!

Thanks!
Cynthia and Erik

Hello!

For those of you tired of getting repetitive emails from Tom Jackson about Winter League or are just curious to know what is going on, fear not. Here's a brief intro to our team and notes for this weekend:

TEAM 1
Captains:
Cynthia Nguyen and Erik Kosobud

Team Members:
Andy Swalwell
Anthony Sicignano
Bobby Parchuri
Christopher Barth
Courtney Dowden
Danny DiPaolo
Dave Avis
Erin King
Frank Tamborello
Geng Chen
Kevin Mohr
Ryan Jackson
Salman Eraj
Steven Cowan
Terry McGlothlin
Tom Gwaltney