AUDL Week 2

A great win against the Chicago Wildfire last Friday night!! Top 10 highlights from around the league below (#6 and #2 from our game) and the Montreal crowd was unreal. Canada sure likes their Ultimate.

But even with the win, what made my night was our friends from Oakstone Academy joining us for throwing, autographs, and camaraderie after the game.

Outreach Revolution

dis¡tin¡guished (adj.): marked by eminence, distinction, or excellence

Wednesday afternoon, a group of ODEE-ers and friends crashed the Senior Leadership Meeting. We were joined by Michele Bondurant, Diana Lantz, and Jack Miner – among other colleagues – representing Ohio State’s Distinguished Staff Award committee. (Kudos to the Office of Human Resources, giving the moment a Publishers Clearing House feel to it. Way better than a “congrats, you won” email.)

Liv photo

We packed 40ish Buckeyes into the coziness of 175 Mount Hall to congratulate Liv Gjestvang, Director of Learning Technology, on her honor of being selected as one of Ohio State’s twelve recipients for this award. Even Liv’s partner, Julie, and their son, Karsten (both shown in the foreground of the picture above), were able to join for this memorable occasion.

The website for Ohio State’s 2014 Distinguished Staff Award notes the following selection criteria:

• Enhancing the quality of work-life in ways that make a significant difference for colleagues or customers.
• Providing outstanding and ongoing excellence in services to faculty, staff, students and/or other customers.
• Developing creative solutions to problems that result in significantly more effective and efficient department or university operations.

I couldn’t say it any better, so I won’t even try. We at the Office of Distance Education and eLearning are fortunate to have Liv as a leader and colleague.

This post has nothing to do with brownie points. In fact, I think those stopped being passed out in the 3rd grade. This is about giving credit where credit is due. Thank you to Ohio State’s Office of Human Resources, colleagues who headed up Liv’s nomination (special shout-out to Steve Lieb who orchestrated ODEE’s side of the application process), and those at Ohio State who make our job both gratifying and fun. Congrats, Liv, on your ‘all-around awesome’ award!

My favorite use for Apple TV

Ultimate Frisbee. What’s the first thing that comes to mind after you hear these two words? … Hippies? Dogs? [insert add’l thoughts] Be honest, and I won’t be offended.

I am kind of surprised it has taken me this long to post about Ultimate. But with our season opener against Madison just two days away, I’m using Apple TV for a pretty awesome reason: to analyze film for our upcoming game.Revolution

I love competing and prepping myself the best I can physically. But — especially as my knees and ankles ache more now than they used to — it’s the mental preparedness that will serve me even better. I know my playing days are on the clock, but my coaching days are just getting started. That’s the beauty of captaining with the Revolution: I get the best of both worlds.

Streaming Ultimate on Apple TV can’t be beat. Two weekends ago, it was great to stream live as OSU’s Fever defeated top-ranked Oregon at the Northwest Challenge. With several Club teammates who play college with Fever, I am excited to watch them compete in Mason, OH at the College Championships in late-May. (“I’ve got a fever, and the only prescription…”)

Sorry for my ramblings, but Ultimate excites me. It really excites me now that we’re gaining national attention and ESPN streaming coverage. I love that our sport is gaining legitimacy and continues to have awesome clinics & outreach programs that exemplify everything right about athletics (see Ultimate Peace as a great example).

But honestly, even as we gain legitimacy, we’re really an all-inclusive bunch. No matter where the sport goes, there’s always room for hippies and dogs. I said be honest.

Hakuna Matata and the Concept of Fanhood

Blog tip: 4 out of 5 dentists agree that your enjoyment of this blog will increase if you play this song in the background before you continue reading. Never pay attention to the 5th dentist.

I’LL MAKE A FAN OUT OF YOU. Contemplating the meaning of fanhood, my mind (un)naturally went to Disney’s Mulan. In fact, it’s likely this song – like any good Disney song – will loop in my head for several hours.

BE A FAN. This year’s March Madness brought awareness to my evolving definition of what it means to be a fan. Don’t get me wrong, catch me a few years ago and I was your “superfan” … travelling across the country with friends and Buckeye Nation. Glendale. Seattle. Los Angeles. New Orleans. (There’s a handful of add’l OSU Where’s Waldo pics of me that may resurface.) But working in academic support for athletics, and competing in a variety of sports settings, I have come to a stunning realization: A team losing does not take anything away from their effort or character.

Waldo pic

BE A FAN. I used to punish myself over losses. Over-analyze what could have been done differently. And while there are great learning experiences in losing, many times it means that during that instance, that game, things just didn’t pan out. March Madness brought several awesome examples to remind me of why I’m a fan of sports. The Dayton Flyers took out Ohio State in the 1st game of the NCAA tournament, and I wasn’t heartbroken. I felt for the Buckeyes, their loss didn’t change my perspective of them as student-athletes, and I gladly supported Dayton through their Elite Eight run (#GoFlyers). It was fun to see their players and fan base enjoy the moment. This kid also made me smile.

BE A FAN. Then craziness ensued this past weekend, as I found myself rooting for Michigan (#TTUN) in their loss against Kentucky. I only cared about the Big Ten and some great basketball. In my moment of weakness – cheering for our rival Wolverines – I also sat there in a moment of peace. Win or lose, there were no worries: Hakuna Matata (ahem, what a wonderful phrase). That’s what it really means to be a fan.