First practice of the year!
Mon, 2008-01-14 12:00 | by Erin
So we had our first practice of the year and it was tough. I have been running a bit and doing my normal calisthenics, that mixed with not drinking have been good and I felt good going into it.
Al had other things in mind, and my legs and back are feeling them right now.
I was late as were others but as soon as practice kicked off we started with some complex fitness drills and I wished Al would have mailed out a training plan during the week. Then I could have at least faked having a clue.
Training went on and we did a couple of new drills we had not tried. The one I especially like was 2 defenders against 3 attackers. A twist I would add or kinda change is make every one do it 30 times and after 10 go from touch to smother, the after 20, all willing go from smother to full tackle.
That was kinda the idea but I wasn't ready and Dan 120 KG English bull steamrolled me. I saw him coming but didn't think he was moving that fast. My mistake and as I flew through the air I realized I was.
After practice we sat down for some Chinese and talked about the upcoming tour to Manila and recent Christmas party. We also discussed the upcoming YCAC match that is sure to be a test.
Finally the one thing everyone agreed that one point the team needs to work on is substitutions. Not putting green guys like yours truly in without some one to shadow. It has been a long term problem that we all know the answer too we need a good steady sideline coach who it there all the time and knows who is who and what the players skill sets are.
Al had other things in mind, and my legs and back are feeling them right now.
I was late as were others but as soon as practice kicked off we started with some complex fitness drills and I wished Al would have mailed out a training plan during the week. Then I could have at least faked having a clue.
Training went on and we did a couple of new drills we had not tried. The one I especially like was 2 defenders against 3 attackers. A twist I would add or kinda change is make every one do it 30 times and after 10 go from touch to smother, the after 20, all willing go from smother to full tackle.
That was kinda the idea but I wasn't ready and Dan 120 KG English bull steamrolled me. I saw him coming but didn't think he was moving that fast. My mistake and as I flew through the air I realized I was.
After practice we sat down for some Chinese and talked about the upcoming tour to Manila and recent Christmas party. We also discussed the upcoming YCAC match that is sure to be a test.
Finally the one thing everyone agreed that one point the team needs to work on is substitutions. Not putting green guys like yours truly in without some one to shadow. It has been a long term problem that we all know the answer too we need a good steady sideline coach who it there all the time and knows who is who and what the players skill sets are.
YCAC-2008
Tue, 2008-01-08 12:00 | by Erin
Friday (2008-01-08 ya I am a little behind) I got a call from Joe Fisher The Tokyo Gaijin coach who plays for YCAC during the winter. Joe and I run in very different circles even though we play for the same team so I was surprised he was calling me. He asked me to come out and play for his team on Sunday cause they were short of numbers.
I was a little shocked. He must really be in a pinch to call me. I accepted and it turned out I got a full game out of it.
When I got to the YCAC facility on Sunday I was a little amazed at the place. in the middle of Yokohama was a full size pitch with a decent amount of grass. On top of that there was a locker room with showers and a hot tub, a club house with food and beer. WOW not some thing you see every day in Japan. For guys who play rugby all their life I am sure that they have seen a couple of nice places like this but I hadn't.
We warmed up and Joe introduced me to everyone and we ran through a couple of line out drills and a few other things.
The game started and it was ON. Most of the guys for YCAC looked to be about my age but heavier so I was a little surprised when they all started moving pretty quick. I am not a great player, but I think in this game I did particularly well especially in the first half.
A couple of highlights where when I dropped a kick off return but immediately jumped on it to not allow a turn over. I ran a kick return and fell down like a sissy soccer player when some one tapped my ankle.
I was a little shocked. He must really be in a pinch to call me. I accepted and it turned out I got a full game out of it.
When I got to the YCAC facility on Sunday I was a little amazed at the place. in the middle of Yokohama was a full size pitch with a decent amount of grass. On top of that there was a locker room with showers and a hot tub, a club house with food and beer. WOW not some thing you see every day in Japan. For guys who play rugby all their life I am sure that they have seen a couple of nice places like this but I hadn't.
We warmed up and Joe introduced me to everyone and we ran through a couple of line out drills and a few other things.
The game started and it was ON. Most of the guys for YCAC looked to be about my age but heavier so I was a little surprised when they all started moving pretty quick. I am not a great player, but I think in this game I did particularly well especially in the first half.
A couple of highlights where when I dropped a kick off return but immediately jumped on it to not allow a turn over. I ran a kick return and fell down like a sissy soccer player when some one tapped my ankle.
2007 Year in Review
Tue, 2008-01-01 23:42 | by Erin
Man I am glad this year is over. There was some good stuff, some bad stuff and some truly horrible stuff.
Eric and Satomi moved from Gotemba to Tokyo into a big house where we all live together. This is probably my first memory of the year. I can only say that it hasn't been easy. Eric is as wild as I was at 6 and he doesn't have a brother or sister to play with so after a hard day of work he can be quite difficult to deal with. Satomi also has a... different idea about what she wants out of life in Tokyo. It mostly seems to involve watching more TV. Either way we are sorting it out and things seem to be getting better.
Around the same time I heard my mom was sick and Eric and I went back to see her. They told me she was sick but getting better. When I arrived I saw that they had been lieing to me. She looked horrible. I was upset but there was nothing I could do. I new she was in pretty horrible position so I did what I could while I was there to make her feel better. I tried to read one of her books to her, but it was a little too steamy for me to be reading to my mom.
The trip for Eric was really bad. There was other stuff going on and he was not the normal center of attention that he usually is. I can understand that getting dragged around in the back of a car to and from the hospital is not the funnest thing for a 5 year old, so I tried to cut him as much slack as my patience would allow.
Eric and Satomi moved from Gotemba to Tokyo into a big house where we all live together. This is probably my first memory of the year. I can only say that it hasn't been easy. Eric is as wild as I was at 6 and he doesn't have a brother or sister to play with so after a hard day of work he can be quite difficult to deal with. Satomi also has a... different idea about what she wants out of life in Tokyo. It mostly seems to involve watching more TV. Either way we are sorting it out and things seem to be getting better.
Around the same time I heard my mom was sick and Eric and I went back to see her. They told me she was sick but getting better. When I arrived I saw that they had been lieing to me. She looked horrible. I was upset but there was nothing I could do. I new she was in pretty horrible position so I did what I could while I was there to make her feel better. I tried to read one of her books to her, but it was a little too steamy for me to be reading to my mom.
The trip for Eric was really bad. There was other stuff going on and he was not the normal center of attention that he usually is. I can understand that getting dragged around in the back of a car to and from the hospital is not the funnest thing for a 5 year old, so I tried to cut him as much slack as my patience would allow.
Happy New Year!
Mon, 2007-12-31 22:56 | by Erin
Happy New Year!
Well I am very happy to say good bye to 2007! I will have a lot to say about it in a little bit but for starters. I will just leave it at happy new year.
A new site with a new wider look and a little darker feel. I had too many issues trying to migrate the old site to this one so if you would like to get a look at some of the old content have a look at the old site on the links above. I will get the old user accounts moved in here as soon as I can. But the old content can stay where it is for now.
Regards,
Erin
Well I am very happy to say good bye to 2007! I will have a lot to say about it in a little bit but for starters. I will just leave it at happy new year.
A new site with a new wider look and a little darker feel. I had too many issues trying to migrate the old site to this one so if you would like to get a look at some of the old content have a look at the old site on the links above. I will get the old user accounts moved in here as soon as I can. But the old content can stay where it is for now.
I am using Picasa for pictures now but I have not reached the state of zen that I was hoping for by now and will either change to another on lone picture sharing site or.... go back to gallery2. There was nothing wrong with Gallery2 I just wanted have to take care of less dbs in orders to show some pictures. we will see how that goes.
Regards,
Erin
