At around 10:30 AM yesterday, an orthopedic surgeon showed me, on my MRI, that the rotator cuff on my throwing arm is undeniably torn. He also showed me bone spurs and told me I won't be able to throw full power for at least a year after the surgery. Panic set in immediately.
At around 4:30 PM, I finished a defiant, or more honestly denial-fueled round at DeLaveaga. All things considered, shooting par with DeLa in the long felt pretty good . . . no, darned good. At least it soothed my dessicated disc golf ego. But man, it's hard to submit to an operation on my arm when I can still play decently, and pretty much without pain as long as I don't throw sidearm, over the top, at a hyzer angle anywhere close to 100 percent, or more than once a week or so. It might be better if I just couldn't throw period. Wait, forget I said that!
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Monday, March 15, 2010
the latest on the Santa Cruz disc golf scene
I ordered the 2010 DDGC club shirts recently, and made sure the club logo, 'Epicenter of Disc Golf', was included on the front. Sometimes such things are empty slogans that bare little resemblance to reality. Not so with us.
We're literally like an active fault-line from which tremors small and large regularly emanate. Right now we've got so much going on, all at once . . . . it blows the mind! Or at least kinda boggles the mind.
It's a well know fact that two-time world champ and 2008 USDGC champ Nate Doss is a home grown DeLa local, as is top female pro Carrie 'Burl' Berlager. Now we've also got WonderTwins Avery and Valarie Jenkins living here too. They're not really twins.
This year, 2010, is the 25th anniversary of the Masters Cup. I've got plenty to say about this event's history and its future that I'll save it for another post, but for now a little teaser: The $2000 skins match hosted by Tom Schot's World Disc Sports that has preceded the Masters Cup for the past few years will this year include the past four World Champions. Nate, Avery, Feldberg, and The Champ (Ken Climo).
The cat is . . . rowwwwwrrr . . . out of the bag! A group of determined individuals from Santa Cruz, Monterey, and San Jose is bidding to host the 2011 Professional Disc Golf World Championships. The plan is to use DeLaveaga, Pinto Lake, Ryan Ranch (Monterey), CSUMB Oaks (Monterey), and Hellyer/LaRaza (San Jose). We should know fairly soon if this news is more Walter Mitty or Walter Kronkite.
My favorite news of the day: tomorrow kicks off the inaugural season of the Santa Cruz County Interscholastic Disc Golf League. We've got 53 kids from five different schools signed up to play in team competition, with a big trophy cup going to the school that wins each year. We'll also award an individual points winner for the weeks that we use the stroke play format (the other half of the time we'll play match play). And there is no reason the number of schools can't grow from five (SLV, Scotts Valley, Harbor, Aptos, and Soquel) to include Santa Cruz High and schools from Watsonville to represent Pinto Lake.
I know high school sports are cash-starved right now, so maybe the affordable aspect of disc golf, which resonates so clearly these day, will shine a light on some of the other positive elements of the sport. One dynamic in particular that I'm interested to see unfold on the high school level is disc golf's egalitarianism. On the course and at tournaments, you just don't see the cliques and social strata that you see in other sports. Players genuinely want everyone else to enjoy the sport to the fullest, and it shows. As our players sign up to play in this high school league, we're noticing that many of them play other high school sports, like baseball, track, and soccer. In other words, they are they typical 'jocks' that enjoy and excel at all sports. But disc golf attracts a good number of kids (and adults) that never showed interest in organized sports. It'll be interesting to see these kids mix, but I'm confident the established disc golf paradigm will hold true and it'll be a great experience for all.
We're literally like an active fault-line from which tremors small and large regularly emanate. Right now we've got so much going on, all at once . . . . it blows the mind! Or at least kinda boggles the mind.
It's a well know fact that two-time world champ and 2008 USDGC champ Nate Doss is a home grown DeLa local, as is top female pro Carrie 'Burl' Berlager. Now we've also got WonderTwins Avery and Valarie Jenkins living here too. They're not really twins.
This year, 2010, is the 25th anniversary of the Masters Cup. I've got plenty to say about this event's history and its future that I'll save it for another post, but for now a little teaser: The $2000 skins match hosted by Tom Schot's World Disc Sports that has preceded the Masters Cup for the past few years will this year include the past four World Champions. Nate, Avery, Feldberg, and The Champ (Ken Climo).
The cat is . . . rowwwwwrrr . . . out of the bag! A group of determined individuals from Santa Cruz, Monterey, and San Jose is bidding to host the 2011 Professional Disc Golf World Championships. The plan is to use DeLaveaga, Pinto Lake, Ryan Ranch (Monterey), CSUMB Oaks (Monterey), and Hellyer/LaRaza (San Jose). We should know fairly soon if this news is more Walter Mitty or Walter Kronkite.
My favorite news of the day: tomorrow kicks off the inaugural season of the Santa Cruz County Interscholastic Disc Golf League. We've got 53 kids from five different schools signed up to play in team competition, with a big trophy cup going to the school that wins each year. We'll also award an individual points winner for the weeks that we use the stroke play format (the other half of the time we'll play match play). And there is no reason the number of schools can't grow from five (SLV, Scotts Valley, Harbor, Aptos, and Soquel) to include Santa Cruz High and schools from Watsonville to represent Pinto Lake.
I know high school sports are cash-starved right now, so maybe the affordable aspect of disc golf, which resonates so clearly these day, will shine a light on some of the other positive elements of the sport. One dynamic in particular that I'm interested to see unfold on the high school level is disc golf's egalitarianism. On the course and at tournaments, you just don't see the cliques and social strata that you see in other sports. Players genuinely want everyone else to enjoy the sport to the fullest, and it shows. As our players sign up to play in this high school league, we're noticing that many of them play other high school sports, like baseball, track, and soccer. In other words, they are they typical 'jocks' that enjoy and excel at all sports. But disc golf attracts a good number of kids (and adults) that never showed interest in organized sports. It'll be interesting to see these kids mix, but I'm confident the established disc golf paradigm will hold true and it'll be a great experience for all.
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