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July 16, 2013 -
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And the winner is:
Thank you everyone who voted! Stay tuned for this logo to start showing up EVERYWHERE! Seriously, you’re going to walk outside and all the sudden – BAM – giant billboard, right in front your house. We’re putting them up everywhere.
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July 15, 2013 -
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Since we had no plans for Wednesday afternoon, we decided to check out a lunch time pick-up game in LA. We drove to a nearby park and met up with a group of guys who work together and play Ultimate four days a week on their lunch break.
The game was extremely relaxed: no cleats, no strict rules, and no clearly defined end zones or sidelines. Everyone could throw and catch proficiently, but the point of the game is not to be competitive. It’s just an outlet for a group of co-workers to take an hour out of their day to get together and toss a disc around.
Despite the fact that most of these guys work together, they leave the door open for anyone that wants to join. About a week ago, two young boys decided to seize the opportunity. 15-year old Evan and 11-year old Ryan are brothers who live across the street from where this pick-up game is played. The guys who run the game allowed them to play and both Evan and Ryan have gotten pretty good. We talked to them for a while about how they can become more involved with the sport and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them turn into very strong Ultimate players. Thanks to Neal Hanke and Rob Mattison for helping make their day!
We really enjoyed seeing Ultimate exist at such a casual level. It’s not often you find a group of people who play together for fun on their lunch break. It’s even more awesome that these guys are helping two young kids learn the sport. That’s the thing about this game: No matter your age, experience, or ability level, you can always find a game and a group of people to fit in with.
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July 13, 2013 -
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We were pretty devastated when our GoPro was lost to us one week into the trip. We lost all our footage of the mountainous Colorado scenery and of course, we were out one expensive camera for the remainder of the trip. However, the road trip gods must be fans of The Break Side, as we now have another GoPro in our arsenal.
Immediately after the first camera was lost, Schasse went to work pleading our case to the powers that be at GoPro. After a series of emails, GoPro offered us a new camera for 40% off the retail price. Schasse was about to take the deal when his mother, Marilyn, stepped up to the bat again for us. Negotiating in a style that only a mother can, Marilyn talked GoPro into giving us a better deal. A deal was struck and Marilyn arranged for the GoPro to be waiting for us when we arrived in Phoenix.
Unfortunately, we cannot turn back time and retrieve the footage of Colorado, we at least we have a camera to use going forward. Here’s a sneak peak at what you’re going to get to see throughout the rest of this trip:
Big thanks to Carter Blochwitz (aka DJ Anansi) for letting us use his song “The Thing Is…” – you can check out more of his stuff at https://soundcloud.com/dj-anansi
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July 12, 2013 -
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About a year ago, I was introduced to a game called Spikeball by my good friend, Dan Kaler. Spikeball is similar to volleyball except that it is played 2-on-2 and the objective is to hit a ball off a bouncy net so that your opponents are unable to return it. It quickly became the go-to game to play during byes in an Ultimate tournament and after awhile, I bought my own set. I’ve taught a lot of people how to play and fancied myself as one of the better players among my group of friends.
A few weeks into our trip, we found out that there was a Spikeball tournament happening in Santa Barbara when we had planned on being in LA. For the modest price of $10, I signed The Break Side up for the Amateur Division of the All American Spikeball Tournament.
Chris and I arrived just in time for pool play and soon realized that there was no such thing as an Amateur Division. In fact, counting the two of us, there were a total of three people at the tournament that I would consider amateurs. The long and the short of it is that we lost all six games of pool play, most by large margins, and were ousted in the first game of bracket play. You know that kid who shows up to his first Ultimate tournament and thinks he’s hot stuff because he can throw a backhand AND forehand better than all his friends? I have a new-found level of respect and sympathy for that kid.
In any case, here’s some footage of some GOOD Spikeball players. If you think you can keep up with these guys, you’re a better man than I…
The music for this video is by Joe Weber – a man whose house we are currently crashing at. This song is titled “Hammer.” You can check out this and other amazing tracks at https://soundcloud.com/bzukajoe
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July 10, 2013 -
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My brother (Aaron Schasse) created a couple of awesome Break Side logos for us to use, but they are both so good that we don’t know which one to choose! We need your help. Vote below on which logo you think looks the most ridiculously cool.
Which Logo do you prefer?
Total Voters: 78
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July 6, 2013 -
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“You picked the worst possible time to come to Phoenix.” -Literally everyone we met.
With record-breaking high temperatures the past week, Phoenix residents spent most of their time indoors. However, the area seemed to have no lack of brave Ultimate players as we attended four pick-up games while in Phoenix. The games are scheduled either early in the morning or late at night to avoid the hottest part of the day, but the temperature was still always recorded in triple figures. Despite the heat, every game we attended had at least enough participants for 7 on 7 and Sunday and Wednesday night even drew a crowd big enough for two games.
We met some interesting characters at these games. On Tuesday night, John Barber was nice enough to show off some of his athletic skills for the camera. I actually met John about a year and a half ago in Georgia, and it was cool to see a familiar face all the way out in Phoenix. Watch closely, and I think you’ll see a move that up until last night, was only ever completed by my grandpa “Big” Jim Wagner in his younger days.
Phoenix boasts quite a few players with a lot of talent off the field too. Take Ashley Stahl for instance, who invited us over to showcase her flute “beat-boxing” abilities. Speaking of my grandparents, I think the only way this performance could have been better is if Ashley had been accompanied by Kay Wagner ticklin’ the ivory.
My grandparents are pretty awesome, so I wanted to throw a shout out to them. And as you can see, the folks here in Phoenix are pretty awesome too. I hope you enjoyed watching them as much as we did, and I hope LA is as much fun as Phoenix was!
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July 4, 2013 -
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We’ve been in Phoenix for a week now (don’t worry, a full recap of what we’ve done, including a few videos, is coming soon…) but we decided to stay here to celebrate the good ole US of A. This decision didn’t come easy, but a few plans fell through in San Diego, so we decided we could extend our time in Phoenix and skip Ron Burgundy’s favorite city. Plus, we were feeling pretty spoiled by having our own condo to stay in and didn’t want to leave just yet.
As it turned out, both Schasse and I were very happy with the decision. Tim and Roz (Schasse’s aunt and uncle) invited us over for lunch where they treated us to healthy portions of potato salad and baby back ribs. The food was garnished with freedom, independence, and the pursuit of happiness, so it sure tasted like the 4th of July!
After lunch, we went to a pool party in Tempe where we swam, played volleyball, grilled out, and drank a few American craft Brews. We even had time to give several discs away. The first went to Zac, the ten-year old son of Kaysi, a fellow Ultimate player and pool party attendee. Growing up with a mom who plays the sport, Zac was already an old pro with a disc in his hand. Here he is showing off an intense pose that his disc donor, Khoa Do would be proud of.
Since one is never enough on the 4th of July, we handed out two more discs to a pair of awesome little dudes who were chilling by the pool. Joshua and Jordan were having a great time tossing around with our group of friends. Schasse suggested giving them each a disc and after I hit one of them in the head with an errant throw, it sure seemed like the right thing to do. Thanks Richard West and Judde Golliher for making two kids’ day!
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July 3, 2013 -
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Jackson was excited to receive a disc from Bryan Thompson. Schasse’s aunt runs a day care in Phoenix that Jackson attends. While spending some time with his aunt and uncle, Schasse taught Jackson how to throw a backhand and how to properly catch a disc using two hands. Jackson – however – laughed at Schasse’s advice as he easily caught the disc over and over again with one hand. What a boss!
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July 2, 2013 -
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Hey friends, get this: Volume One in Eau Claire ran a little story about The Break Side. We sent them a press release and they ran with it. We’ll have to send our press release to other places we’ve been and see if we can get some more publicity!
You can read it here: http://volumeone.org/articles/2013/06/21/5775_a_truly_ultimate_adventure
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June 26, 2013 -
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We spent the last three days in Flagstaff, AZ, a town that was originally not even part of our summer itinerary, being hosted by a man and his seemingly endless stream of roommates and friends. We were initially a little leery about what would be in store for us in Flagstaff. I had talked to him on the phone the night before we arrived and decided that he would be either really cool or really weird. Either way, it was going to make for a good story.
This man runs a bike shop out of his back yard, but if you think that just means he keeps a couple of parts around and helps fix up his friends bikes, you would be as wrong as we were. While he doesn’t have an exact count, he told us that he has between 70-80 bikes in his shop, mostly vintage, and all pretty valuable. After a lengthy conversation about our backgrounds, covering topics well beyond Ultimate, he took it upon himself to show us around HIS town.
He sized us up for a couple of his bikes and we spent the next two days riding all around town. He took us to all his favorite spots so we could experience the Flagstaff culture, one that is unlike any other place we’ve been so far. We played Ultimate, spent time in café’s, ate at his favorite restaurants, and went to a short film festival and outdoor concert, all in three days. We met more people than we can count, many of whom greeted us with a hug and treated us like family.
The point of our trip is to make connections through Ultimate and show people all the awesome experiences that can be had just by reaching out to other players. Unfortunately, there isn’t enough room in this blog to effectively show that, but we wanted to post something just to keep you updated. However, we will be releasing a video featuring him and his town within the next few weeks that will hopefully do them justice. Stay tuned.
