frisbee anyone?

i got an email a little while ago that reminds me of a funny story (well, funny in a selfdeprecating kind of way...)

the email was from the organizer of the nashville ultimate frisbee league reminding us of spring/summer sign-up deadlines...

some of you might be thinking...o yeah, she played ultimate on tuesdays in college...others of you might be remembering me as a member of the ole miss co-ed ultimate frisbee intramurals champion team of 2002 and 2003. maybe others have seen me on the vanderbilt intramural fields on sunday afternoons sweating it out with the young lifers...

and most of you are probably thinking at this point, wow, she has played a lot of ultimate frisbee...and maybe shes pretty good...

well, friends, i must admit, i thought the same thing. but its funny how the Lord is always working on humbling me...

last fall, i decided that i should join the nashville ultimate frisbee league. i mean, why not? i was good. so, the first game came, i went...and i never went back again...

first of all, i was the only one to show up sans cleats. (that fact alone should have tipped me off from the get-go.) i was also the only one who didnt bring a gallon-sized water cooler...and all the women (and by all, i mean 8 out of 60 or so) were freaking jacked. and they had cleats on, remember? and huge muscles. they were wearing dri-fit tanks with below-the-knee length basketball shorts...and cleats.

did i mention that everyone was wearing cleats?

so, i met my teammates...we warmed up for a bit...and then one of them casually asked me which offense i was more comfortable with- the stack or the horizontal...hmm...organized offense? ultimate frisbee? my answer was neither.

needless to say, i was the weakest link by a landslide. i quickly became better on defense than offense. i HATE defense, but it was the only thing i could figure out how to do.

by the end of the 3 games (yes, 3 in a row...it was 4 hours long...and they wouldnt let me leave early- believe me i tried- because i was the only girl and they would have had to forfeit if i left,) it was all i could do to get in my car and speed to the nearest gas station to buy the largest water bottle i could find and chug it IN THE GAS STATION. i was dehydrated, miserable, and had lost control of my body parts. i can only remember a handful of times i have been that wiped out...its the worst feeling. i was really worried that i was going to puke on the field and then humiliate myself even more...

...lesson learned. ill stick to the sunday afternoon pick-up games at the vanderbilt fields. fortunately for doug tice and the nashville ultimate frisbee league, they wont be hearing back from me for the spring sign-ups. that is one deadline im happy to pass up.