Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, It’s off to Jam We Go…

We’re doubling up on the A*T Chronicles this week, but don’t fret. The news from NYC is good. We are in the midst of what has become a remarkable run on All*Star Thursdays because Guest Jammers just keep popping up from all over the place.

May 10th – This was a special day on many levels. Your intrepid reporter was double booked—I had All*Star Thursday and a special reception at The Metropolitan Museum of Art for work (a private tour of the new Greco-Roman Sculpture exhibition—FANCY!). I almost bailed but could not bear the thought because I knew Tommy L. and the ever patient and sweet Ilaria were back for their second and final appearance.

As I strolled across the Meadow (looking quite dapper in my shirt and tie) coming in from the Northeast, with the sun shining brightly and blue skies forever, I saw a huge crowd by the manhole. There was The Ageless Trevor Brown, Fearless Lou, Doug E. Fresh, Rob, TO and the Lovely Chrissy (bearer of the Sublime Beverage), Brad, Richie Regs, Bill Doobs, Mary-Mary, Susan, Barb & Jaime/TJH, Mighty Heaver, Dan Weiss, Sean Heaver, and The Oracle. This was as close to 100% attendance as we have ever had! The toughest part for me was I knew I could not really play having left my gear at home to prevent me from doing something irresponsible. So, I took of my shirt and did a quick Heave to loosen up and quick Jam to break a sweat and make certain I would not be Yella-gible for the next week. Since I had to split early, I can only share with you what I saw, which has been supplemented by Rob’s recollections.

Let your imagination run free for a moment as I describe the combination of players comprising our Jam of the Day. Fresh was looking for a “B” Jam because he has a torn Brevis tendon in his ankle so he got Rob up to play and they were immediately joined by the “better at 75% than most of us are at 110%, Ted Shred.” For NYC this is a normal combination—talented and intense, but not terribly unique. As they begin to get some rhythm, Tommy stepped in and as Rob put it “That was that, for the “B” Jam.”

The shredding began in earnest now so when The Oracle stepped up, “…it went to ELEVEN!!!” What I saw was really something to behold. The disc knowledge, energy, Flow, and plain fun were really just amazing. It was at this point that I had to leave but here are two critical observations for you:

The Oracle – “Tommy was playing out of his mind! He did a Clock UD tip/brush combo which led to a kick-brush turnover to a Counter delay which he in turn crushed into a scarecrow seal”

Rob – “I stepped out and Roger stepped in. At one point they hit 3 co-ops in a row, all Hein, ALL ENDING IN GITIS: One by Ted, one by Doug, and one by Tommy… even Joey was hitting rare Joey Gitis in that jam. I’m glad I was part of that as I usually don’t get involved in the best jam on Thursday”

Mr. Fried, acquitted himself quite nicely in the Cowardly Coverlet which he wore under mild protest, showing once again that being a good sport does count among our brethren. We were not entirely certain who should be wearin’ the Yella rag next since we had 100% attendance but that became a non-issue as you shall see.

May 17th – The weather was cooler when I arrived at the Meadow with dark clouds to the North, but that didn’t slow down the Hard Corps of The Big Apple. The crew was considerable smaller this week with Fearless, Richie Regs (who is now Yella-gible for the first time), Quinn-O, The Ageless Trevor Brown, TO and the Lovely Chrissy, Jill, Claire, and BenJAMin along with one unfamiliar face.

Craig Simon came in from Florida making it 4 straight weeks with an out-of-town Jammer in the House. This was excellent news of course. Nothing like a little more Fresh Blood to get folks amped up.

I played pretty much from the moment I got there until the end of the last Jam so I could really watch too much. The first Jam was Roger, Richie, and Quinn-O which ended abruptly when Richie tapped the disc using his mighty strength and cracked it in half. Craig, Trevor and I got up to get loose and had much fun until we too experience the awful loss of plastic in the prime of flight. Craig’s way of attacking the disc and making plays in the Flow of the game was awesome. Later on he said he was nervous playing with me because he thought I’d be watching with my journalist’s hat on, keeping an eye out for drops or something.

Puh-LEEEZE! No judgments from this corner—I’m just a happy observer of the art.

I have a slight dilemma in sharing the A*T story today. I don’t like to talk about me or my own play much because: 1) Who wants to hear about ‘Triple A’ players when the Major Leaguers are around?; 2) I’d rather talk about others who have talents and abilities I aspire to achieve. So, I was involved in what became the Jam of the Day.

It started innocently enough with Shreddy Teddy and I getting up and having my boy Fearless join in shortly thereafter. Ted noticed that the three of us seem to get together for the late Jam a lot and with that, we were off and running. We had a nice stretch where the disc moved around like a pinball with barely a moment of delaying. It was move-move-pass, move-move-pass, move-move-seal time and time again. In the background I could hear The Oracle leading the peanut gallery as we got hotter. Then TO threw a nasty Counter UD in my direction for which I had only on possible play: Throw a limb at it! I went for and nailed a right-footed kick-brush that went straight, flat, and true to TO, who of course finished with a crazy combination and even more unbelievable seal. The Oracle just went nuts on the sideline saying “Paul, that was incredible! You took it to 11 right there!” I was too busy playing to be floored but the smile on my face as I heard his voice echoing through my mostly empty cranium could not be knocked off with a sledgehammer. This spectacle inspired Craig to come and get him some and then Stump Mitchell (aka Fresh) got up as well. This 5-man mob-op just kept dialing it up until all heck broke loose. I can’t recall too many more sequences but I know I saw me a Doug Mug on Stump’s face and TO did this crazy pretzel looking delay which he then dropped down to catch as a Gitis by his ankle. Shucks, I sprained my back just looking at him move and this continued until it got dark.

You might have noticed that I didn’t mention the Jaundiced Jersey so far. You see, Rob has a very big problem—he washed an folded it up in preparation for sharing it with the Board’s designee. It looked so nice sitting there by his bed that he figured he’d leave it there as a decoration.

This of course means that there was no big decision to make after our 100% attendance day. Mr. Fried volunteered to wear the rag for the rest of the summer which the Board took under advisement but given his record of Hein behavior, decided to hold to the current procedures. That’s it for now…

Peace Out, Yo!

TP, TJH