At long last, she speaks again. Did you miss me? For the past many months I have been coaching Ultimate for the first time. Of course, on any team, one does one's share of coaching - especially when you are among the more experienced on the team. But this fall/winter/spring I have been coaching college women. And let me tell you, it has been a blast. It's a B team, and they came to me with a collective year of playing experience (meaning, all 14 of them put together have played a year total). And I have had the honor of teaching them the ropes, from the beginning, with my stamp on how I think it ought to be done. They're aggressive, love to play, and seem to be having a lot of fun, which was my main goal for them this season. I'll talk more about this as I go along, but now that our season is wrapping up, I really need to collect my thoughts about what worked and what didn't during the coaching season, and set out a better plan for next year's group.

Greetings, people. To all three of you who may find your way to this blog, I say, "Welcome. Leave your shoes by the door. Want a beer?"

A bit about me: I am too old and too busy to stay up all night sharing my deepest ridiculous thoughts with cyberspace, and yet somehow, I am compelled. My particular interest is in Ultimate Frisbee (hereafter referred to only as Ultimate, so those who actually play the sport will not laugh me out of town). It seems likely that much of this blog will be devoted to ranting about Ultimate and my old-school perspective on how this shit is supposed to work.

A bit about you: how in the hell have you managed to search and locate this homely little page?

A bit about the name: Dogdish Steering. When I was a kid, my dad had a small sailboat that we used to race in weekly leagues. Its name: No Matter How Hard You Try You Can't Steer a Dogdish. I believe this to be some sort of obsure Peanuts reference a la Snoopy. Now, I don't know about you, but every time I go to Ultimate (practice, league, pickup, whatever) there are dogs drinking out of Frisbees. This made me think of the boat, and the name, and the futility (and beauty) of trying to make a round flat object fly in a specified direction. Takes some skill; and practice. But damn, it sure is sweet when it works.

Enough for now. In subsequent posts, you can expect me to go off on subjects including: hegemony in college rankings, gerrymandering in the UPA's regional boundaries, why girls can't catch, and other cranky topics. About Frisbee, I can be a sanctimonious bitch. Stay tuned.