The Weekly Email By Betsy 6-19-07

[betsy beijing]

big brothers,

long exhale, then tired sigh, followed by leg cramp.  repeat.

but it was worth it.

apologies that this week's email won't meet the high standards you've come to expect from the weekly email, but betsy is too busy recovering from the long weekend to fully concentrate. 


WEEKLY ITEM #1:  The Weekly Schedule

Tuesday June 19, Big Brother team celebration.  8:00 Chun Xiu Lu
Come and join us as we reminisce about the wonderful time that was Plan Five From Outerspace, a weekend of great ultimate, extreme partying, and genius filmmaking.  Everyone in Beijing Ultimate is invited, but be warned, you will be jealous when you hear about all the fun you missed out on.  Contact Candice if you have any questions.

Thursday June 21, No Pickup
We've lost BCIS, and the search committee needs a bit of a breather after shanghai.  We are hard at work searching for a new venue, and hopefully will have it in place by next Tuesday.

Sunday June 24, Pick Up, TongZhou
We haven't completely confirmed yet, but expect to be back in TongZhou this weekend.  We'll be getting vans from Dongzhimen, and taking the bus from sihui is also an option for those who can't get to DZM conveniently.  Pick up is tentatively scheduled for 4, with the van leaving DZM at three.  Look for confirmation texts and emails later in the week.
 

for more extensive details, maps, and last minute changes, please check the google group home page.  link at bottom.

______________

lunch time poll:

clare's favorite moment of the weekend:

a) reading war and peace on saturday night, deciding that tolstoy is now her favorite russian novelist instead of dosteovsky.

b) thanks to magic elixir she drank on sunday, achieving total enlightment.

c) watching all the idiots on big brother making spectacles of themselves on sunday afternoon. 

d) waking up from drunken stupor, realizing that making out with reid was just a bad dream.
 

WEEKLY ITEM #2: Shanghai Recap

i don't think words can do it justice.  I hope everyone had as much fun as betsy did.  my only regret is that because i was so engrossed in my own team, and our own games, and how well we were doing, i didn't get to spend as much time with folks on the other team as i would have liked.

it may not have been officially acknowledged by the ring of jerks governing shanghai ultimate, but when people think back to the shanghai tournament party, they will primarily remember one team, big brother (unless you are jenn brown, in which case you will probably remember the twisted road which led you to lose your wallet and phone and end up spending the night at stephanie decker's).  our costumes rocked, our movie rocked, our spirit rocked.

before i get to the post tournament awards, let me just throw out this stat.  according to elias sports bureau, beijing went an amazing 9-4 over the weekend, the highest winning percentage for two beijing teams ever.  you all should be proud.

the post-tournament awards:

best costume: greg and zoe, zombie king and queen

best aviators: mitch

best godzilla: jessica

best yoshimi: missy

best package: jamie's fake package

best groupie: wang qing(for going to get doc's wallet on saturday)

best wrestling move: beartron, vs. charles atlas

best abraham lincoln impersonation: chris bohner

best top hat:  doc's top hat

most drastic lengths to avoid appearing in plan five movie: brady, who faked illness and sat out all but two points in the first game just so he had an excuse to skip the party

best jason cox impersonation: uli, during shanghai game

best play vs. beijing team: layout callahan, craig from korea

best sky: jamie potter, over john kater from hk, in the endzone.

best layout score: andrea, vs hk

most timely hucks: jason vs. korea

most relentless cutting: gabe

most improved male: chip

most improved female: zoe

best spirit, male, ken

best spirit, female, barbie

best team moment of the weekend:  at the party, the music video, to yoshimi battles the pink robot.  i think everyone can agree that this moment had a special vibe and to me really summarizes what the whole weekend was about:  great fun with a great group of people.

thanks to everyone who made this weekend possible. 

_________

now is the time in the weekly email when betsy gives her weekly shout outs, and call outs.  remember, you want to get shouted out, but you don't want to get called out.

a shout out to greg and zoe, for bringing the biggest bag of jelly bellies that betsy has ever seen. that was the most awesome bag of candy ever.  i am serious.  it may very well have been the acme of my very existence.

a call out to anyone who thought hong kong won that party on saturday night.  are you kidding me?  they had one drunk moron being obnoxious at the bar all night.  and that was enough to win the party?  it was rigged.

a shout out to qxhna, who's leaving beijing this week and going to be starting high school in the states at the end of the summer.  it's been a true pleasure having qxhna and her parents here for the past three years, and i hope that you'll be back often and soon.


WEEKLY ITEM #3:  MAILBAG

every week, betsy gets a lot of emails inviting her out on dates, complementing her on her leadership skills, asking her ultimate related questions, and wanting to know who she is.  the mailbag is where she answers these questions.  as always, these are real letters from real readers.

Letter #1:

dear betsy,

i didn't get a chance to ask for jenn brown's email.  could you pass it along to me?

thanks,
roberto


dear roberto,

sure.  it's jennifer...@gmail.com .
 
happy skateboarding,
betsy
xxxooo

WEEKLY RUMOR THAT MUST BE TRUE: ken and michelle both "missed" their flight to shanghai because of "traffic."  it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what was really going on.  i hope barbie isn't too jealous.

WEEKLY ITEM #4:  Summer League

our summer league will be starting soon.  very soon.  we need to have an idea of numbers, so please get in touch with tracie and let her know your availability.  if you are going to be gone for part of the summer, don't worry.  just let tracie know what dates you won't be here for.  we will keep that in mind as we divide up the teams.

the summer league is going to be fantastic.  you'll get put on a team, have people coaching you every week, get to play more competitive games than we normally have at pick up, but not at the expense of any fun. 

so stay tuned for further details, and let tracie know asap that you are interested.
_______

which brings us finally to:

calls disputed by doc over the weekend:

travel calls, vs shanghai:

Traveling: The thrower must establish a pivot at the appropriate spot on the field and keep all or part of the pivot in contact with that spot until the throw is released. Failure to do so is a travel and results in a stoppage of play and a check.

verdict, doc was correct, the entire shanghai team was wrong

obstruction call, vs hk:

If play is obstructed by competitors, coaches, spectators or objects within five meters of the playing field, any obstructed player or thrower in possession may call this violation. Play resumes at the stall count reached plus one, or 9 if over 8.

verdict, doc was correct, lily was wrong.


continuation call, vs. ringers:

A player's ability to catch or make a play on the disc is not considered to be affected because that player stopped, slowed down, or otherwise ceased to continue playing because a call was made by another player. Players are encouraged to make every effort to continue playing until play actually stops.

verdict, doc was correct, ringers were wrong.

final tally, doc 3, other teams 0.  and that's why it pays to read your rule book.

can't wait to see you all tonight,
betsy
xxxooo

[Corey]

I have some corrections to make, actually, regarding rules...
betsy beijing wrote:

Regarding:

"> continuation call, vs. ringers:
>
> A player's ability to catch or make a play on the disc is not considered to
> be affected because that player stopped, slowed down, or otherwise ceased to
> continue playing because a call was made by another player. Players are
> encouraged to make every effort to continue playing until play actually
> stops.
>
> verdict, doc was correct, ringers were wrong."

That should read, "verdict, _Corey_ was correct, Ringer male who
stopped was wrong"

Second, regarding:

"> obstruction call, vs hk:
>
> If play is obstructed by competitors, coaches, spectators or objects within
> five meters of the playing field, any obstructed player or thrower in
> possession may call this violation. Play resumes at the stall count reached
> plus one, or 9 if over 8.
>
> verdict, doc was correct, lily was wrong."

Also, clearly incorrect. It should read "verdict, _Brady_ was right,
Hong Kong woman was wrong"

Sad to say that Sunday will be my final Beijing disc day. Anyone who
is interested in a night of complete drunken irresponsibility, Shen,
myself, Andrea will be going to Propaganda (a bar) in WuDaoKou on
Wednesday night, meeting there at 11. Hope to see some people there!

Corey

[Jennifer Brown]

dear betsy,

i'm glad that greg and zoe's bag of jelly bellys made you so happy,
but i'm a little confused--i thought you had lost a bet which
stipulated that you couldn't eat candy for a year. am i confusing you
with someone else in beijing ultimate?

happy sugar rush,
jenn brown

> sure. it's jennifer.w.br...@gmail.com .

[betsy beijing]

you are getting me confused with doc.  and i heard that there was an escape clause in his agreement.  if at any point in this calender year he was presented with the most ginormous bag of jelly bellies ever compiled, then he was to eat with impunity.

betsy
xxxooo