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Hobbes and Destiny talk winter sports and Olympics


Destiny Skywalker
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Ugh that also sucks. Guess you need new skis anyway, then. I haven't made it up in 3 weeks. I think we are going to try to go days, there are only a few more weeks of night skiing and then the mountain is going to start shutting down at 5pm, so that will eliminate Fridays. Then after we get back from spring break, we might be lucky to see one more weekend. I'm going to try to go the first weekend of spring break since we don't leave until Monday. It feels like a short season this year.

I'll pass on the details. I read the article, I can guess at what happened.

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On 3/6/2023 at 4:06 PM, Destiny Skywalker said:

Ugh that also sucks. Guess you need new skis anyway, then. I haven't made it up in 3 weeks. I think we are going to try to go days, there are only a few more weeks of night skiing and then the mountain is going to start shutting down at 5pm, so that will eliminate Fridays. Then after we get back from spring break, we might be lucky to see one more weekend. I'm going to try to go the first weekend of spring break since we don't leave until Monday. It feels like a short season this year.

I'll pass on the details. I read the article, I can guess at what happened.

How is your leg?  How do you think you will fair in spring conditions if it gets slushy?  Ever since I looked up Snoqualmie a few weeks ago on TikTok, it is now a regular occurrence in my TikTok feed--so I am starting to be familiar with your hill :).   What are the conditions like now?  What are the night spring skiing conditions like there?

Now I am committed to buying now skis I can't stop reading up on them.

I think this is what I am going with.  

What is your opinion?  It doesn't hurt that it uses "dark matter material".  Of all of the carvers, this one is the least aesthitically appealing--but I will get over it. 

 

 

 

 

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Yeah the K2s are lame. I remember when they used to have awesome designs. I'm not sure the demos I was on had the dark matter tech. I do remember them being fairly stiff but light.

My leg is fine, has been for a good 2 weeks. Slushy is usually not too big of an issue, if anything I prefer it to ice or hard crust. Conditions have been amazing the last few weeks because it's actually been pretty cold and we even got some light lowland snow. We are weird and March is powder season out here, I swear its the best month of the season. So it was a pretty bad few weeks to miss out. I'm going to see if Q wants to go Friday or Sunday this weekend.

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20 hours ago, Destiny Skywalker said:

Well, Q and I are sitting in the ER. She basically did the same thing I did a few weeks ago. I need to bitch out the ski shop about their binding settings.

Well here is to a speedy recovery and spring groomers.

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I checked both of our binding settings. She is at a 3 and I am at a 6. My old bindings are set to 7. That's well within the parameters of where we should be. I don't want her falling our of her skis but this has me worried. I think I am going to take her rentals back to the shop and ask them if they can confirm that they are working as intended.

Honestly, this might end ski season for us. She has soccer tryouts in 5 weeks. I'm just not sure it's worth the risk.

She says it really hurts to put weight on it, but has full range of motion. Straightening is a bit stiff.

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16 hours ago, Destiny Skywalker said:

I checked both of our binding settings. She is at a 3 and I am at a 6. My old bindings are set to 7. That's well within the parameters of where we should be. I don't want her falling our of her skis but this has me worried. I think I am going to take her rentals back to the shop and ask them if they can confirm that they are working as intended.

Honestly, this might end ski season for us. She has soccer tryouts in 5 weeks. I'm just not sure it's worth the risk.

She says it really hurts to put weight on it, but has full range of motion. Straightening is a bit stiff.

I think a 3 is fine...if anything, if she is doing moguls at even a basic level I would even go up.  What do I know about moguls...guess my mogul run....

965986390_Screenshot2023-03-13at2_21.34PM(1).thumb.png.13c51c3d9668bd8a751beeaabaf8525c.png

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What I'm worried is the bindings may not be releasing even though they are set at the appropriate level. I think I must've come out of mine sideways since they were still locked down when I found them. She never came out. I guess I'm worried those shitty rentals we got this year are unsafe. I don't want her falling out of her skis.

I told her next year we are going to probably avoid moguls a bit and work on carving and getting forward in her skis.

That said, I've decided we are done this year. Between soccer tryouts and still 2 months of lacrosse yet, she needs to rest that knee and not risk it or she is going to be sidelined until summer or fall.

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On 3/13/2023 at 7:53 PM, Destiny Skywalker said:

What I'm worried is the bindings may not be releasing even though they are set at the appropriate level. I think I must've come out of mine sideways since they were still locked down when I found them. She never came out. I guess I'm worried those shitty rentals we got this year are unsafe. I don't want her falling out of her skis.

I told her next year we are going to probably avoid moguls a bit and work on carving and getting forward in her skis.

That said, I've decided we are done this year. Between soccer tryouts and still 2 months of lacrosse yet, she needs to rest that knee and not risk it or she is going to be sidelined until summer or fall.

How is she doing?  Can she walk on it?  I hope this experience doesn't make her too timid (causing her lean back).

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She's miserable and stayed home today. She has an orthopedics appointment this afternoon. Honestly I think part of it is being on crutches is pretty miserable, but its also just not getting better, which isn't a good sign.

I think she will be ok by next winter but probably avoiding moguls more next season. I think the real key here was moguls in tight spaces. She needs to be able to pick her turns or traverse a bit still on the moguls. I also ski over them and turn on the tops, I don't ski in the alleys. That's how I busted my LCL last month, I was trying to thread the alleys. Nope.

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Well, good news. We saw orthopedics today after a last minute cancel yesterday. He checked her x-rays, checked her growth plates and said all is good there. He didn't order a MRI but is pretty confident it's a strain based on pressing on her knee and making it flex. He wants her to wait until spring break to play lacrosse, and fitted her with a brace. Follow up when we get back from spring break, but he expects she will be fine then.

Ski season is over, though. So I will return her gear next week and pack up mine. At least I have fresh wax for storing mine this summer.

Did you ever get your skis?

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On 3/16/2023 at 2:47 PM, Destiny Skywalker said:

Well, good news. We saw orthopedics today after a last minute cancel yesterday. He checked her x-rays, checked her growth plates and said all is good there. He didn't order a MRI but is pretty confident it's a strain based on pressing on her knee and making it flex. He wants her to wait until spring break to play lacrosse, and fitted her with a brace. Follow up when we get back from spring break, but he expects she will be fine then.

Ski season is over, though. So I will return her gear next week and pack up mine. At least I have fresh wax for storing mine this summer.

Did you ever get your skis?

Well that is good--I sprained my knee REALLY bad a long time ago (I think it was around the time we met).  When I straitened it out for the x-ray, it might have been the most painful thing I have ever felt.  It took me a few weeks before I could walk could bend it.  It hurt even when i bent it slightly to take a shower, put on my pants, etc. 

Sorry about the ski season.  We are getting some great spring snow.  I did get my skis last Friday and took them up on Sunday.  They are super fast through turns.  In my old skis (all mountain), if I had to brake hard and turn, I would have to overcompensate and dig in with the wedge.  In my new ones, if I have to brake hard I can do it as part of the natural turn because I am up on the edges more.  In my ski tracker app, I am hitting the same top speed as my old skis, but I am maintaining a higher speed throughout the run. 

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Nice! I think I need to get some carvers but I will have to shop online. The local ski shops only want to carry all-mountain or fat powder skis. I can kind of get up on edge but it's so hard.

She's off crutches and now I'm thinking we may have over-rotated on how long she stays out of lacrosse, but she will be back after spring break so really she just misses this weekend's game(s).

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 3/20/2023 at 10:08 PM, Destiny Skywalker said:

Nice! I think I need to get some carvers but I will have to shop online. The local ski shops only want to carry all-mountain or fat powder skis. I can kind of get up on edge but it's so hard.

She's off crutches and now I'm thinking we may have over-rotated on how long she stays out of lacrosse, but she will be back after spring break so really she just misses this weekend's game(s).

So we are still getting snow...I am alone with the boys this weekend so I won't be able to make it up--I have another 2 weekends to work with.   Out little town made the Trip Advisor list for top up and coming towns--and the only ski town on the list--so that's kinda cool.  I saw San Juan Island is on it too!  You ever been there?

How is Lacrosse coming along?  Are you training for anything this spring?  I might play soccer this spring--goalies are at a premium here. 

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I have been to SOME of the San Juan Islands but not that particular island. Whidbey is the most easily accessible of the them, so I've been there a few times. My husband's uncle also has taken us crabbing in the strait and stopped off at Sucia Island, which is only accessible by private boat. I'd like to go to Orcas Island.

Q has not really gotten to play much lacrosse, we had her take it easy with her knee injury. Honestly I think we babied it too much, now, but man how devastating would it be to go back and twist your knee the very first day back after taking weeks off? We are heading out on spring break and the plan is full return to play after we get back. And the first soccer team tryout is a week after that. Eek. We have like 3 teams that we are interested in but this club is holding tryouts a full 2 weeks before everyone else. So we will have to accept or pass on a spot, at risk of her not making one of the other teams. Soccer is getting weird in that clubs are moving to a more travel heavy format. I fully expect next year we will be spending some weekends in Spokane or Portland for soccer. Currently it's usually no more than a 2 hour drive for a game, as opposed to 3-5 hours. I think it will be ok IF she likes the girls on her team. If she doesn't, it will not be fun.

She has an out of town lax tournament at the end of April, so that should be fun. The season goes until Memorial Day. They had so many girls this year that they had 2 teams, which is great but then the head coach took all the 6th graders except the new ones and put them on his team, and pretended to be fair by taking a few (good) 5th graders, so he really stacked his team. Q doesn't care, she is on a team with some friends so she is happy. I think the coach is kind of a jerk but if she's happy I am not going to complain, but I dont think he's doing the club any favors and will probably mean some girls don't return because losing repeatedly sucks. And to note, this is rec level, not select or anything serious. They're apparently planning on moving her from defense to midfield/attack, which is silly because the defense is kind of terrible. It is clear this decision was based upon size and not skill. She is the smallest or 2nd smallest girl on the team, but truthfully I don't think they've seen her play defense so they have no idea how much she actually uses that footwork she got from soccer to defend very effectively despite her size. My husband did point out, though, that putting her at mid takes advantage of her fitness and speed (she has much more endurance than many of the girls because of soccer). Lacrosse is a weird sport in that there is so much more standing around than soccer because there are only so many players allowed on each half of the field. So if she can defend AND help with the attack, that might be ideal. But she needs to work on her passing if she's going to do that. It will probably make her a more complete player, I'm just disappointed that it seems like they only looked at size. (Going to be the story of her life as an athlete, honestly.)

As for me, um, I don't know what I'm going to do. I'd like to start running again because the weather is getting better but my Ragnar team fell apart. Indoor soccer is Monday nights, which is the same as E's Cub Scout meetings but I think we might be finding a new pack. So I will probably see if I can play soccer again once we get that sorted out. My ball skills are a little rough and I am not as fit as I was pre-pandemic. I've switched to defense because that was where the team needed someone, but the new GK is kind of a bitch and complains about me clearing the ball to space instead of right to someone's feet (where it is honestly going to get picked off because our team doesn't know how to move to freaking space or run onto a ball). So if I can get fit again and my ball skills back, I'd like to move back to offense. I was one of our best strikers when I joined this team, which is funny because I'm an ACM at heart (but our captain plays that and never subs). This team is funny. I like them as people and they were super accepting when I joined, but they have a very small comfort zone and routines and don't leave it lol. And my style is very different than theirs, which is part of why I was so effective for them, because it threw the other teams off. But it does mean that I don't always mesh well with their style, so I'm not as helpful when I'm on a different wavelength.

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I know nothing about lacrosse--but it sounds like Q has a similar skill set to soccer.  I don't understand stacking the teams especially when there isn't an A and B division.  I started my career in education as a volunteer soccer coach and that happened to me...I was the B coach.  It is just so demoralizing for everyone to go out and get destroyed every weekend. 

The other pet peeve I have is so much traveling in youth clubs regardless of sports.  Your telling me that in a major city, you have to travel 2+ hours to find competitive teams?  This is why we will always be a second tier soccer power regardless of the resources we put into it--most of our population is blocked from playing because of the high financial cost of traveling and club fees PLUS the time commitment blocking so many working class families and single parents from have their kids play PLUS time traveling is time that could be spent playing. 

Anywho--I hear you on your soccer team situation--fit is everything.  You are out there to relax and have fun.  I agree, what the goalkeeper wants may be best in theory, but if whoever you are passing it to can't possess, that an easy breakaway for the other team.  Better to just send a 50/50 ball down the field.  A strong female player that can score is worth their weight in diamonds--I would just send it to you every goal kick it.  I don't know what crack they are smoking--if you are on defense, yeah you gotta be in step with everyone else to ensure everyone is marked...but for offensive play makers--do your thing!

For the first time in a long, long time I took a session off last fall.  Coed is so bad here, it is hard to find females so sometimes they were just finding people that never played.  I had a few offers from a few teams that knew I was looking (goalies are a premium here) and picked a men's comp team.  We all met up last night and they all seemed like good dudes.  At 43, I am the oldest on the team--my goal is to die either on the field or on a slope (of old age). 

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So, Seattle has an interesting soccer scene. There are like 5 power clubs in the area, and the best ones are at the south end of Seattle. These are clubs who have at least a B and maybe C team for the girls, and as many as D or F teams for the boys. The teams up further north are not as strong. Part of this is that people will actually drive 30-60 minutes to have their kids play for these D teams. I'm over here like ain't nobody got time for that, my kid is playing for the local club until she's the superstar (and truly, that's not the type of player she is, she's not cocky enough. She is a SOLID utility player, though, she can play every position except maybe center back). There's about 5 within driving distance that play at the select (summer-winter, no spring) or premier (year round) level. Some of the clubs have gotten sick of these power clubs' shit and moved from US Youth Soccer to US Club Soccer because some of the clubs wouldn't let them move up to the stronger leagues because they competed geographically. One of the clubs we are looking at is a direct competitor to her former club and just moved to US Club. I really hope she gets a spot on their A team, because I think it looks like a much better, grassroots based organization that focuses a ton on community service. It won't get her into the USWNT but she'll probably be more fulfilled. The other choice is the premier team for her former select club, and still part of the same racket WYS league. But she has 2 former teammates there. But they don't have a goalkeeper. Not a good position to be in.

I stopped playing coed. I got tired of 28-year olds throwing my 5'3" ass into the boards, as if I was some sort of threat.

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Wow--and we wonder why we suck at soccer as a country.  I will just leave this here.

Sorry--I know I keep ranting about this, but this is one of my triggers...and it isn't just soccer, but the whole win now mentality is so toxic to not just soccer, but our youth development as a whole...be it test scores or whatever.  Test scores, club winning percentage, etc is just one of many data points that should determine the success of an organization.  In the minor league baseball, even if you are throwing a perfect game they will pull you if you go over a pitch count.  In pro football, most people drafted do not come from elite teams. 

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I very much agree with that article, and your perspective on win now. We've had coaches say that they don't care about winning now but then... actually I would probably say the first coach knew he was playing the long game but the 2nd coach absolutely wanted to win now. I can tell she is personally very competitive, though, so I think it has to do with that. I don't see the point in filling a roster to only let the same starting players play and subs ride the pine at U13. If they're that bad, you shouldn't take them anyway. My HS coach could've taken 18 and he only took 14 for varsity because he felt the JV girls were such a significant drop in quality he didn't want to bother.

The first choice club tryout is next week. There are 48 girls trying out for 30-36 spots across 2 age groups. I'm so nervous for her.

Alpental is closing up shop a few weeks early because they are installing a new chair and everyone is crying about it.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Alright I know this is the ski thread, but the unicorn club turned out to not be a unicorn. Coach chose to poach lesser players from the rival club. Even our friends who know girls who got spots say Q got screwed. And now rival club can't even field a team. Once again, adults ruin youth soccer. So in a few weeks, we try again. On the bright side, we will probably get to play with friends again.

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17 hours ago, Destiny Skywalker said:

Alright I know this is the ski thread, but the unicorn club turned out to not be a unicorn. Coach chose to poach lesser players from the rival club. Even our friends who know girls who got spots say Q got screwed. And now rival club can't even field a team. Once again, adults ruin youth soccer. So in a few weeks, we try again. On the bright side, we will probably get to play with friends again.

I can't believe I am going to say this but I am happy that I think neither of my boys has any shown any real interest in youth sports beyond a rec level, and that is okay with me.  Youth sports have become a farce.

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14 hours ago, Destiny Skywalker said:

It's super gross. Lacrosse is getting there, too. Lots of cheating, stacking rec level teams. I think this is why she loves skiing. So much less stressful.

I agree--

We bought a truck and youth sports actually played a role in it.  I prefer my boys love to ski and all the outdoorsy mountain shit.  I am not going to fight it if they want to play club sports, but I am not going them to do it like so many people I know. 

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I kind of hoped she would be a 2-sport athlete (you know, like how some of us played multiple sports growing up), but I'm starting to think she's just going to get tired of the stress. Lacrosse has been a lot less fun this year. Part of it is the coach, but part of it is the girls are hitting middle school age and are just jerks to each other. There doesn't seem to be a team mentality anymore. I mean I never got along with everyone on every team, but my select soccer team played together for 5+ years (U14 to U19, but we were spread across about 3 years), we were pretty tight by the time I graduated. We could at least be civil to each other (until I ran into 2 of those bitches at a wedding 15 years later and they pretended not to know me, but really they were the only ones that shallow).

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17 hours ago, Destiny Skywalker said:

I kind of hoped she would be a 2-sport athlete (you know, like how some of us played multiple sports growing up), but I'm starting to think she's just going to get tired of the stress. Lacrosse has been a lot less fun this year. Part of it is the coach, but part of it is the girls are hitting middle school age and are just jerks to each other. There doesn't seem to be a team mentality anymore. I mean I never got along with everyone on every team, but my select soccer team played together for 5+ years (U14 to U19, but we were spread across about 3 years), we were pretty tight by the time I graduated. We could at least be civil to each other (until I ran into 2 of those bitches at a wedding 15 years later and they pretended not to know me, but really they were the only ones that shallow).

I only played soccer.  I sucked at everything else except baseball--but I hate the heat with a passion and baseball is WAY tooo hot.  I moved around a lot growing up, so I never played with a group growing up, but I am still close to many of my teammates in college. 

For what it's worth, girl drama between the ages 9-13 is without a doubt is my least favorite behavior to deal with (and I have handled drugs, weapons, a student pretending to shoot up the school with an air rifle).  What makes it so difficult is usually it is learned behavior from the parent.  Earlier this week I had to deal with parent A confronting and threatening parent B at the rec center.  Supposedly student A was bullying student B (it was the other way around). 

Whenever asked about my best stories, it is almost always parent behavior. 

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