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Hobbes and Destiny talk winter sports and Olympics


Destiny Skywalker
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The issues we had with the last select team was almost entirely girl behavior (and parent, by extension). While in some ways it was almost refreshing to not have the extremely hardcore parents, the inane banter about mani/pedis and the like I had to listen to on the sidelines made me want to gouge my eyes out. My husband started calling them Real Housewives of (Insert town name). The meanest girl on the team had a little sister who was an absolute terror, and everyone would say oh she's so cute, and I would watch and say that's a nightmare in the making. So when the girl grabbed Q by the neck during a practice because she was pissed that Q kept beating her in 1v1, I was entirely unsurprised but super pissed. These parents (and their daughters) were entirely focused on the image of playing select soccer, not development. That's how I know it's not a good fit for her; they just have completely different goals. I would be willing to consider her moving up to the next level team but I wouldn't accept a spot for her on this team again. There were a few girls who got it, but most did not.

I was an all-around good athlete but not the best at anything. I didn't start soccer until I was 12 (U13) but fell in love and developed quickly, partially because of my natural athletic ability but also because I put the work in. I often say I know how to train at higher levels, and I have the mindset to do it, but maybe didn't have enough skill to get there quick enough since I was a late bloomer. My mom was really sick when I was a kid so I didn't get to go play on organized sports teams, so I was kind of a late bloomer to everything. I played 3 seasons of softball and 1 season of basketball. Softball was kind of the cool sport in my town, but I quit because I had a coach who was super pissed that I missed a softball game for a single soccer game (I did the same once for soccer, soccer coach didn't care). I wasn't going to play at higher levels, I was just a decent center fielder who really wanted to play 3B but I was always on a team with a good 3B. I loved street basketball and was actually a really good dribbler but not that great at shooting (and also 5'3"). I played 1 season of organized basketball and absolutely hated it. I quit those sports at an appropriate time (going into HS) and focused on soccer. I started skiing and bowling at 6, and actually stuck with bowling through my senior year of college. I played half a season of JV tennis but quit because there was too much homework freshman year and it overlapped with select soccer season. I really think my relationship with sports was a really healthy one and I don't see that in today's environment. Kids used to be allowed to try stuff and not necessarily be good, but we also had parents willing to put in the volunteer time who weren't just in it to make sure their kid got all the playing time. And sure there was Daddy Ball even then (the snobby girls I mentioned earlier, their dad was the select coach the last 2 years because the younger one was so bad that she wouldn't have made the team otherwise), but I feel like it's gotten more toxic.

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19 hours ago, Destiny Skywalker said:

I really think my relationship with sports was a really healthy one and I don't see that in today's environment. Kids used to be allowed to try stuff and not necessarily be good, but we also had parents willing to put in the volunteer time who weren't just in it to make sure their kid got all the playing time.

I think this exists at the rec level, but once you move into the club level, it is all about winning.  Thinking about what you said, I really believe players would develop more if we flipped the model back to when we were coming through where rec leagues were the rule and club team were the exception versus now when the opposite is true.

Wow!  I am definitely not an all-around athlete.  I am slow, can't run for distance, 6 inch vertical, flat footed, and have terrible depth perception (I was the kid in the outfield where the ball went over my head), etc.  But somehow I have good reaction and coordination within a one yard radius and I have a strong feel/anticipation for how things are going to go--a like a spidey sense.  However, the more time I have to think about it the more likely I am to bungle it.  A hard, direct shot or one-on-one breakaway in soccer or a big, unexpected bump in a fast run in skiing is way easier for me than a lobbed shot 30 yards out or a mogul run. 

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I think you're right that the model needs flipped. But as you and I have said before, pay to play is all about money. It just kills me because select soccer was so fun when I was a kid, I played U14-U19. We started Q at U9 because it was clear she had an exceptional talent (she is sure as hell going to be better than I was). And I just found it to be weird. Even at U9, it was development is on your own time and coaches with A licenses trying to run 8-year old girls through drills that I wouldn't have run until middle school. First coach didn't care about winning, at least. But the parents did. I admittedly didn't like seeing my kid get stomped by some of the power clubs but I also didn't like when they would beat up on teams 9-0 the next year in the low division.

I've also noticed that there's a lot less creative play and more emphasis on 1v1. I had to talk to Q because she kept busting out stepovers at tryouts and they weren't fooling anyone. I told her that the fancy moves are for getting yourself out of trouble. If you aren't in trouble, pass or dribble, because a step over is only going to slow you down if you are at speed. The best players I played with growing up did not do the fancy shit. They were just fast and very good at the small touches and direction changes, and change in speed. They knew how to avoid people, they didn't take people on or dick with the ball unnecessarily.

Were you nearsighted by any chance? That might explain why your "range" is optimized at 1 meter and why you don't have good depth perception. I was far-sighted as a kid. Might explain why I could put the ball on a dime as a midfielder but hated tight 1v1 situations. (My depth perception is also not fabulous, but for some reason judging distance is easier for me.

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I drove by Snoqualmie at 4:30 PM Sunday. Season ended at 5 PM. Just a few people left on the mountain. It was also in the 50s there this weekend, so it was a pretty sloppy weekend. Most of the mountain has been closed for a few weeks, there was definite bare spots in some of the closed terrain.

Is Purg still open?

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On 4/27/2023 at 10:33 AM, Destiny Skywalker said:

I think you're right that the model needs flipped. But as you and I have said before, pay to play is all about money. It just kills me because select soccer was so fun when I was a kid, I played U14-U19. We started Q at U9 because it was clear she had an exceptional talent (she is sure as hell going to be better than I was). And I just found it to be weird. Even at U9, it was development is on your own time and coaches with A licenses trying to run 8-year old girls through drills that I wouldn't have run until middle school. First coach didn't care about winning, at least. But the parents did. I admittedly didn't like seeing my kid get stomped by some of the power clubs but I also didn't like when they would beat up on teams 9-0 the next year in the low division.

I've also noticed that there's a lot less creative play and more emphasis on 1v1. I had to talk to Q because she kept busting out stepovers at tryouts and they weren't fooling anyone. I told her that the fancy moves are for getting yourself out of trouble. If you aren't in trouble, pass or dribble, because a step over is only going to slow you down if you are at speed. The best players I played with growing up did not do the fancy shit. They were just fast and very good at the small touches and direction changes, and change in speed. They knew how to avoid people, they didn't take people on or dick with the ball unnecessarily.

Were you nearsighted by any chance? That might explain why your "range" is optimized at 1 meter and why you don't have good depth perception. I was far-sighted as a kid. Might explain why I could put the ball on a dime as a midfielder but hated tight 1v1 situations. (My depth perception is also not fabulous, but for some reason judging distance is easier for me.

I was watching a show on player development in baseball in the Dominican Republic and their entire system is rooted in teaching fundamentals and even things like general baseball strategy in youth development is not a high priority-because the belief is that undercuts the individual player development.  I really like the rec league here, they don't keep score until upper elementary and the kids actually love the game. 

I have terrible vision.  My contact prescription is -12.0 in both eyes.  I didn't have any issues passing--it is more about tracking when the ball is high in the air.   

On 5/2/2023 at 11:18 AM, Destiny Skywalker said:

I drove by Snoqualmie at 4:30 PM Sunday. Season ended at 5 PM. Just a few people left on the mountain. It was also in the 50s there this weekend, so it was a pretty sloppy weekend. Most of the mountain has been closed for a few weeks, there was definite bare spots in some of the closed terrain.

Is Purg still open?

Just got a text the other day they are staying open for another two weekends.  I went there a few weeks ago and it was pretty bad--so I am out.  Don't want to mess up my new skis.

I am playing men's league soccer.  We are the old guys team that beats everyone except the kids right out of college.  We have a D2 college in town so there are like 2-3 teams that have all the former college players on it. 

Anyways--here is a shot of our field (that's my son in the foreground).  Love the view on a gorgeous spring morning :)

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  • 2 months later...

I got this resume...should I hire him?

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Starting to get hyped!  Bought the kids rentals yesterday and the Ski Barn is 50% off all winter gear!  I bought a new HH ski jacket and a new lighter jacket for daily ware at the sale.  I need a new helmet, but all they have are black helmets in my size.  I would prefer a navy blue or gray one to match my new jacket. 

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On 7/29/2023 at 11:54 AM, Destiny Skywalker said:

Ugh, maybe I should stop by Play it Again and see if they will take an early deposit for rentals.

Yeah--at Ski Barn it is like 50% if you reserve the next season by the end of the current ski season and through July it is still 30% off and it is still $200 for the season per kid.  At what point do you just buy your own.  Used kid skis and boots are fairly cheap at the ski swap in the fall. 

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We actually started off buying used because I figured we would pass them onto E, but I don't think he's going to ski, or at least not until he's a lot older because his balance is just so bad. Last year was the first time we did season rentals and it was a great experience, but then this past season we went with our local ski shop because it was like half price and ended up with garbage gear. The reason I went to rentals because we couldn't find Q good boots in the used selection but there were plenty available in rental sizes. I ended up with better gear, for sure, but I also paid for the premium rentals because they tried to put her on pink skis and she said no lol. They had the boy version brand new still in plastic and agreed to set her up on them, so they were never used. I better get over there this week, or maybe I can just call tomorrow. But it was $189 for the premium and like $139 for regular rentals.

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  • 1 month later...
On 7/30/2023 at 6:40 PM, Destiny Skywalker said:

We actually started off buying used because I figured we would pass them onto E, but I don't think he's going to ski, or at least not until he's a lot older because his balance is just so bad. Last year was the first time we did season rentals and it was a great experience, but then this past season we went with our local ski shop because it was like half price and ended up with garbage gear. The reason I went to rentals because we couldn't find Q good boots in the used selection but there were plenty available in rental sizes. I ended up with better gear, for sure, but I also paid for the premium rentals because they tried to put her on pink skis and she said no lol. They had the boy version brand new still in plastic and agreed to set her up on them, so they were never used. I better get over there this week, or maybe I can just call tomorrow. But it was $189 for the premium and like $139 for regular rentals.

I just go with the basic model on rentals too.  But at nearly $200 yearly for each kid (w/o helmet), I think I can pick up a decent set up for the boys at the local ski swap. 

With mad dash that is Snow Burners (kids ski lessons) opening Tuesday and the mountains getting their first dusting this week, it is about that time.  Are you looking to upgrade any gear this season?

 

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Nah, don't think I'm upgrading anything this year. Q and I are skipping lessons this year and just having fun. I downgraded to Night ski passes (after 2pm) because I didn't feel like we used the day passes very often. This year she has no weekend soccer games from Christmas to end of February, so I want to get in a lot of Friday nights and Saturdays.

Thanks to you, though, I made a fitting appointment at Play it Again on opening day, Oct 1st. Q gonna have the good stuff. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Got Q's ski gear today. They gave us the same Rossignol Experience Pros she had 2 years ago that she loved so much lol. But this time I didn't get the premium package because now they're older. They did tell me that they use skis for multiple years but they replace bindings every year. That's good to know and will probably make me continue to shop there.

She's on 128s which I think are a touch short (she's 4'10 now). And we have the same boot size.

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  • 4 weeks later...
On 10/7/2023 at 9:37 PM, Destiny Skywalker said:

Got Q's ski gear today. They gave us the same Rossignol Experience Pros she had 2 years ago that she loved so much lol. But this time I didn't get the premium package because now they're older. They did tell me that they use skis for multiple years but they replace bindings every year. That's good to know and will probably make me continue to shop there.

She's on 128s which I think are a touch short (she's 4'10 now). And we have the same boot size.

I want to just start buying used skis for the boys and in a few years turn them into a ski chair.  128s...is she going to be in the park all day?  I haven't ever replaced bindings.  Is that something you are supposed to do?

I am getting this. You need one too. The only problem is the boys will both want one. 

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That is amazing!

Yeah they sound short. But he used her chin to measure.

I've never replaced bindings either. I don't think I put enough days on my skis each year to justify it. I appreciate that they do it for season rentals because I think they get abused and treated like crap because people don't own them. I don't do that, but I've had way too much stuff that I've lent out get returned as broken. We've talked about buying an RV and someone suggested renting it out to pay for itself, but I know it will get trashed that way.

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On 10/31/2023 at 8:15 AM, Destiny Skywalker said:

That is amazing!

Yeah they sound short. But he used her chin to measure.

I've never replaced bindings either. I don't think I put enough days on my skis each year to justify it. I appreciate that they do it for season rentals because I think they get abused and treated like crap because people don't own them. I don't do that, but I've had way too much stuff that I've lent out get returned as broken. We've talked about buying an RV and someone suggested renting it out to pay for itself, but I know it will get trashed that way.

That was me :)

The last pair of skies that were stolen last spring I had for 8 years and probably had about 200 days.  And especially when I got them, I was REALLY hard on them and never had any issues.  Hopefully they broke when the ***holes that took them used them for the first time. 

Purgatory began snow making last weekend and it opens on Nov 18th.  They usually just have 2 runs open and you have to take the lift down.  I will take my 13 year old all-mountain's up.  When does Snoqualmie open?

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 11/1/2023 at 2:21 PM, Destiny Skywalker said:

It definitely won't be until December. Although it'd been cold af lately (but no precipitation either), so I know Alpental got a dusting the other day but that's probably it.

We haven't had shit here either, but they have been blowing for some time.  I have heard that we are supposed to have  more snow than last winter due to El Nino and last year our HOA had to rent a backhoe to keep the street clear (the bluw house is me).  We had double the snow pack and our back country became a death trap.  Our HOA president died back country skiiing and he was an emergency back country rescue skier for the fire department.  This was after ONE storm...

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Anywho...now the boys are skiing, I am thinking about buying this.  Do you use any on mountain communication?  If so, do you have any recommendations.  I have never used it--but I almost died and got stuck on the side of a chute at Crested Butte a few years back and had no way to communicate to my buddy (I gave him my cell phone to take a video of me on a run). 

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Well, we got Q a Gizmo watch that has phone and GPS. I decided we are definitely at least doing some walkie talkies this year because we did get separated once last year and it was really upsetting for her, but we get good cell service so I think that will work. I can force her watch to pick up, so if she wasn't picking up (say her arm was trapped), I could change a setting real fast to force it to go through. My Garmin watch also tracks me going down with force (like a bad fall) and sends an emergency alert to my husband. I've activated it once by accident...

Do those sit in your helmet? I think in a real emergency, something voice activated would be key.

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On 11/10/2023 at 11:23 PM, Destiny Skywalker said:

Well, we got Q a Gizmo watch that has phone and GPS. I decided we are definitely at least doing some walkie talkies this year because we did get separated once last year and it was really upsetting for her, but we get good cell service so I think that will work. I can force her watch to pick up, so if she wasn't picking up (say her arm was trapped), I could change a setting real fast to force it to go through. My Garmin watch also tracks me going down with force (like a bad fall) and sends an emergency alert to my husband. I've activated it once by accident...

Do those sit in your helmet? I think in a real emergency, something voice activated would be key.

That is a good point about cell service--I never thought of that.  The back side of Purg has pretty hit and miss cell service.  Yeah, they are on the helmet and don't need cell service.  But the range is only half a mile--which is almost worthless unless you are skiing together.  I want something if we get separated.  They would also be $1000 for four. 

What do you think about these?

 

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On 11/14/2023 at 10:27 AM, Hobbes said:

That is a good point about cell service--I never thought of that.  The back side of Purg has pretty hit and miss cell service.  Yeah, they are on the helmet and don't need cell service.  But the range is only half a mile--which is almost worthless unless you are skiing together.  I want something if we get separated.  They would also be $1000 for four. 

What do you think about these?

 

I bought 4 of these instead.

this is like the saddest map ever...  I would go up, but the two person lift is old school with the bar in the middle and is like the slowest lift ever.  It is like a 10 minute lift so I would maybe do like 7-8 short runs if I go for two hours.  So MAYBE 10-15 minutes of skiing. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

With a massive snowstorm on Friday, top to bottom skiing opened up.  I broke out my old all mountain skis that hadn't been tuned in years and headed up.  Best part is that I finally got my CARV app working.  It is AMAZING!!!  It is like $100 for the hardware and $90 year subscription to the app if you buy a two year subscription.  I figure that is half a day with a personal coach and they couldn't pick up on the nuances the app can and chart my growth. 

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So at first I was a bit humbled that I only scored a 104 ski IQ, but I tell myself that this was opening day on bad skis and early season conditions.   I thought as a "parallel perfecter" that would be pretty high ( it gives you a ranking of everyone world wide using the app and I was like 1000 out of 1200), but the purpose of this app is to get people from good to great, not against the general population.

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There is a lot more to this app (like badges to earn, track your records, etc).  The biggest leverage point was I am not rocking on my feet through my turn --I usually lean forward too much.  So they give you tips and video demonstrations to watch on the lift to show you drills to work on your next run.  For example, one drill was to keep my balance centered the entire run or to keep my upper body straight and turn my skis 180 every turn (which KILLED my legs) the entire run.  It also hurts my ego a bit because I HATE getting passed and doing these drills not only makes me go WAY slower but also makes me look like a Jerry---I ate shit twice doing these drills. 

Glad you liked my sweet new R2D2 helmet.  Something I didn't think about is that I stand out and people remember me.  I am also not a huge talker on the lift (there are only so many times I can talk about the weather, conditions, or being a local) and two people asked about my helmet yesterday.  It is very clear I have earbuds in but people still try to get my attention.

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Oh I've done that upper body drill. You're right, it is freaking WORK.

I think we are in for a bad year up here. We've had like 2 weeks without rain. It's cold af (for Seattle) but no precipitation means not a lot of snow, either. 19" so far at the top of Alpental, 1" so far at the base of Summit West. Not good. May not have been a good season to buy passes.

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On 11/27/2023 at 7:49 PM, Destiny Skywalker said:

Oh I've done that upper body drill. You're right, it is freaking WORK.

I think we are in for a bad year up here. We've had like 2 weeks without rain. It's cold af (for Seattle) but no precipitation means not a lot of snow, either. 19" so far at the top of Alpental, 1" so far at the base of Summit West. Not good. May not have been a good season to buy passes.

I have never took a lesson or done drills.  My lesson has been pretty much been limited to "keep up!".  I didn't even learn to ski until I was 20, when I took it for college credit at a hill in Kansas City called snow creek where the conditions were either pure ice or slush. 

16 hours ago, Destiny Skywalker said:

Wow...what sucks the most about that you will probably still have early season conditions until Christmas. 

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The article say Dec 1, but how the f is it opening tomorrow?????  RIP skis.

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