Back to ATTACK!

After a long hiatus, oldguy.com is back at it. Full sessions are happening. As we speak, the white proj is about to go down at seattle gym. Be ready for new posts and other fun stuff, if i stay psyched.

Game 1, mls season 3

i was happy with the game. happy with our new guys. happy with sigi's sub choices. more than anything i was happy with a new season and what it means to me. my wife and i can always count on a game. when we are busy and things are hectic, it is hard to make date nights count as most of you know. game nights are always guaranteed date nights. it is a given. thank you sounders for what you give to me and my wife.

sigi,please play erik friberg instead of brad evans. when zakuani looks like he is over it, which is usually about he 60th minute, sub him. lamar and miguel are more than anxious.
FO, please get us someone to replace keller for next season. he is done soon and terry boss, is great, but he is not a #1.
ozzie, take more shots. alvaro, be more consistent. O'brian white get in sync with the rest of offense.
GO Sounders!

ABS youth Nationals 2011

we just got back from the 2011 ABS nationals in boulder colorado. i love boulder. it is so fun to go to the hub of our industry and community and see all your friends. no where else will you get to see all the top pros but also have them so accessible to the kids. i loved seeing my kids running around trying to get autographs of the rock climbing royalty.

first let me say how proud of my team i am. they did a wonderful job and really displayed what i expect as fine young people. a few of them had a rough weekend but overall it was an ok result and we were happy with it.
let me say that this was a really spectacular event. everything from the venue to the routesetting to the judging and climbing. there was not really anything i found lame.

the venue was amazing. i cannot picture holding this event in a gym any more. the rented wharehouse provided great spectating and a terrific show. it allowed for the 22' tall walls to really display what these kids have been training for.
i also loved the off site warm up. we were able to warm our kids up any of the numerous gyms in boulder. it allowed us as coaches to work with the running clock and not have to worry about 15 kids at once. i feel that the tension of a standard warm up and iso situation was eliminated by this. our kids came out strong and confident with little to worry about except the routes.

the routesetting, wonderful. i really appreciate what these guys went through to make this happen. they seperated the categories equally and provided a great show. nothing is harder to do then set for children and these guys did a great job. a handful of years ago you would have never seen such dynamic climbing set for the little ones and this weekend they were flying all over the place.
one thing you will always hear at youth events is "REACHY!" people love to use this as an excuse for their kids and in turn, set their kids up to look for excuses in their lives instead of dealing with the problems at hand. my point is proven at every event. show me a reachy move and i will show you brooke raboutou or shawn raboutou. or even more so, ashima shiraishi. these kids are the very close to the shortest in the categories and they placed in the top and crushed all problems and stole the show. please dont ever use the word reachy when these kids work around their height and show the world what is possible.

this event showcased what is happening in our sport. the kids are getting stronger younger. they are getting way more fine tuned than you have ever seen. what is possible has been realized and what will come isnt even in our sites.
we as coaches are very fortunate to be working with these kids. i have been running this team for 10 seasons now and if you had asked me what was possible even a few years ago, i couldnt have even come close to telling you that you would have seen this level this past weekend.i cannot wait to see this in a few years. i have realized what we need to do and what changes need to be made. i cannot wait to implement this and try to stay in the top running. a third place over all finish is good, but after winning the championship the last 3 years it stings a little. time for a change.

thank you USAC and everyone involved. this has come so far and can only get better.

Verve

The Philosophy Of Verve from Carlo Traversi on Vimeo.

my first chalkbag was one of the first verve bags from the late 80's. black with neon green. i still have it at my moms. i had a few pairs of strange colored tight shorts and some classic verve stretchy pants. all pre '92.
i love seeing this and how christian has stood by what he believes in.

Sounders new edge looks promising.

Sean bailey one arm burl

always a milestone for the young boys. the one arm pull marks their breech into manhood.

Friendly fire

about 3 years ago my good friend and colleague Coach Kyle of Team Texas sent me a christmas card. it has sat on my fridge, and the new fridge, since i received it. if i ever question whether or not i want to do this anymore, i always refer back to this card.
what Coach Kyle has done with his program and for youth climbing in general is nothing but inspiring to me. i have always felt we would not be where we are today without him and his club.
with ABS nationals coming up a world of emotions come over me. i have never been able to not care, i have never been able to stand back and let it pass over me. Our team is ready, our team is excited and they should do well, but i always worry about the unexpected. sure we want to win or at least place well, but more importantly i love what these national events showcase about our team. what these national events showcase for all the top teams. it shows the country, coaches, climbers, parents, USAC, what our programs are about. how they behave, perform and most importantly ambassador for the good of our sport. I am super proud of who we have become and how we represent ourselves. if you really know us, you know why we do this. it is for the kids. it is for the sport. it is for the future of our youth and their lives after competitive climbing.
i am proud to say that our program is one of those ones that others look up to. one of the ones that others model theirs after. we couldnt do it without the support. and we never would have done it without Coach Kyle and his inspiration.
thanks buddy, we are coming for you.