Category: The Jam Report

Team Northwest had a huge success at Hempfest 2010 in Seattle on the waterfront! The weather was beautiful both days. We had a 40 ft by 40ft roped piece of grass near the main stage surrounded by spectators. We started with some mob-oping to get warmed up then as the crowds grew we changed to a 2 jammer teams. Each team played until they had 3 drops then the next team would come on and play till they had 3 drops. Then players rotated to different teams! Team Northwest really did our sport proud! Thank you to footbag Johnny, our newest jammer and ambassedor to the sport, J.B., the real Neil Toland, Ryan (got gitis)Young, Steve the Beast Hayes aka the crusty guru jammer that held us together, and Mike Galloupe, the event coordinator.

Great jam today – perfect wind from the nw. Jake, Lori, Lisa, Matt in attendance. Kenny Shults had a son turning 9 years old and had a date for laser tag! Highlight of this beautiful day was a set to a crow by Jake, set to a spinning crow by Matt, followed by a set to a pull and crow by Lisa to a quick hard set to Jake… who bumped it through a hoop by Matt by a solid crow by Lori – four crows in a row. Fabulous sunshine, 75 degrees, what a beautiful August day!

On a warmish late February night the Portland jam crew put on long sleeves and jam pants and headed out for a lighted basketball court jam directly after work. We broke out a nice rasta disc and sacrificed it to the court. The wind was terrible. The catches were few but the jam was fun. I hit maybe no good combos the whole night. I was struggling with the conditions while everyone else got hein in spite of the weird light and choppy wind. Everybody was bumping and running and making impeccable decisions on the fly. Jake hit a twisto set to a gitus pull and then everybody else had to try. We all missed the try but admitted it was pretty bad ass. It’s time to think about coming to Portland if you haven’t made the trip yet. Have you considered the Super Hein?

It was sunny and 59 F so Lori and I opted for an out door jam. We parked down town and walked over to Water Front Park. The wind was wild, shifting and puffing, but it didn’t slow us down. We hit multiple spins, sweet passes, and a hot catches. I pulled off a behind the back guide. Lori pulled off an indigenous catch from her own restricted set for move of the day. We turned a few heads and even got a couple guys to play catch with us to finish up our jam. Gotta love the Portland vibe!

Despite the cold, we had an itch. So, we piled into Dexter’s van and went to a square in old town. It was The Beast, Paul Kenny, Ryan Young, Matteo Gadoni, Spike (Matteo’s dog), and I. When we arrived Pavel was already shredding. The scene was intense. Large, square tiles with patches of ice, surround by buildings and tunnels. To our left, a railing shielded the road down below. We were freezing so we immediately started to jam…Ryan in shorts! The jam was hot. At one point Beast was on a brushing run with Pavel. He made a big catch and was so fired up that he threw the disc over the railing and into the road. Which Frisbee law is that? As the sun went down Jakub & Jakub showed up and added their vibe, with big gitis and bad attitudes. Lights came on and the building began to freeze. As we ran, we would inevitably approach an ice pile and someone would yell “ICE!” Then came, move of the day. Jakub hit a chest roll that sent him to the ice. There was a yell, and then a gitis. He nailed it with grace and hardly slipped at all. These guys must play in the ice all the time. Luckily for the foreigners we have a gym for the rest of the week. Jam on!

It’s 19F/7C out so we decided to have a little in door jam. Thanks to Mahoney for letting us use his dinning area. This clip shows some of the fun. Move of the day? I set counter UTL to Pavel on a steep angle. He stepped up and rolled it clock. It just grabbed his and and changed spin. YEEEEOwza.

It was a Friday night, work blues were in full effect, but the weekend was upon us. How better to melt away the work blues than to jam? So Matt, Lisa, and I headed over to the Multnomah Community Center (MAC) for a 2 hour shred fest. Usually we start with some quick catch, but this time we went from zero to hein in under 5 minutes each hitting indies and co-ops right out of the gate. Some memorable moments include Lisa’s multi skid/spin combo and Matt’s rolling on the ground catches. Also, we all tried this UTL set where the disc goes around the head and then back to onto the nail. It’s blind. And we all hit it at least once. However, I am giving myself move of the day for a leg over kick brush to a btb kick brush to a gitis.

Later in the jam, Lisa sat down and Matt and I went at it one on one. We kept trying to one up each other. I’d say Matt won handedly but I kept close. Then Lisa came back in and Matt sat down. She and I went for co-op flow, sending beautiful short, long, flat, and angled passes. Eventually she sat down and it was just me. I TOOK THEM BOTH DOWN. Now that’s how to win a jam.

This jam featured the return of Lisa Hunrichs from Brazil. Also this is the first time in few months that all four PDX jammers appeared to jam. Not surprisingly, it was like we never took a break. This jam was pin ball city, with quick one touch flicks, tips, brushes, and rolls that were only catchable by sheer instinctive reaction. The momentum would be going in one direction and then, BAM, the disc switches directions coming hard towards your ankle. Plant, twist, grab, gitis…or SCORE! I was scored upon at least twice.

Every so often we would indie out just to prove we could. Lori hit a right hand inside leg skid to an invert hold. Then she set it indigenous and then pulled and set to a spinning catch. Matt threw Lisa a spanker. She proceeded to hit two nice skids with a couple btb swoops and ended in a picture perfect phauld. From a long throw I pulled a gitis, then went to a walk-over skid set. I pulled it back under the leg and then rolled it to a bad attitude catch. However, move of the day goes to Matt. It’s difficult to pick one as he was on fire the entire time. He hit hein moves but kept a playful composure that had us ooooing, awing, and giggling all at once. Here’s an example. Disc comes in and he takes it in on a figure four hold. He then steps over and immediately skids the disc out onto a right hand invert hold. From there he hunched over and let the disc fall to the rim and rocked it in and out between his legs, all the while pivoting on one foot. Next thing you knew he’s set it up high. The then dropped down and rolled his body across the floor, stopping just in time to nab the disc under his leg and behind his head in one fluid motion. All I could do was shake my head in disbelief.

Just over a week has past now but Jam Camp spirit lives on. This jam report covers the jamming, and the competition on day 2. First, the competition. Students and teachers alike were ranked and then split into teams of four, each containing a pro, advanced, intermediate, and beginner. Teams had 1.5 hours to eat lunch and plan their routines. It was great fun for me to find out what my teammates had learned and then work that into our choreography. A few memorable moments from the competition; Raj hitting a nice brush, then two nice brush passes ending in my gitis, Hos, Lori, Brian, and Cade’s awesome juggling opening ending in nice catches by all, Tita filling in on the last team at the last minute and then shredding, and Ryan’s smooth counter under the leg passes.

As the competition wound down there was a buzz among the instructors. “That guy behind the tree. Is it? Could it be? It is! Krae van Sickle!!!” All of us became a little gaga and suddenly jam camp had to be over fast so we could jam with Krae. Z and I even got a little speed flow in with him before the closing ceremony.

The first jam was very official. We had a signed disc and at least 6 world champions playing with it. It was a bit of a publicity stunt. However the pressure was too much and the disc was too dry…not much happened. The group split up and Z grabbed a new disc. Then it was Z, Stork, Hos, Doug, and I. Things started heating up. Every time the disc went by Stork he would touch it ever so gently to change the attitude or to pass it back. This got us all fired up and we began hitting hoops, roll outs, and big catches.

Eventually we tired out and took a break. As I walked to my water I saw huge mob-op. Everyone was converging on Krae. I needed a piece of that so I took a swig and ran in. This jam was awesome. Krae was so graceful as he spun into an indigenous. Cindy Kruger hit a crow brush. Dave Lewis was again all over the field and hit combo after combo. Jason hit some nice tip back passes and catches. Lori also hit nice catches and was on most of the brushing runs, feeding everyone for huge catches. I am probably only remembering half the people in the jam…it was epic! At one point Krae had to step out to…get this…put on some nails!

That jam stayed together for a while but eventually people began peeling off to cool down and Krae was no exception. However, some of us kept on jamming. At some point I looked over from the jam and spotted someone playing catch with Krae. He was spinning into under the leg catches like a dancer, leg over his head and toes pointed. Whoa, who was that!? I looked closer and it was Raj! How’d he learn to do that!?

What an epic end to a wonderful day. Oh, I almost forgot, move of the day. That goes to Luke. See, earlier in the day Dave Lewis gave us all a talk on connectivity. Luke took that to heart. During the competition he kept getting counter throws…he’s a clock jammer. So as soon as he got a clock throw he took advantage. He took the disc directly off the throw on an under the leg reception, set it directly out and then did an arvand pull. He then immediately set it up into a behind the head catch. It had flow, style, grace, and was fully connected…no reception the’s. OOoooos and Aaaaaas were heard throughout the crowd.

So, there you have it. Jam Camp is a huge success as measured by the quality of the competition and the jams.