mattie g

10 hours ago, mattie g said:

We just can’t know.

Hanging out in NVSL All Stars tent city…and it’s toasty.

4 hours ago, Terpeast said:

Looks like this morning’s mesos want to create another DC split today

But they were hitting us flush with nothing in Maryland yesterday.

We just can’t know.

Wow…absolutely screwed out of rain this evening. Pretty impressive, actually!

We go again tomorrow?

46 minutes ago, CAPE said:

Maybe today ends up the better day for more places. Yesterday was more talked up, but it didn't produce much in our region.

It's probably only based on how "surprise days" feel to us, but it does seem like we produce better when there's less expectation.

Kind of like corn dust.

38 minutes ago, CAPE said:

Some recent model runs, especially the 6z GFS, seem to be keying on a disturbance in the flow, potentially inducing an area of more widespread heavy showers for this evening.

 

I got over a half inch of rain the other day, but whiffed yesterday. I'd be happy with that little bullseye this afternoon/evening.

15 hours ago, vastateofmind said:

We are driving out to Grand Canyon the last two weeks of Aug into 1st week of Sep...taking 4-5 -ish days to go out, same to come back, and stay 2-3 days at at GC in between, with the idea of staying in a different town/state each night on the trip that we've never visited. My wife and I have flown over that part of the country countless times...but I want to SEE it FROM the ground for a change!

Two minor stops I'm looking forward to seeing -- Winslow, AZ (where, apparently, there's a statue/park dedicated to the famous line from the Eagles' song "Take It Easy") and Truth or Consequences, NM, to visit not just their apparently famous hot springs but also to have bragging rights that we've visited "Truth or Consequences, NM."   

Sound like an awesome trip!

Like you, I've flown over the GC plenty of times and would like to see it up close, but I don't see my wife wanting to hop in a car and make a road trip across the country...nor experience a huge (if cool) crack in the ground. Might have to make a quick trip out there on my own. 

15 hours ago, Stormpc said:

Doesn't matter it's all going to feel the same. Not much difference between 93 and 89. Enjoy your week. You picked a good one

Been there in July-August plenty of times and I *know* it'll be soupy no matter what, but a few degrees can make a difference. I'm just looking for a small silver lining in all the tropical clouds down there this time of year!

18 minutes ago, Eskimo Joe said:

I'll go on the record and say that if we didn't have clouds today, DCA and even IAD would probably have hit 100 degrees. 

If my aunt...

8 minutes ago, Stormpc said:

You better check that forecast again mattie. 90s all week

I'm honestly not seeing that. Maybe into the low 90s late in the week.

Which forecast is showing 90s all week?

I just went outside and it didn't really feel all that bad.

92/75...we've had far, far, far worse.

Heading to HHI next week. Temps are forecast to stay in the 80s, which really isn't all that bad, though getting out in the sun will bake you pretty quick. Lows will be in the upper 70s, which sucks, but that's pretty normal.

1 hour ago, AmericanWxFreak said:

Best activity is going to be up there in SEPA it seems. 

Last two years has been pretty active in PA. Family in SJ has also gotten smacked around pretty good this summer.

8 hours ago, nw baltimore wx said:

Definitely. I was only addressing @mattie g’s concern regarding the consistency of any one station reporting regularly.

I'd love to be an observer, but I fear I'm too lazy to stick with it.

Nearest CoCoRaHs to my location in Burke shows 0.6" for yesterday. That's a little higher than I thought it might be, but it does make sense since the cell blew up just enough to get us in north end of the reds as it passed.

Since they don't always report, I'm not sure how reliable those CoCoRaHs are for the month, but they all show about 4" of rain. I think that tracks pretty well with what I would have expected.

1 hour ago, 87storms said:

The rain shadow of Frederick continues to be a powerful force.  This pattern, for whatever reason, doesn't seem to be working too well for those on the lee side of the Blue Ridge (my guess is it's due to a lack of direct hits from these shortwaves rotating through).  On the bright side, I'm loving this weather.  I'm not interested in a NW flow in July...I want that mid-Atlantic swamp filth.  The only place I want desert-like weather is in the desert.

The storms fired well southeast of your area, so it's not as though some local feature caused you to miss out this morning. Just the luck of the draw!

17 hours ago, vastateofmind said:

Congrats. mattie! I've no doubt that your swimmers, as well as you and the rest of the parents deserve it.

And, oh yeah...Overlee...and "sportsmanship"...like, in the same sentence:

Thanks! I think once you create the culture, the expectations to act in a manner that can win you that award follow suit. Divisionals on Saturday was madness (though a blast) at our pool, and winning that award was the icing on the cake!

I was shocked to see one of the "big three" win the award, but I can only assume they did *something* that led to the other teams voting for them!

All my co-NVSL peeps know what this is about. Suffice to say that this is what we strive for every season, and we’re so proud to be on this list.

This makes it three years in a row for our team!

1 hour ago, H2O said:

I understand what you mean.  A team can get better thru good coaching and just being lucky when some new kids move into the area and help make the team better.  Thats when a team can start that rise up.  Sometimes a team being down low isn't always a sign they have been bad for years.  It could have been a sudden loss of one age group or people moving and so on.  We have gone from D17 to where we are now thru great coaching and just a good group of kids that listen and swim hard.  We have some kids that swim year round but a lot don't.  Mine don't.  What I've noticed is how many kids from D8 up DO swim year round.  Thats what happens with the rise up.  These teams and kids and parents are ALL about swimming.  I'll take wherever we get put but the NVSL should warn the pools we will face that we are a janky pool with janky facilities and one janky ass chief timer as well.  

 

A story i heard from my pool's coach that happened at this years all star relays.  For warm ups the rule is that kids dive in, swim down, get out, and walk around and repeat.  You aren't allowed to practice starts and all that.  They are just trying to let kids get in to warm up.  There was one D1 team that rhymes with Buckatoe that their kids started to work on starts and turns and all that.  Our coach saw it cause we were next to them and said to the coach they weren't allowed to do it.  Their coach's response?  "Oh I don't care.  We will do it the way we want."  The kids for that team were told not to do it.  Their response?  "Coach said we could so we will."  A formal protest was filed against them because of it.  I'm sure nothing happened.  But thats the shit that happens at all stars.  The D1s just act like they own the place because they have over half the kids swimming.  

I have a loud voice.  I have made it a point to go to all stars to root four our kids and make sure these parents and coaches HEAR the name of our pool.  Just so they know.  

100% agreed that the kids can improve via coaching. We're lucky to have the coaching staff we have, but we might have one more year with the head coach we have now because he'll be graduating from college in a couple years and has plans and an "in" to coach at at a certain higher-level club. We just need to have a succession plan to keep us rolling!

The vast majority of our kids come from the neighborhood our pool is in, but we're an open pool and can get families from anywhere. There's just never been an outreach program, but that's something we've started to do in the last two years and it's beginning to pay off. Honestly, though...I don't want to be massive, but I do want the coaches to be able to go into a meet with the ability to fill all the lanes and put together a somewhat competitive set of relays!

19 hours ago, H2O said:

I think I didn’t explain myself well enough. I don’t want my team to be bad. I’m really proud of the climb we’ve made since my kids joined. What I mean is that the teams and parents and pools were much nicer and fun at D10 and thereabouts. 

I would much rather have THOSE teams and families and kids with us. Being up high just carry more arrogance and attitude and lower Ds were much more fun. that fun attitude is what I miss and wish would be up where we are now. Not the snootiness from some teams and people who just make it less fun. 

That’s what I fear the most about being moved up. We want to be a fun team and try to be. Some of how competitive these top teams are is rubbing off on a few of our kids/parents  and I hate seeing it infect our culture despite the best efforts of our coaches and team reps

I totally get it - I think my post came across a little differently than I wanted to.

I agree with what you say completely. Where I was coming at it was from the vantage point of how part of being in a lower division is because your team isn't all that good, relative to the other teams in NVSL. When the team gets better, it moves up, and with that comes a little more pressure, a little more snootiness, etc., and while the prospect of seeing our team get better is really enticing, I (like you) would fear losing the truly fun aspect of summer swim. HOWEVER, if we somehow rocketed up the table (which isn't going to happen anyway), I would find it tough to accept that "I wish we weren't as good now" even if deep down inside I knew that to be true.

I know what I'm trying to say, but I don't think it's coming out right  

18 hours ago, vastateofmind said:

The "culture infection" can certainly be a concern. As I said, my younger son tended to qualify for all-star meets as he grew older...and I despised going to them, because of the arrogance, the cockiness, the outright unsportsmanlike conduct that (often, not always) reared its ugly head once you started competing with swimmers and their families from, say, the top 5 divisions in NVSL. Absolutely hated it.

Last year was my first at All Stars. Our team had four kids there, so we went to support them, and it was a pretty cool experience simply because it was the first one for me. I didn't really follow a lot of other races except for the heats our kids were in, but if we go back again this year I'll keep an eye open for it.

47 minutes ago, H2O said:

@mattie g I agree that with a record like ours it will be a hard sell NOT to get moved up.  So I expect it.  I get that if we are strong(which we can be at times) to stay could mean a lot of unfair meets next year given that some will be dropped down who might still be struggling.  But other good teams will move up so it could be a wash.  

For me its just that it really does feel that in these upper Ds its gone from people wanting to have fun and parents be social and jovial to the exact opposite.  So far in the D we've been in for two years I've seen a LOT of snooty parents and some really poor sportsmanship by some swimmers.  Older kids talking trash more, slapping the water if they lose, throwing stuff.  And the parents just seem to think that they are supposed to win because of who they are and how long they've been in the upper Ds.  

And that feeds back in to comments I made and the very kind words @vastateofmind said about our pool.  He's being very generous  hahaha.  We aren't a total dumpster fire pool  Our pool itself is nice and we have lovely shade for the deck and the hill to one side gives an awesome view.  But our bathhouse is old and small, the grounds itself aren't super great to look at and our parking lot is tiny.  Inevitably when we host meets, unless a team is familiar with us and accepts our warts some of the reactions we get from visitors are "oh, this is.....nice."  Or "wow, what an unusual pool.  Its old."  The comments only have gotten worse with each move up in the standings.  When we visit other pools in McLean and Chantilly and so on its like we are a Howard Johnsons and they are the Ritz Carltons.  It really is that stark a difference.  I'm a Miller Lite guy having to be around Stella Artois drinkers.  Thats what it feels like.  And if we beat them they get extra salty McSaltface.  

It just my cautionary tale of how everyone's goals might be to move up in the standings every year but I would be happy as a pig in doodie back down in D10.  

I think NVSL does a great job, in general, of putting teams in the right divisions. There are some bad choices (some teams have been absolutely mauled week-in and week-out this season), but overall they get it right.

I guess once you get high enough up in the league the prospect of moving can be something of a deterrent. It's easy for me to sit here and say I wouldn't want to be in a much higher division, but I think once that kind of momentum starts (see: certain teams who have rocketed up the league in the past few years) even I might find it hard to say "well...we used to be pretty bad but now that we're good I'd rather be bad again."

30 minutes ago, vastateofmind said:

I missed the kids departing at start of relays discussion up above....and I'm with you all. That's unacceptable. There were plenty of times when my guys did NOT make relays...but we made them stay to the end. Demonstrating good sportsmanship is as important on the deck and in the team area, as it is when you're in the water.

And, well...again, you guys get it. Too many parents don't. Summer swim should be developmental AND fun....I think that concept is completely lost in the top three divisions in NVSL, having been replaced by draw-blood, cutthroat levels of competition. Who the hell wants to compete in THAT kind of division???

Exactly. I was a pretty competitive athlete, and I couldn't imagine being in intense training and competition nearly year-round and then coming out for what's supposed to a fun summer and being that competitive over the course an incredibly intense 5-6 weeks. I'd want to do well, but man...I'd need a break!

We have a few kids who have made/make All Stars pretty regularly, but you would never know they were fairly accomplished swimmers based on how they conduct themselves. We're not perfect and we have our share of...difficult...kids and parents, but I like to think that we keep most of that from bubbling up.

23 hours ago, H2O said:

We won our last meet by a surprising margin. All week the numbers said it would be close. Like 5-10 points one way or the other. But they had a few kids missing for a big meet in stafford. By the start of breast we had a bigger lead than expected and it seemed like the other team just gave up. By relays half their team had left. Our coaches noticed it and commented after the meet. 

Our record and margin of victory will really make for a tough call if we stay where we are or get moved up. I REALLY don’t want to move up. We just aren’t a pool for that level of NVSL. Mainly due to how old our facility is. We just don’t have the niceties one would expect. 

Still a darn good season and we got payback against one team that drubbed us a couple years ago. Just divisionals left to go and then FREEDOM!!! Mel Gibson style 

Unreal that kids would up and leave by the time relays started. I mean...it sucks that they had kids missing to start, but you just have to suck it up and do your best. If you lose, then you lost knowing you gave it what you could...but to pack up and leave? Nah, not having it.

Looking at your record and total points, and I can't see you guys not moving up. The only thing that could be done is that your reps make known in the post-season seeding survey that the final meet didn't reflect the actual quality of both teams. They definitely take those surveys into account, but sometimes they're going to do what they want.

We host Divisionals this weekend, so we have a hell of a week coming up. I just don't know what I'm going to do with myself when it's all done!

19 hours ago, vastateofmind said:

that, in the 

You both give voice to the conundrum that most of us upper (or is it actually lower?) NVSL-affiliated pools face at this point in the season...we want to be competitive, but PLEASE don't move us too far up in the NVSL divisions!!!   

And @H2O is being far too modest. His pool, and the entire community of families that comprise their pool membership, have always been GREAT to work with, and to do swim meets with. It's a bit sad that he, or anyone from his pool, would ever be made to feel that their pool (and "pool" of officials/volunteers) would be somehow "less than" or not have the "niceties" when it comes to NVSL "standards" -- because I always loved when we went to his pool, and worked with their families. His pool is one of the BEST....both facilities-wise AND people-wise.

Unfortunately, those kinds of crap attitudes come from the pools comprising the top two divisions in NVSL...and I know that, because our neighborhood pool volunteers and officials (which hosted league-wide IM and Relay Carnival meets a decade or so ago) heard first-hand the nasty, vulgar and judgmental comments that came from those 10 or so pools that comprise the top two NVSL divisions. That's about the time when my attitudes on NVSL soured. But again, for you younger parents....I'm glad and hopeful that your experiences and community-building remain untinged from that kind of nastiness.   

You hit on something that we've been discussing a lot the last few weeks. A lot of parents, my co-Rep, and one coach really don't want to move up next year, especially since we only came up to D15 this season. At 3-2, tying for 2nd in Relay Carnival, having two pretty close meets against the other top teams in the division, and in running virtual meets against other teams in the few divisions above ours, I have a feeling we'll go up to D14. If it happens, I  personally think we should see it as a reward for the hard work the coaches and kids put in this season, and the way we age next year we should be even stronger than this season (and we are normally stronger in even years).

I absolutely understand teams not wanting to go up but, looking at it objectively, if you think you might be relatively strong, then it's not fair for the other teams you might be grouped with should you stay in the same division. If it goes well, then great! If not, then you go back down and try again!

The pools we swim against have generally been awesome. Even the team that came down from D11 this year (and got smacked this season) was a lot of fun! H2O and I have discussed this before, but I wouldn't want to be in a tier where we couldn't just have fun on an A Meet day and not worry about a protest or asshole pools or whatever. We want to grow and get better, but NOT at the expense of the culture we have now! 

14 hours ago, MN Transplant said:

This is where I again complain that we got 8” of snow near the Pentagon and it immediately started melting when the sun came up.  That one actually ends up on my dud list.

Now Feb 2014 had some rates in the overnight hours.  

I was in Fairlington for that one. Can confirm that melting ensued quickly.

19 hours ago, WxUSAF said:

^thats a great one. 6” of pure cold fluff

That we all willed north in the last 24 hours before first flakes...