Keeping it in the Family

For the last few years it has been pretty obvious to me that there are numerous families in this sport. Based on the number of responses I got from my initial sibling inquiry, I already know that whatever I write here will be lacking in full brother/sister representation. I want to cover all the families in ultimate, from A to Zipperstein but I cannot and have decided to narrow it down to three sets of siblings that I think tell three interesting yet very different stories. These families are the Valdivia's, the Titcombs, and the Ambler's and I think each story is more fascinating and inspiring than the next.

Hector and Rodrigo Valdivia

First I wanted to write about the Valdivia's. These two brothers are one of the most spirited and committed sets of ultimate players I have come across. The older of the two, Hector, has mainly been a defensive threat and D-line handler for both Wisconsin and Johnny Bravo. He has consistently been a composed player that has not only generated turns on defense but also has been responsible for anchoring his teams' D-line offense.

In contrast, Rodrigo has had a very different sort of contribution to his ultimate teams. According to Hector, Rigo's role has been "team heart always. The spirit of the team. Workout coordinator for Wisco and Bravo, developed the core of the Hodags' current athletic program and drive". Considering that Wisconsin is arguably the most conditioned team in the country, that is saying a lot.

The two are part of the Valdivia family who immigrated from Mexico City (where both were born) to Wisconsin. The entire family is made up of ultimate enthusiasts who have routinely "played summer league in Madison with father and sis - and won the whole thing." Hector started out playing ultimate for the Hodags as a freshman in 2000. Rodrigo would follow 2 years later and when I asked Hector what influence he had on Rodrigo's choice to play he told me, "my desire to have 7 players at practice influenced it, his desire to do everything I did cemented it". As the two grew as players so did Hodag ultimate. They made the finals at nationals in 2002 (Hector's junior and Rodrigo's freshman years) only to fall to the epic Stanford 2002 team. The following year would be all Wisconsin and the two brother's would take part in a truly unifying family experience. I asked them what moment represented the core of their brotherhood connection in ultimate and Hector told me:

Semis and finals in Austin natties '03, watching [Rodrigo] make play after play over JV, Wiggins, etc. I couldn't get enough of watching him come into his own as a rockstar.

After graduating from Wisconsin, Hector made the first of many Hodag migrations to Boulder. Rodrigo would play 3 seasons without his older brother in Madison but he would follow his brother to Colorado. Once they were united again, Hector's role as "role model, advisor, training partner, and strategist" would continue and considering that both are hard core flatballers, they "are in each other's lives fully." Rodrigo told me that his decision to move to Boulder was influenced by his brother because he "invited me to be a part of Bravo, pressured me to leave and be away from parents and to make my own mark on the world." I think this is a fantastic set of circumstances. You have one brother guiding another to make good life choices, with ultimate as a backdrop. I suppose this transition is infinitely easier when you are getting your brother to saddle up with as good a program as Johnny Bravo.

However, like what happened in 2003, these two brothers must once again part ways. After several years in Colorado, Hector has decided to quit his teaching job and move back to Wisconsin for school. While it may be difficult to say goodbye to his older brother, Rodrigo will now have a chance to continue his own development apart from his blood. He told me:

We will miss him but [I] plan on making my stamp in the city outside of his influence, we work well together because we're so different, we complement styles. I am going to to have to make it on my own, as he did for the last 4 years.

As a little brother, I can say that the influence and guidance offered by an older sibling is extremely invaluable. However, without the freedom to utilize those lessons, a continued state of adolescences ensues. I am sure that Hector's departure is hard on Rodrigo but it will also give him the chance to develop on his own. What better way to use the lessons that big bro has offered? In this light it seems that Hector's departure is bittersweet and I am sure they will both become stronger in each other's absence. Lastly, I will say that I think these two have it made because in 3 years of playing together (2 college, 1 club), they made the finals 3 times and won it all in 2003. When I asked Rodrigo about this he simply said "No beating that. We love each other till the end."

The Titcombs

This 5-some of ultimate enthusiast has really set the bar for not only playing ultimate but also for business ventures in our sport. They are the folks behind 5 Ultimate, and despite their incredibly unique names, have offered a product that has been endorsed by the best in the game.

In researching my familes of interest, I realized that something along these lines had already been done with the Titcombs. Rather than get redundant, I thought I would take this opportunity to recognize a fellow ultimate media entity, The Ultiverse. Josh has been doing a great job offering a product very similar to mine but in a different way. He did more or less the same thing that I would have done and rather than write about it here, I thought I would just promote his interview with the Titcomb family. Great work Josh.

I do want to say that I was really impressed with their TiV party. I hear great things of how they dodged some difficult legal bullets. I am not sure what I can/should say here, but I will say that if what I heard is true and I think it is, I am extremely impressed and my hats off to some crafty disc players.

Gwen and Tenise Ambler

The last pair of family flatballers are the reason I had this "siblings in ultimate" article idea in the first place. One of them happens to be a good friend of mine and the other has been a huge inspiration to me and is a staple in the development of fans in this sport.

Gwen is the older of these two sisters and went to Stanford for undergrad back in 1999. As a former soccer and basketball player in High School, Gwen searched for athletics in college and lucky for her, Stanford Superfly had just come off their 3rd National Championship in a row. As a taller player she quickly developed into a deep threat but she worked on her throws, especially with her little sister Tenise, in the Winter and over break. She made the finals at college nationals 3 of the 4 years she was at Stanford, winning it all her senior year (2003). Soon after playing college ultimate she decided to play with the local club team, San Francisco Fury, in 2001. In her 8 years with Fury she has played almost every position from deep cutter to D-line handler and has won 3 national titles, including last year, earning Fury a bid to World's in Vancouver.

Gwen encouraged Tenise to play ultimate, at first by making her throw during breaks. However, the main drive appeared to be when Tensie "recognized that I was having more fun playing ultimate in college than I had playing either [basketball or soccer] in high school", two sports that they both played in their teens. Like her big sis, Tenise decided on an ultimate powerhouse for undergrad and attended UCSD. Her ultimate career was accelerated quickly with a national title her freshman year (2002) and repeat appearances at nationals in 2003 and 2004. She has also been very active in the Women's club scene playing for Boulder's Rare Air and San Diego Safari. Her primary role has been D-line handler which combines her speed as well as her disc skills and exceptional throws. Despite the fact they have always played on different teams, sharing ultimate has been been a great experience for the two for many reasons, one being that it is a "perfect way to see each other on a regular basis while we live in different cities".

The main reason why I have been interested in this family is because of a single game that these sisters played against one another in the Spring of 2002. Unlike the Valdivia's, Gwen and Tenise have always played high level ultimate on different teams and never was this difference more prominent than the Women's College Finals 6 years ago. Gwen came into this game the experienced junior. She had played in the finals the previous year in Boston but had lost to Georgia's HoDawgs. Tenise was the big eyed freshman who was playing in her first college nationals. Rather than heighten the emotion in this tumultuous experience by lining up on one another, they made a pact:

We made an agreement not to guard each other that year. We figured there was no need to add that extra competition to our teams' rivalries. That pact has actually persisted for the most part through our entire ultimate careers.

Expectations were high for Stanford who had upset Colorado in a come-from-behind 17-15 win in semis. The finals would start off exciting with UCSD up a single point 8-7 at half. However, the second half was all UCSD and they rattled off 8 straight points and won 15-7. I find this game to be incredibly interesting because the "young and dumb" (no offense) freshman little sis came into big sis' world and took the golden disc. Tenise tells me that the entire situation was more overwhelming than anything else and she only realized how epic the situation after it had come and gone. "It was my first year playing ultimate, we were in the finals, I was playing against my sister. It was just a lot for an 18 year old to grasp." In contrast, Gwen told me that:

Our dad was there watching and he kept saying how it was "win-win" for him during the finals. However, in some ways having her win made it harder for me because I felt like she was able to just fall-into a medal that I had been working so hard to get but hadn't.

Gwen would have her chance and won Nationals the following year. She has also dominated in the club scene but she is incredibly proud of her sister. She tells me that her proudest moment came when she saw her sister earn and win her team's MVP in Sarasota back in 2006. Despite going head-to-head for most of their careers, they have only suited up with each other once. However, as far as a more permanent playing situation, this is what Gwen had to say about it:

I keep trying to convince Tenise to move up north so that we can play together, but she always responds that I should move to San Diego instead where the weather’s better. I would love to play together more, but so far the only chance we’ve had was at club Trouble in Vegas in 2006. Miranda Roth and I put a women’s team together for the tournament of a bunch of players that we had played against in college and wanted the chance to play with for a change. Of course, Tenise was my number one pick. That was a lot of fun, so I’m hoping we get to repeat it more often in the future.

Closing Thoughts

My brother and I have had a mixed relationship over the last 20 years or so. We used to hate each other and now we get along great. Sports has always been a unifying force in our lives and his influence is one of many reasons why I have chosen to play and write about ultimate. I don't need to encourage anyone out there to get their little brother or sister to start throwing a disc around but I can say that those that share a sibling bond in ultimate are extremely privileged. While I may not have an actual sibling that plays, my cousin Alex has more or less been a little brother to me his whole life. His decision to play ultimate has meant a great deal to me and one of my proudest moments was seeing him come out to Wildwood to play for my team. Nothing made me happier than to see him dominate on the field and at the party. My teammates were skeptical about having a newcomer on the team but after the first day they were all as happy to see him there as I was. After winning our division my team captain, Jake, gave Alex the team trophy and that was an emotional experience I still cannot put into words. We now share many friends in the ultimate community and I always love talking about him with those mutual friends that I come across. Nothing has meant more to me than to play with him and I look forward to more of those experiences. I love you Al and it has been a great honor to cleat up with you.

just my thoughts

match diesel

UCPC thoughts

So I managed to make it up to Boston for this UCPC thing and I am really glad I did. It is more or less a convention of frisbee nerds talking about how to make all aspects of the game better. At first i was hesitant to go (I have no idea why, I think I am one of the biggest ultimate geeks) but I am really glad I made the trek from the Have.

Opening/Keynote Speaker

My first real experience at this conference was when George Cooke came up and introduced himself to me. I was very surprised mainly because he is much less intimidating in real life then his blog picture would have you believe. It was nice to chat with him and I will say that he (and Tiina) ran a great conference. We as ultimate players are in their debt.

Next came the keynote speech by Dr. Alan Goldberg. First, this guy was really entertaining to watch. I think he is about as close to a John Wooden as I am ever going to see in the flesh. This guy was a true competitor's competitor. He started with a story about getting his ass handed to him by some punk in tennis when he was a kid. Then he talked about how he trained for months and months (12 hours a day) and a year later, he still got his ass kicked. However, after much more training and hardship, he managed to take it to this little shit and tore him a new one. I loved it, great story (I am not doing it justice). In any event, the main message that I got from his speech was that being a champion is about suffering and failure. It is about getting out of your comfort zone and putting yourself through hell. Being complacent is death and the only way to truly dominate is to suffer, both physically, with endless training, and mentally, with failure and defeat. However, if you truly learn from your trials and tribulations and really put in the hours, you can succeed (wow, saturday morning special alert).

Another important lesson that I got from Dr. Goldberg was that it is really important to have goals and "why's" when you are training and preparing for competition. You can't have somebody tell you why you are working hard, it has to be your own personal reason (regardless of what it is), because that is the only thing that will motivate you through the pain and soreness. In addition, he also said that once game day comes, forget your goals, forget your "why's" and just play. "Leave emotion at the door" to quote Ocean's 11, and just execute. Forget about opponents and results, and more or less attempt to be a machine in motion. In only that manner can you really avoid letting pressure get to you and choking. Great work, I loved his over head projector too, who needs Powerpoint?

Mingle Session #1

The next thing up was the vendor display which included several booths from teams and companies. Also among the crowd were some of the biggest names in ultimate including Rob (ultivillage), Gwen Ambler, Kyle Weisbrod, Miranda Roth, Al de Frondeville, Sam Rosenthal, Seigs, yada yada yada. I was a bit star struck and had trouble breaking into the mingle session (at least this one). Sorry folks, I am a bitch. What made matters worse was after this pathetic social display, I felt like I was back in 7th grade and I went wandering through the halls to find my chosen seminar hanging my head. However, as I rushed through the halls, I passed a gentleman carrying a laptop, who stopped and said "Match?". Yeah, it was Ben Wiggins and I about fell over. I must have looked like such a tool. I suppose I don't like to be surprised because I like to give things a lot of thought before I do them. When I am caught off guard I don't have a chance to let things pass through the ol filter and I look like an idiot. But, I would collect myself and rally later in the day.

Seminar #1 - Speed, Agility, and Quickness (Michael Baccarini)

I never played any sports in high school so I am not in the know when it comes to complex bio-mechanics and training methods. I was curious to know what information was out there and, wow, is this guy knowledgeable. First off, I want to say that I won't be able to do his talk justice but I am going to buy his (and Tiina's) book. The main message that I got from his talk that I will articulate here, is that you really need to train in a manner that is fitting for ultimate. Because I never played in HS sports, I don't really know how to train. I would just run a lot and Michael said that just logging miles really won't help much. It is good for overall fitness, but it won't improve your game. This makes total sense considering that endurance running and ultimate running are completely different. Needless to say, this guy knows his shit and I think his book will really help me out.

Seminar #2 - Preparing for Ultimate (Gwen Ambler)

This was a great talk by Gwen that was filmed by Rob. It basically discusses how her team, San Francisco Fury, prepared for their 2007 season (where they won nationals). At first I was a bit skeptical about getting anything out of this talk. She plays for a world class team that has world class talent and world class goals. I play for a cute little club team that no one cares about. However, the lessons are still there and she was very helpful. The main message that I gathered from it was that you can't over prepare. Team politics, goals for the season, weather, everything can/should be approached objectively before/during the season. Another big lesson is that only a small subset of the team needs to be involved. Not every player needs to know the details of "THE PLAN" but they need to know that there is "A PLAN" and their responsibility is to execute it. Another thing that made this talk interesting was that in her strategic analysis she talked about how Stanford handled Miranda Roth (UW) in the finals after getting worked by her in pool play back in 2005. What was really funny was that Miranda was in the audience, I loved it. In any event, i finally mustered the nuts to introduce myself to Gwen after her talk and she was very nice. God I am such a wuss.

Lunch/Mingle Session #2

We had lunch in the cafeteria, it had been awhile since I had been in one of those. I didn't remember what I had registered to eat so I just had pizza, sorry if I took someone else's food. This is also when I sacked up and told myself "get your fat read headed ass out there and talk to people". So I started with Rob. I feel like he sees the game very similar to the way I do. We are both avid disc fans but not exactly elite level players. However, we want the game to be followed and viewed just like baseball or football. You could say I sort of look up to him. In any event, if you ever get the chance to see Rob in person, don't hesitate to talk to him, he is such a nice guy and is very willing to talk to anyone. So I introduced myself and we talked for awhile. I had so many questions and he was very genuine. I talk a lot about ultivillage here and I was curious to know if he was OK with that. To my surprise, the main message he had for me was that he just wants to have people discuss his footage. Good, bad, ambivalent, he just wants people to know it and I think that makes sense. It is his livelihood and if people are talking about it, that means they watch it and hopefully that means Rob gets some sort of financial benefit (which he could use now that he is a daddy).

Another name that I wanted to talk to was Kyle Weisbrod. He is more or less the Juniors aficionado considering he was the Youth Director for the UPA. I really feel like I don't know enough about Juniors and have really not given the demographic enough attention. However, after playing with some Juniors kids, I can say that they are definitely the future. In any event, I managed to talk to Kyle. He was very nice and I found myself talking more about ultimate than I had initially expected. One thing I underestimated at this conference was how much people just want to talk disc. I love to talk ultimate but few people around me really have any input because being an ultimate fan takes so much work. However, at UCPC, I felt like a Greek mathematician hanging out with the Pythagoreans. We talked a bit too much and missed the first 15 minutes of my next seminar.

Seminar #3 - Business in Ultimate: A panel discussion (Ultivillage, VC Ultimate, Breakmark, NUTC)

This was probably my favorite meeting because it was one that I think I had the most to contribute. The format was basically 4 reps, 1 from each company (Rob, Victoria(?), Matt, and Tiina) that answered a series of questions and then the small audience would ask more questions and we would talk. I was late so I missed most of the initial questions but Rob did say something that I wanted to mention here. He said that the way to make it as a business in ultimate is to create something that you and only you can offer. Something that you love, some thing that you know, something that you are driven to do, and something no one else is doing. He said that he was never a video kinda guy, just a business person, and he never dreamed he would start a company like Ultivillage. This struck a chord with me because, like Rob, I never thought I would be a writer. I just love to talk about ultimate and now I have aspirations to carry this lame blog thing to another level. So for people out there, it should not be about money, but more or less doing what you love and offering a premium product. With companies like CSTV, Nike, Addias, etc.. we flat ballers cannot offer the least expensive product because we don't have the infrastructure to produce mass/cheap quantities. But what we still have a competitive advantage because we know and love the game. Bill Mill is doing this exact thing with Force Middle and I think like most of these vendors, he has a great idea in front of him that the ultimate community could use.

Another thing that was discussed here was the idea of fans, which is where I came in. A lot of these vendors have enough trouble getting teams to buy their stuff but the true future is to market these items to fans. However, most ultimate players don't know how to be fans because there is such a lack of information. This is exactly why I write this stuff. I want to offer an ESPN feel to ultimate so that people can follow their favorite players and teams, just as they would Tom Brady and the Patriots.

Lastly, I introduced myself to Tiina and she told me that she reads my dribble. That was very flattering, especially when she said that sometimes she is upset with what I write, HA...even better. But my main question for her was the role her college index plays in her kids choosing what colleges to go to. Apparently it is a very big part and she encourages all schools to really keep their information updated on this directory. I also got the chance to meet Andrew Hollingworth, a Juniors team USA standout and captain of Tufts. A great kid who volunteered for this conference who I hope to work with to discuss juniors ultimate in the future.

Seminar #4 - Defense: Getting Goals from your D line (Ben Wiggins)

I went to this talk mainly because I wanted to see what Ben had to say. I am not a big fan of O/D lines, mainly because I play offense and I do not play at a level that I feel requires set O and D teams. In any event, Ben gave a very interesting talk concerning how to generate scores once a turn is generated. One of the more interesting things about this talk was that a few Boston Ultimate players were in the crowd, I suppose they want a peak at their competition. In any event, the main message that I got from this talk was that when it comes to scoring goals, especially with a D line, a goal is a goal and that is all that matters. D-line offense is exactly that, D-line offense, not O-line offense. It doesn't have to look pretty, it doesn't have to be organized, it doesn't have to be planned or crisp, you just have to score goals. This was a powerful message because I feel like the main folly of D-lines is that they try and run their team's offense once they get a block. This is pretty impossible though, especially if these players don't practice their team offense all that much. If the best players to run the offense are not on the field, how can you expect to run a fluid offense? What you can do is take advantage of certain situations quickly (key word being quickly) and get the score unconventionally. He emphasized high release breaks, hammers, quick goal line toss/scores, NOT going through on a turn, but utilizing the momentum shift, etc... All in all, it was a nice seminar and I got to talk to Ben a little bit. Hopefully we can share some party stories next month in Hawaii beause I have my fair share and I am sure he has his.

Back to Lab/Chipotle

I had to go to work and I wanted to hit the Chipotle in Medford, so I didn't stay for the last talk. I felt bad for missing the UPA discussion but I figured I would be able to get the information on RSD or somewhere soon enough. Plus I got to dine on a steak burrito which I don't get anymore now that I am stuck in New Haven. It was beautiful. Work was work, then I crashed hard and slept through my older brother's drunk dial. He left a good message though.

Closing thoughts

I really had a great time at this conference mainly because I was surrounded by people that love ultimate as much as I do. I have always been very self conscience about my interest in ultimate mainly because it goes way beyond most people/players. This conference however was like my Shangri La. If you ever get the chance to go to one of these things, really utilize it. The experience is so invaluable and you really never know what you can get out of it unless you try. I should have gone last year, but it wasn't my time. I am so glad I went yesterday and I really think most ultimate players would enjoy it. Also, Rob's footage of the talks will be available on his website. Check me out while I stutter through my question that I asked Gwen Ambler in her talk.

Just my thoughts

match diesel

Ultimate: Cast and Crew

A few weeks ago I had a discussion with my cousin Alex about who the face of ultimate was now. He had his opinions and I had mine and in response to this discussion i thought a lot about what it means to represent this sport and who out there are perfect examples. I wanted to put together a list of people, I think, are absolutely invalubale to this sport, not just because of their physical ability/presence, but what they bring to the game in their own personal way. On my list you are not going to see Nord, Chase, or Beau but, people that bring intangibles to the game which cannot be articulated in a picture or a game synopsis. They can however be seen with years of observation and appreciation for what they have done both on and off the field for the sport. I also wanted to put together a list of people that should be well known throughout the ultimate community and offer a forum for people to pick up some names they didn't already know and potentially offer other names I am leaving out because I am by no means the ultimate authority and I am sure there are many people I am leaving out.

Andrew Lugsdin - Now this is a person who I think really represents the best of ultimate. First off, the guy has won 9 canadian national titles, 3 UPA club championships and 2 world titles. Ok great. He is also a great sportsman on the field not to mention one of the nicest guys I have ever met (totally didn't kill me when I pantsed him). But what makes him such a valuable part of the game is the fact that he is so successful off the field. I don't know how many folks know this, but the guy is a venture capitalist and has been the president of several tech consuting firms and is/was on the board of 6 tech companies in Canada. He graduated from McGill with a double degree in Physics and Computer Science. Now, for me, this is an example of an ultimate player that has not only been dominant on the field for 10 years but also is an extremely successful man outside the sport. I can think of several players that are spectacular on the field but peripheral to that, ehh, not too many highlights. However, Lugsdin is an example of someone that can acheive great things while still being apart of the sport and that is a goal that I think most ultimate players should go for (I know I am).

Gwen Ambler - This is a person that every woman ultimate player should know. I have never come across someone that has done more for women's disc than Gamler. Not only was she a national champion at Stanford (I think), but she has also been very dominant at the club level playing for Fury who won club nationals last year. This is all well and good but the service that Gwen has done to the game is unparalleled. With her website, icultimate.com, she is the only person (as far as I know) that has covered college women's ultimate in all regions. The analysis is so in depth, detailed, and positive that it rivals any college open website I have come across. She also coaches the Stanford Women's team, who just won their 3rd national championship in 4 years. She managed to make team USA in 2005, albeit as an alternate, but as anyone who has seen her play, represents the absolute pinnacle of women's ultimate.

Ben Wiggins - Ok, he is a popular face and everybody knows his name, ok whats the big deal? I won't say anything about his playing, while it is elite, is not what makes him such a positive force in disc. Never have I seen a person with such enthusiam and dedication to the sport. I think he TDs like 3 tournaments a year with Solstice, Emerald City Classic, and Northwest Regionals, and in case you were curious, they are some of the 3 best club tournaments in the world. He also travels all over doing seminars about the game and coaches dozens of youth players in Seattle. i actually have the privelege of playing with one of them here at Yale and the kid is straight up nasty. He also brings a decore of fun on the field that the game cannot afford to lose and is always quick to give props to his team mates as well as all of his oppponents, just check out his post-ECC Finals Interview with Rob.

Tiina Booth - Probably the most important name in Juniors ultimate in the World. She is the head coach/founder of the Amherst Regional High School Hurricanes. This woman showed the world that college disc is not where kids should start to play ultimate. While coaching the best high school program in juniors history, she has amassed national titles (both boys and girls) and coached soon to be college studs such as Josh Zipperstein. She also had 11 kids on the youth junior world team (Boys and Girls) of 2006. These kids manage to dominate not only the juniors scene but take down very good college teams regularly. In addition she also directs the most prominant youth ultimate camp in the world with the NUTC (national ultimate training camp) and also manages a college directory so that high school kids can research college ultimate programs as they would academics.

Tom Kennedy "TK" - By far the founder of west coast ultimate. He started the Santa Barbara Condors in 1977 and it still reamins the longest standing ultimate team ever with the same name. He led the condors towards the first ever club ultimate championship in 1977 and won again in 1978 and 1981. He managed to develop a team that spawned argably the best college ultimate dynasty in the sports history with Black Tide who won 3 college national championships in a row, twice ('88-90, and '96-'98). Only 1 other team, east carolina, has even won 2 in a row ever. The west coast disc that has been near or at the top of ultimate for several years, in both college and club, owes a great deal of its success to this man.

Jim Parinella - 6 time club national champion, ok everybody knows that. But I mean come on, the guy wrote the bible on ultimate (ultimate techniques and tactics) and has probably the most popular blog in ultimate today. Peripheral to that though, the guy is also a successful engineer and case western/MIT alum. Like Lugsdin, is a true representation of a successful man on and off the field. I dunno about you but thats a decent wrap sheet. Not gonna go into anymore detail, I don't need to.

Mike Gerics - Not everyone's favorite person, but he still is a part of ultimate history and has taught ultimate to hundreds of players. With his WUFF training camp in North Carolina, he has taught the intricacies of the game to several college programs from all over the country. He also led East Carolina to 2 national titles, the only other team to win two in a row outside of black tide. Quite the bitter vocalist on RSD, but definitely one of the most important names in the game today.

Josh Greenough - A very dominant player in college for Oregon and a great player for open and Co-ed teams in San Franciso JAM and Brass Monkey. He and I don't always see eye to eye, but he is very important to this game. The best hat tournament I have ever been to was put on by Josh in San Mateo, CA (his home town) called Beware-O and if you think its just another hat tournament, think again. When I played in it in 2003, I knew nothing about the people in the sport and didn't realize that Sammy CK was on my team and we played against folks such as Ben and Seth Wiggins, not bad for a little winter hat tournament an hour south of San Franciso. He was also the National College Ultimate director for 3 years. The sport is definitely in debt to this man.

Ted Munter – Probably the most respected coach at the elite level in ultimate. Teams he has been a part of include Death or Glory (DoG), Brown Women’s Ultimate, and the Gold Medal Winning Team USA of 2005. Never has there been a name so synonymous with high level coaching. He is basically the Phil Jackson of ultimate.

Stu Downs – Now this is a person I have been watching for 3 years and I wish I knew more about him. I first came across him at the 2005 College Nationals in Corvalis, OR. He is the coach of Georgia’s JoJah Men’s Ultimate Team and one of the most prominent coaches in college disc. In researching other players and tournaments, I continually come across him and he has been touted as one of the best zone D players ever and is one of the most recognized names in Ultimate in the South. Although never a true champion, he exemplifies not only skill but sportsmanship and has dedicated himself to coaching one of the biggest and best college programs in the country. He also looks liek George Lucas if he could play ultimate

Scobel Wiggins – Probably the nicest lady you will meet at an ultimate tournament. She documents some of best ultimate with the highest quality photography I have come across in my 5 years of ultimate. She photographs open as well as women’s disc and really set the stage for dedicated media in ultimate (scobelwigginsphotography.com)

Jeff Graham – A former UMass player that started a phenomenal ultimate team in the toughest city to start an elite team in, Boston. The founder of Twisted Metal and one of the main organizers for the new Boston Ultimate squad. In the wake of DoG, he managed to recruit and build an ultimate program that made strides to rival one of the most storied teams in club ultimate history. Never, at least in my experience, has there been a city that has sent 2 teams to club nationals and Jeff managed to do this. A truly dominant player in college, I think he managed to break into the top 5 for Callahan voting despite not even being at college nationals.

Josh Zipperstein - Need I say anything? In any event, the guy is a great frisbee player both at the club and college level. One of the most dominant cutters I have ever seen. However, whats really interesting about Zipp is that the guy is smart. I mean come on Biomedical Engineer from Brown and now a Med Student at Emory? Not a bad CV. What I think is the classiest thing about Zipp though are his Zipp's Tips. The guy wrote down a little tid bit of information every day from November 5th, 2002 to May 20th, 2003. Thats like 180 tips?!?! anyway, did everything he could to help out his team, not only by dominanting physcially but attempting to pass on his knowledge to his supporting cast.

Fortunat Mueller "Forch" - probably one of the most dominating players ever. Despite his smaller stature, he has won at every level. He is the only player I know of that has the 4-fector. College National championship (Brown - 2000), the callahan (1999), club championship (DoG - 1999), and world title (DoG - 2000). he is also one of the main organizers for the Boston ultimate squad. For people in Connecticut, he is a big celebrity because he was a large part of winter/summer league because he moved here after college. In any event, a great leader and player, and oh yeah on of the most feared cutters ever.

Ultivillage Rob - First off, what is this guy's last name? Anyway, he has brought the sport to more people and in such a manner that deserves some serious acclaim. Beginning in May of 2005, he started giving us COTDs not to mention Discs 1-4 and on. I am not aware of any playing status of Rob but his service to the sport is incredible and I know I have given him props multiple times, but I think he is under appreciated. Hopefully his company will get him in the blue chips and he will be able to sit on an empire of Ultimate Media that changed the way people look at ultimate, literally.

There are many, many more, but I just don't know enough to do them justice. I think some other names that are synonomous with improving the overall caliber of ultimate are Steve Mooney (Basically the heart of DoG in their hay day), Damien Scott (arguably one of the most model after players in the game and he plays for JAM), and Mike Namkung (part of the second Black Tide 3-peat, one of the founders of JAM, and was part of the gold medal worlds team in 2005).

Because of people like these, ultimate has earned the respect that it has now. If players and supporters like this are emulated the sport is in good hands. It is nice that there are people out there that have careers and motivations while still being steallar ultimate players. It is also nice that there are people that can contribute to teams as much on the field as off. I suppose my worry about ultimate is that as the sport evolves the competition will get better and better. This is nice, but there are a lot of things that need to be maintained (ie sportsmanship, community service, respect amongst opponent/team mates, on and off the field role models, etc...) and with people like these and countless more, i think the sport will continue to improve competitively yet command the respect for players, teams, and programs of all levels.

Match Diesel