Jojah: Light at the end of Tunnell?

I wanted to get this post up right after Warm Up because Jojah played very well and I wanted folks to have something to read about after checking out the Florida Warm Up results. These guys have a great program and they are a lot of fun. One of their reps, Travis Smith, answered some questions for me and I thought I would share.

Jojah History
So before I go into the whole college preview, I thought I would talk a little bit about why I care about this team. They broke into the frisbee elite in 2003 and made nationals in Texas. Dylan was a freshman and despite being a relatively low seed (14) they finished tied for 9th with Michigan. They lost 2 games to go and didn't qualify for nationals in 2004 but had a break out year in 2005. Dylan was a junior and they managed to beat North Carolina winning regionals and were a 1 seed in Corvalis. They were up and down in Oregon in that they lost to 9th seeded UCSD but beat 5th seed UBC, on their way to a 2-1 pool play showing. They beat UNC in pre-quarters but drew a tough Stanford team in quarters. They lost on double game point (I won't mention how) but they proved that they were the real deal. It was after that weekend that I really started to pay attention to Dylan and the rest of Jojah. The following year was probably Jojah's best. They managed to scratch their way to the semis by beating Black Tide and a stellar Mamabird team, on double game point no less. However, with the rise of Florida and the toughness of the AC, Georgia really had a rough road back to nationals in 2007. In Dylan's final year they barely made it back to Columbus and grabbed the 3rd and final bid out of the AC, which is ironic becasue they themselves earned the necessary strength bid the previous year. They did fairly well however and managed to make quarters against Colorado. This time however, Beau, Rabbit and Jolian would not allow Jojah to advance. They did however win the spirit award which is interesting because I think it's the first time a bracket team has done so. In any event, #78 is now gone and in 2008 we will see what a team Dylan built can do in his absence.

Coaching Status

One thing that has really facilitated the development of this ultimate team are their coaches. First and foremost, Stu Downs. This George Lucas look-a-like has been at the top of the ultimate scene for years and has influenced great players like championship director and Jojah alum, Will Deaver. AJ Tiarsmith and Dusty Smith have also been a big part of Georgia's team development and recently, former player Alex Deckhard has signed on to help organize and lead this team. When I asked Travis about his coaching administration, this is what he had to say:

"Having these incredible coaches takes a lot off of the captains’ shoulders, leaving them and the rest of the team able to focus on playing. Each of these men has his own talents which he has given to Jojah. They have given us endless inspiration and the tools to be successful: motivation, strategy, and condition. They have been through everything that we are going through now, and they were some of the best. These are men that we can and do trust to make us better players and better people. Also, they are more fun than most of our players. Stu can throw a nilla wafer 60 mph and is well versed in comic books. AJ is very good at riddles. And Dusty has never lost at trivia night. It is incredible to be associated and to hang out with these guys on and off the field. Also, we cannot leave out our new “Vice Coach” Alex Deckard. He has offered to help us out this season, and we could not be more excited. He plans on getting good use out of his two degrees from UGA by staying in Athens and coaching and not getting a job."

With a crowd like this it is easy to see how Jojah has developed into one of the best, largest and most fun ultimate teams in the country.

Player Departures

It goes without saying that the biggest loss to this team is Dylan Tunnell. His departure is probably the biggest loss of any major elite program in the country. One thing that I didn't know about Georgia is that they only choose a callahan nominee by unanimous selection and in Dylan's absence, such a candidate probably will not manifest itself. Another huge impact he had on this team was spirit. It was easy to see that no team was having more fun at nationals than Jojah and Travis tells me that "the truth is when you have the chance to play against the top teams in the nation, it is impossible not to have a good time. But to be completely honest, it was Dylan. He was our spirit leader." I will say however, that it looked like Dylan was not 100% in Columbus back in May and Jojah still balled with him off the field. In addition to Tunnell, Paul Schrafft, Chad Borer, and stellar deep Frank Wooten will not be coming back.

2008 Play Makers

Despite these player losses, Jojah is still returning a ton of talent and given their 100+ person program, I would hope so. One of my favorite players to watch on Georgia is Senior Will McDonough. This fro-ed out flat baller always seems to have his head in the game. I can remember the few times UCSD and Jojah played, I hated him, but every other game, he was a lot of fun to watch. Despite his smaller stature, he plays spectacular defense and has great composure on the offensive front. Two other standouts for Jojah will be senior offensive specialists, Greg Swanson and Louis Gutschenritter. Look for Peter Dempsey and Ben Morrissey to anchor the D line. Aside from these veterans, Georgia has 10 new A-teamers that will hopefully give them the talent and the depth to make it out of the AC region.

Tournament Schedule
First and foremost, congratulations to Jojah (and of course Florida) for both making the finals of Warm Up. Both teams played very well and beat some good east coast teams to make the finals, which Florida won 15-13 over Georgia. I want to do the math for the CCS point totals but I am afraid I will screw it up. I'll leave that to Skip.

Georgia has a unique tournament schedule in that it is significantly different from most elite programs. They played in their first CCS event at Florida Warm Up. However, unlike most teams, they are not headed to Vegas. They will however be one of the favorites at Queen City Tune Up in Charlotte, NC (2/9-10). They have two more tournaments before Centex, Mudbowl and Terminus. Mudbowl will feature two Georgia teams, an O and D team, which could yield some interesting results. Terminus in Atlanta, is a tournament that Georgia usually attends, which makes sense considering it's in their state. Wisconsin usually makes the trip South and a Hodag vs Jojah final is not uncommon. However, Wisconsin will not be in Hot-lanta this March, but neither will Dylan, so a lot of teams could potentially end up in that Final. They will then head to Centex before starting the series. Hopefully they will have what it takes to compete in one of the toughest sections in the country which houses teams like Georgia, Florida, Central Florida, and Georgia Tech (the 4 teams that made semis at Warm Up).

Goals and Challenges

One major goal (as well as challenge) that Georgia has, is to develop a more consistent offense. Travis told me that "historically, we have not been very good at throwing and catching. More importantly, we want to play every single game this season with the same effort and enthusiasm as the game before and the game after." With the newest crop of superstars in recent years, this seems like a fairly reasonable, albeit difficult, goal. One of the major challenges associated with this is that "with Dylan and Frank gone, we no longer have mentors and leaders". In losing some of their top level players, the majority of Jojah's roster is going to have to take it upon themselves to make a play. This is really good for talent development because it sets up a high yield, low risk situation. If you work the hardest and put yourself out there, YOU might get to make the big play. If not, no one will notice. Hopefully it works out well for them.

Another major challenge for Jojah (and most teams) are injuries. Travis told me that, "the biggest factor for us in the past has been injuries. We have more than a few players with brittle or glass bones. If we can keep Swanson in bubble wrap for the rest of the season, he might avoid getting hurt". With the rigorous tournament schedule that Jojah is boasting, keeping players healthy will be a concern. Travis said, "we stretch a lot and encourage wrist-guards and helmets when we are around campus, seriously." Hopefully they have lady luck on their side and stay healthy.

Paideia Pipeline?

One thing that I was interested to know was what sort of impact Paideia has on Georgia's ultimate program. Considering that this high school has generated greats like Jolian, Dylan, Chicken, Moses, and Kyle Weisbrod, I figured Georgia would be reeling in the recruits. To my surprise, despite the proximity, Paideia doesn't send many kids to Georgia. This is what Kevin had to say about it:

"We don’t get many Paideia recruits. Most of them go to “smarter schools.” However, having a dominant high school team in our area promotes the sport to high school students all around Atlanta. This is the first year in a while that we have taken so many talented freshmen. It takes a while for freshmen to adapt to Jojah’s style of play. They have the basics, but college is much different from high school. We also play a different kind of game then Paideia teaches. We are not a pretty team, but we are working on it. Who knows, maybe the young blood will bring some of Baccarini’s influence, and I don’t think that could be bad for us."

I suppose juniors ultimate in the area, in general, is good for Jojah, but I found this surprising. This makes sense though. However, I think the two teams that benifit the most from Paideia Ultimate are definitely Brown and Colorado. Why? I don't know but I am working on it.

College Nationals

Concerning the college nationals change, this is what Travis had to say:

"I don’t think it makes a difference when Nationals takes place. Every weekend is a bad weekend for somebody. The teams that are lucky enough to qualify will find a way to play. I also think it may be a positive change to get some coverage on our sport. Although I imagine it will turn out much like past years with CSTV, and we will not be able to find ample coverage to watch. I am hoping for the best though."

I concur with his fears concerning CSTV, but like Travis, I think most of us are just hoping for the best as well.

Closing Thoughts

I think Georgia really has the right idea concerning ultimate. They seem to have more fun than anyone out there and I think more people should strive for that. With stuff like dune diving or lay out practice, it is easy to see that they are really enjoying themselves. I think I would have loved to be an undergrad player at Georgia. With that in mind, I really want to see Georgia remain an AC power house. They won Stanford last year and made quarters with a less than healthy callahan nominee. I hope to hear more spittle from the Jojah crowd at the Callahan ceremony in Boulder this year. Best of luck to you guys.

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