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

Sockeye/Bravo Finals Thoughts

Now that Rob has posted the Sockeye/Bravo finals, I had a chance to take a peak and I had some thoughts about it.

First off, I think the weather must have been an issue. A friend of mine was there and he said it was really windy. I also heard that Sunday was the first really bad day of wind and teams had potentially not adjusted yet and this game would be not as crisp as previous ones. With that being said I am sure that playing top shelf disc in said weather is difficult, especially offense. However, this is club nationals, this is Sarasota, its always this windy in the finals and these teams are the best. However, considering that they are the best in the world, I don’t think they played like it. This game looked much more like a college finals than anything else, I mean Bravo was down 5-3 and then went on a 4-0 run? Took half 8-6, but lost 15-13? That doesn't happen in the finals at Club Nationals. I wouldn’t call it sloppy but it definitely was not what I was expecting. Now, this is very presumptuous of me to say seeing that I am about 2 or 3 light years from this playing ability but I still have some observations.

When I saw that Bravo made the finals, I was really stoked. They made semis last year, a really good bunch of players, very experienced, very athletic, and so on. However, this was their first finals appearance and it was for the ability to play at World’s. That is a ton of pressure and I think it got to them. You have really stellar play from a lot of great players but there were also some HUGE mental mistakes like easy throw aways and hasty decisions. I don’t want to knit pick a team that just made the finals, but it just did not look like they played their best offense. I mean you have a team throw a callahan AND drop a pull. You look at just those two things, no way you predict Sockeye to win the game. That should be 2 easy breaks, which should be all you need at this level. However, Bravo tossed up some poor spittle and Sockeye made them pay.

This is by no means the end of the world for Bravo and I feel like this sort of loss has to happen for a team to improve. It has got to be damn near impossible to just swoop into the finals and win the first time, especially against a team that is playing in like their 5th finals, their 4th in a row. This is not dissimilar to the GOAT/Boston regional final I keep talking about. A great team has to learn to be great and situations like this teach them. It would be nice if these lessons can be learned verbally but I think that Chicken will be a better handler now that he has had a tough loss like this. I am sure every dump throw he tosses will be perfect from now on and a cutter going up the line better be DAMN open and NOT covered by Mike Caldwell for him to toss that outside in flick. I have had some really poor moments in my career and I can say that events like this really precipitate improvement, they haunt you forever but they make you better. That is how experience is earned and I will say that I think Bravo is going to be the team to beat next year. Sockeye will have to peak twice to win it all next year, something that hasn’t been done by the previous 2 world title holders. I think Jam or whoever else will give Bravo a game next year but the boys from Colorado will have all the tools to win it all in 2008, experience, athletes, and the memory of 13-15 silver medal.

Ok, Bravo lost, way to kick them while they are down Match, dick! Now for Sockeye. This is a weird team. There is so much footage of them so folks like myself have seen them play a lot, despite the 3,000 mile separation. However, they sometimes seem to play to their opponents, not their own game. Take last year for example. The 2006 finals was an extremely well played game. I remember watching the score reporter in lab and seeing that Sockeye had taken half 8-6. At that point I knew Furious was screwed and they were, down a few breaks to a team like Sockeye and your chances of victory are pretty slim. Elite Open ultimate is all about possession, ie not turning it over. These elite squads have the ability to play games with less than 10 turnovers, it is almost expected at this point. With that in mind I think Sockeye really wanted to beat Furious last year, a team that had sprung their proverbial bear trap on the Fish in the past. They played patiently, their cutters were on fire and they took advantage of a few Furious mistakes, not to mention 2 HUGE breaks in a world greatest and the Skippy hammer incident. However this year, not unlike 3 years ago, Sockeye was not playing Furious in the finals and they played less composed and more aggressive. There were many big plays, skies and hucks, but there were also A LOT of turnovers and layout Ds. Layout Ds are really nice, and in college they happen a lot because handlers are not as good. They see a guy and think he is open and a defender either makes up some serious ground or comes out of nowhere. In club though, these handlers are conditioned by years of mistakes so they know when to throw and when not to. In this game however, there were so many layout Ds, I mean watch last years finals and you will see some HUGE bids, but most folks came up empty. Valdivia, Beau, Jolian, Caldwell, JD all made great plays (although technically not a layout D by JD). But the throws that allow these Ds should not have been tossed in the first place. I suppose playing in the North East has made me slightly more conservative and it just amazes me that at this level, a game like this happened. Also, like the Sockeye/Jam finals there were a lot of turnovers, especially on game point. Double game point in 2004, I think each team had 2 chances to score. Last weekend, Sockeye needed 3 possessions at 14-13 to seal the game, and that is 2 too many. I mean Tim's outside in flick to Seth with Beau covering him? Really? On game point? However, considering the composure status of Bravo, its not surprising that they got it back and won the game.

Aside from being an ass, my main reason for articulating this point is that I think Sockeye has their work cut out for them at World’s. Japan is a really good team and they are going to take advantage of miscues like the ones Sockeye made on Sunday at nationals. Their defenders are top notch and if Sockeye thinks they can just play their deep game and hope to generate Ds here and there, they have another thing coming. I think they have the personnel, the time, and the motivation to be the best in the world but it is by no means a guarantee. There were a few points in that ECC final where the Buzz Bullets got pretty close to sealing that game and they will be hungrier than ever before next August. With that being said, I think Sockeye will be ready because they know what Japan is capable of. Wiggins exhibited an amazing amount of class and respect when he spoke with Rob after the ECC final regarding Japan. The Fish know their competition, and I wonder what their game plan will be.

Ok, way to bash the two best teams in the world, how about some positive points.

First, I was really impressed with Nord, he had a really great game, something like 2 goals and 3 assists. Over the last 2 years or so I wasn't sure if Nord was playing his best. He is so big, I mean the guy is like 6'5" and he is lanky as all get out. Chase is also tall but he is built like Brian Urlacher and Nord is more like Nowitski. Going into this tournament, I was curious to know if his size was becoming an issue and if he could move the way he used to. I mean if you watch the finals from last year, he just doesn't really make that many plays, which is fine, he was probably covered very well. However, this year, it seemed like he was back to his 2005 status when he had huge performances at regionals and nationals. He made so many great plays in the air and downfield, not to mention that he was just really heads up the whole game. Come on, that snatch and quick toss for a score? Someone was paying attention. I am glad to be proven wrong and it was really nice to see Nord dominant again. Hope that thumb isn’t too badly injured.

Another fantasy allstar in this game was Hector Valdivia. Wow this guy played well, on both sides of the disc. His quick huck score to Beau off a turn was absolutely beautiful, as was his SICK layout D at 9-8. I also like his scoop score from Popiel to take half. I really didn't know who he was before this tournament but I know who he is now. I also like seeing guys that can play all sides of the disc. I think he finished with 3 goals and 2 assists.

Another player that I think had a great game was Mike Caldwell. Over the years the only real thing I can say about Mike is that he isn't Roger Crafts. It seems like they look a lot alike, what with the shaved heads and facial hair. Plus Crafts is #2 and Mike is #20. However, this guy played awesome. He had a great catch to tie the game at 10s (his 2nd goal) not to mention his biggest play, which was saving Sam O'brien's ass getting an EPIC layout D after the dropped pull. I also know for a fact that Caldwell is an insane athlete (watch the celebration after Sockeye won it all last year and you will see him jump like 3 feet in the air) and it is nice to see him kick ass. I wonder if his son will be as good a player as Dad.

I think Chase had an interesting game. Most folks (myself) consider him a deep cutter because of his size but he was putting up hucks left and right. I also like the hammer he tossed to Nord (who skied Seth, his own team mate) for a goal. Interesting to see him throw the hammers in the finals instead of catching them.

I also like seeing Jolian Dahl and Ray Illian play well. I think both have tough situations to deal with in ultimate. Ray was a stud at Washington but didn't really have much of a supporting cast plus he had to compete with all the talent in the NW so he was overshadowed a lot. I think he is a great player and I don't think enough people know that. He had a great game with some great scores, skies and defensive efforts. Jolian is similar in that he has played with Beau for so long and they appear to be similar players, except that Beau jumped over a guy once. I will say that Jolian is straight up filthy. He is a GREAT player who carried Colorado at college nationals and seeing him get that hugtastic layout D on Sammy was really cool.

There were also just a lot of really cool plays to see in this game. Parker's out side in flick score to Whitaker (actually I think he meant to throw it to Beau) was awesome. Chicken's callahan was pretty cool. I didn't think TG would toss something up like that. It also should serve as a lesson to kids to work on their pulls. A back corner starting spot is not fun to work with. Richter had a nice layout score followed up by his patented head spike (I tried to get him to do it at the college nationals showcase game, but he wouldn't). I also like how Sammy quietly threw 4 scores. I also laughed a little bit when Parker claimed a disc was up when it literally bounced off the ground.

All in all this was a really entertaining game. I think many lessons were learned on both teams and I really think that Bravo is taking the steps to really become a giant in elite disc. And can I also say that none of my writing would be possible without Ultivillage. Thanks a lot Rob, you are doing a fantastic job. Aside from buying every UvTv subscription, your DVDs, and plugging you weekly in my blog entries, is there anything else I can do to support your company?

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

CSTV vs Ultivillage

First off I wanted to start off this entry by telling Rob that he is doing an amazing job with his ultimate filming and I would be hard pressed to find another person in the ultimate community that has done so much to bring ultimate to people throughout the world in the last 4 years.

Ok so ultimate is the most enteratining sport (in my opinion) to watch and since I have been palying disc, other sports like baseball, are wayyy to boring to watch consistently. Now with this new revolution movement that the UPA is pitching I think ultimate filming and broadcasting should be a topic of discussion. I know, a little late, but well this is when I came up with the ideas I have. So the UPA signed with CSTV back in 2005. Great, they show up to college nationals and they film the finals, maybe semis and what not and do an alright job of putting ultimate center stage. I don't know who the guy is that does the commentating, but he has a decent voice and it makes our sport look alright. I think Kyle or Ben does side commentary as well and they are doing alright, very informed, not unlike Joe Morgan with John Miller. Ok great, right? Wrong. I personally think CSTV sucks ass. It is wayyy obvious on their website and on their network that ultimate is not exactly a priority as far as sports go. I mean trying to find games that I know CSTV shot (ie Brown/Colorado finals, Florida/Wisconsin, etc...) is a pain in the ass and the actual downloads are pretty crappy at best. Maybe some folks are having a great time with it but I have struggled to even get through the Wisconsin/Florida game without the damn thing freezing on me and there is no freedom to pause or slow down the footage. Basically its crap. Its kinda like contracting a big company who has no real interest in my sport to package it and market it to me and my constituents in a manner that I know is sub par. No wait, thats exactly what it is. I don't know about the rest of the ultimate community out there but whenever I watch CSTV footage it just irritates me because I know that the dude doesn't know much about the sport and all of his comments and commentary is soo forced. I know wiggins or kyle contribute but it appears so fake to those that are actually watching it. I suppose the goal of CSTV is to market the sport to new poeple, which isn't working because ultimate's biggest advertising is on college campuses and high schools, or the goal could be to bring good footage to people that love the sport, which is isn't doing either. I mean the schedule sucks, games take 2 months to finally get on TV, they are on a speciality network that no one has, or the games are on at like 2-4am on a wednesday night. And whats worse is the footage is not for sale. You can watch a shotty version on your computer or TV and unless you TiVo it, thats it, hope you enjoyed the show. There is no pause or slow mo, or instant replay. Anyway, I suppose you could say I am not a fan of CSTV and I hate that the UPA is in bed with them.

Ok, so the alternative is....Rob's ultivillage. Whats awesome is that I don't even have to write about him. Everyone reading this now knows about his COTD, disc 1-4, his UvTv coverage, his fantasty ultimate, etc... He has been doing such a good job and at such a cost to himself. I mean he is everywhere. College nationals, junior worlds, worlds in perth, Potlatch, club nationals, ECC, Solstice, etc... And the best part is that he cranks the stuff out. I mean his footage of ECC (which hasn't even happened yet) will be on line (at least in COTD format) by wednesday after the tourney (my guess). I drove to college nationals watched all the games first hand and by the time i got back to New Haven I could already DL all of pool play and by the end of the week I had the semi finals footage (where I can be heard heckling Beau, thank you very much). I mean how bad ass is that. And not only is his footage available to watch, you can buy the stuff. I have like 10 gigs of his footage on my hard drive. I can go back and watch the club series from 2005 or 2006 and in 10 years, hopefully, I will be able to watch any series I want that he has shot at the click of a mouse. And I can also pop in one of a dozen DVDs that he has released and watch his footage (which by the way is only getting better). I can also watch Rob interview the likes of not only college stars like Robbie Cahill, Dan Hejman, or Adam Simon, but also club stars like Kevin Cissna, Andrew Lugsdin, Chase SB, Sammy CK, I mean the list goes on and he asks the same questions (more or less) that I would ask. Not some trite/cliche bullshit that CSTV does. And I suppose the best thing about Rob's footage is that it is soooo obvious that he loves the game. He knows the game, he knows his audience, he loves his company and he conveys that in his material. CSTV is just humoring us, giving us the standard half assed job that they give lacrosse or swimming or volley ball. I don't know about you but I hate being patronized and I want a guy who knows as much if not more about ultimate, broadcasting and doing interviews.

So where am I going with this? I want the UPA to saddle up with Rob. I mean the UPA should cater to their collective and I would say 75% if not more of "in the know" people in disc are ultivillage fans. No one likes CSTV (at least I don't) and I feel like few avid ultimate enthusiasts would endorse CSTV over Ultivillage. Plus ultivillage shoots more than just college. It is all over co-ed, women's, mixed, club, masters, juniors, etc... Aside from from open and college, all the other divisions could use more exposure and CSTV isn't gonna help out at all. Rob, however is giving all these side divisions the exposure they deserve and are giving people in their respective divisions the oppurtunity to watch and buy footage. This is the best way to expand the sport because it allows outsiders to see the game at its best. Although CSTV would be nice, its on some random ass network and few people will be able to see it on TV in the context for it to mean anything. If the bulk of ultimate footage were sold/viewed through ultivillage with the full power of the UPA showing new players disc 1 or club series 2006 or whatever would really boost the expose of the game. I mean it would be nice to have ultimate crack into "sports centers top 10" again but thats not gonna happen. And the next best thing is ultivillage. What I think would work (and this is totally from an uninformed and outside perspective) would be if Rob had full rights to college nationals and whatever else. He could then package it and market it through CSTV or YouTube or whatever other networks. This would then allow ultime to be packaged in the way it deserves, by people that love it, so that it can be viewed/purchased by people that love it. CSTV is not needed and it might be a good step at establishing ultiamte's legitamcy now, there are better avenues to do this. Plus if the UPA helps out Rob then he will have the ability to expand and hire more camera-persons and package an even better product.

I guess my main beef is that Rob is far superior to CSTV and the UPA should back Rob. He loves the game as much if not more than the people he markets to and that devotion should be appreciated and utilized. The UPA is not acting selfishly or poorly, I mean Rob has only been around since 2004. But now that he has gotten as big as he has and has the fan base, I think the UPA should consider bringing him under their umbrella and give him the support to really bring the sport to people in the best way possible. I don't know what sort of time line I am talking but I think I am in the majority and would like to hear Rob's voice on the College finals footage. Only then will we have the sport packaged in a way that will really cater to ultimate players thus making the advertising and progression of the sport that much better.

my thoughts

match diesel