Signing Off

It’s been over a year since I’ve updated the pictures and layout of this site, and I think it’s about time that I gave our current A-teamers their due. Ryan and Sid, it looks like you have your first assignment.

Leaving college ultimate is tough. It’s also tough to be in that period of transition: knowing that you’re leaving, but wanting to hold on to it for as long as possible. I think Goose said it best, “We’ve got The Love.”

Playing this game and competing in this sport requires a level of dedication that is unique at the college level. It’s not some after school activity like when you’re in High School, and it’s not some weekend hobby you go to after work. College provides you with the opportunity to make a commitment to the sport. You have the power to choose your training schedule, when you work out, when you practice, when you throw, when you watch game film. It’s the closest you’ll ever get to putting in professional level time. Make sure you take advantage of that opportunity for as long as you can, because you aren’t guaranteed four or five full years of college ultimate.

I had a difficult time this season. Coming back from a broken leg and shredded ankle, seeking a full-time career, and a long-distance engagement took me away from the game. These aren’t necessarily negatives. Life and relationships should come before a game, but “The Love” gets jealous. You lose your time on the field and your time with your teammates, and you won’t get that time back. So, if you’re playing right now, keep giving all your time to becoming a better competitor. You never know when or if you’ll get injured, married, or grown-up.

But enough of this regretful dribbling. I played college ultimate for four years, and I have some damn good memories. Let’s start with freshman year. In the fall of my freshman year, I contributed one of my greatest legacies to Illinois Ultimate: Naming the B team. Boomland came as a result of the combination of Dave’s ignorance and my poor navigation skills (at the time). Anyway, when the email went out asking for a team name after final cuts were made, I suggested Boomland and no one else even attempted to come up with something better.

My sophomore year began with leadership experience. I competed in the AUFL the summer beforehand, and played for a team called Primal. In the beginning, Lamp captained the team, but his incompetence proved too great. I had greatness thrust upon me when I usurped his leadership (I’m sorry I’m not sorry). Our AUFL championship bid fell short in the Semi’s when we lost 15-12 with only 5 players.

The fall tournaments of sophomore year were sweet. Noe shaved a Mohawk for Fall Out and almost started a brawl (that could’ve been freshman year). I caught a Callahan that sparked a comeback from a 11-1 deficit. And Illinois X went on to win our home tournament. We also won the championship at glory days that year. In the Spring, we traveled to Vegas for the first time. Crazy Coed Carl won a beer for pulling the disc around a light pole. He put that pull on the back cone btw. And we won ninals in Hurricane force winds, accentuated by Jacker’s punch spike. We fell short of our Nationals bid in the spring, f***ing Indiana. Luckily, regionals was in Champaign that year, so Pappy got the chance to drown out his sorrows at Clybourne. He got drunk, left the bar early cause he was scared of my retaliation in slapsies. Also, Mickey knocked Brad out that night. I got a call from Max the next morning asking about what happened cause he couldn’t remember why he was hung over and his face hurt.

In my mind, Junior year was “The Year”. It started in the summer. Primal went through a merger with B.I.G. K-Shaw was fired, and the team became known as My Little Ponies. We were never able to get 7 players to a game until the final tournament, but that didn’t matter. My Little Ponies could win with 3 players, and we did by a score of 15-4.

In the fall, the A-Team decided to tear up the club series. We took second at sectionals with our only loss coming against Machine, but that was okay since I caught a goal against Stupca (that’s what you get for poaching off our iota set, coach). We also bageled the Wizards in 32 minutes. At this tournament, we discovered our motto, “Murder. Bury. Desecrate.”

From there we went to Tulsa where the fields were a mix of gravel, dirt and glass, the weather was cold and rainy, and I lost some money playing some weird Indian Casino game. On the plus side, I did get a hand block against Muffin.

In the spring, we had a habit of winning all our pool play games and losing in quarters. We shocked the blogosphere by taking our pool in Vegas with wins over Colorado and Oregon. Besides being kissed by Jolian, I also won $400 at a roulette table in the Planet Hollywood Casino. Life was good. The team also went on its first Spring break trip since Terminus and Centex were on opposite ends of our vacation week. Terminus got cancelled due to a “Bonecoaster”, everyone got sunburned on the beach, and we almost beat those douchebags on Florida at Centex.

We rolled in sectionals until we faced North Park, but Pat took over the game in overtime and Jman skied their big guy for the final score. Going into regionals, no one was talking about us. Everyone was talking about Notre Dame. They won White Smoke, and suddenly they’re a big deal. We put them in their place at Semis. Our nationals bid fell short against Colorado in the quarters. I’d like to think that if I had been there to guard Jolian, we would have won. We still beat Michigan in prequarters.

Well, that’s my memoir of Illinois Ultimate. Looking back on my collegiate career, I came up with some statistics that I find to be significant.

Greatests Attempted: 4

Greatest Completed: 0

Callahans: 1

Skies against Pavan: 2 (taste it)

Break assists up-wind: 1 (put me on the o-line coach)

Tournament Championships: fall out, glory days, sectionals twice, regionals once, AUFL

Net Winnings from Vegas: $200 (bet on red)

Number of times “winning” credit card roulette: 0 (taste it)