1997 CLUB NATIONALS
OCTOBER 23–26, SARASOTA, FLORIDA

ED. note: This is a summary version written for the WFDF. The sidebars here are crucial however. For the full reports, scroll to the bottom and select a link.

1997 U.S. Nationals was the year that the World Champions looked to take the crown from the Northeast United States, birthplace of Ultimate. Both talented Seattle teams proved they had risen to the highest level of Ultimate by winning the Open Club World Championships in their backyard (Vancouver, Canada) this past summer. Seattle was Top of the World–but they still had to prove they were the top team in the United States.

The U.S. has always benefited from its wealth of competition. No doubt this phenomenon also works as our main export, capitalism. Funny, who would think to apply the values of capitalism to our peacenik sport?

One estimate puts the number of teams in the U.S. at six-hundred. That figure is growing as new collegiate teams are started every year. It has helped to keep the United States an Ultimate powerhouse.

The close proximity of teams in the Pacific Northwest and Eastern Seaboard has produced some of the finest Ultimate talent in the world. Nationals is the proving grounds where the regions meet and battle it out for bragging rights across the continent. U.S. Nationals isn't just great competition, it's personal.

The top seeds for the Men's division were, in order, Boston Death or Glory, Seattle Sockeye, Santa Barbara Condors and Chicago Z. Other contenders included New York's WSL All-Stars, Raleigh-Durham's Ring of Fire and San Francisco's Double Happiness.

The favorites were Boston and Seattle, as a rematch of last year's final seemed likely.

The Women's division was led by top seed Women on the Verge, defending Champions Lady Godiva, Atlanta's Ozone, and the Philly Peppers, from, well, Philadelphia. Other contenders included Chicago's Nemesis, Colorado's Rare Air and Portland's Schwa.

Women on the Verge were clearly in search of a championship and desperately wanted to unseat Lady Godiva. Another Boston—Seattle final was predicted in this division as well.

Well, you probably know the results already. Boston swept the Women's and Open divisions again. Seattle, perhaps, took a step backward. But don't count Seattle out–they are going to be fierce contenders for 1998 Nationals…

THE ENVIRONMENT–SARASOTA, FLORIDA

Ah, Florida! With golden palm trees swaying and fine white sand underfoot I strayed along the beach, thinking that maybe, just maybe if I caught a good tailwind, I could crank a backhand across the hundreds of miles of azure waters to the east coast of Mexico. But it couldn't happen. I sadly returned to the bottle of cheap champagne I stole from the hotel and wandered off in search of more disc-carriers.

Unfortunately, the tournament was not on the beach. It was at the Sarasota Polo Grounds, about 20 miles outside of town in the middle of nowhere. But I wasn't complaining. My London Fog raincoat and matching rubbers were exchanged for a T-shirt and Tevas. I donned a giveaway Powerbar sun visor and jogged between fields in search of the next must-see game. With temperatures in the low 80's and nothing but sun in the sky, it was delightful. I thought maybe even some spectators might come and check it out.

I saw one! Look, another! Like rare creatures of the Florida Everglades, spectators and media alike were either extinct or had found really good hiding places by "Frisbee HQ." Publicity was not happening. My crack estimate put the number of players to watchers at 300 to 1. This includes yours truly outfitted in shades and a bolo tie, with nary a cleat in sight.

But the fields were springy-soft and there was a very nice viewing booth that allowed for excellent coverage of key games from 20 feet above the ground. The food was tasty and the merchandise pretty spiffy. All in all the tournament had a very homey American feel, like a weekend game of Softball at the local Polo Club.

THE FEEL

Making the "Big Dance" is a feat in and of itself in the United States. Top-level players can play for years without ever qualifying for Nationals. The tournament has a certain aura surrounding it, the privileged playing grounds of Elite Ultimate. Up until the advent of the Internet, Nationals results were largely spread by word of mouth, adding to the overall effect of a mysterious pinnacle to a sport played mostly for fun around the country.

The "party" aspects of Nationals are naturally more subdued than most tournaments. The level of competition is just too serious. The obligatory Friday and Saturday parties were held, and people drank fine beer from multiple tapped kegs, and good bands played, and people danced, and people smoked, and all that fine stuff. It was nearly impossible to tell the party "winners," although I managed to find my way to the Tournament Director's swank 2-story hotel room late on Saturday, capping the party with other non-playing swashbucklers and the demoralized Chain Lightning team.

There was also a jump-into-the-hotel-pool-naked party I attended with members of RoQ and assorted women from Safari and other teams. Other than these isolated events, the party scene was fairly standard.

The finer aspects of Nationals were enjoyed by some teams. While most chose to stay at the Official Ultimate Hotel, a few groups wisely rented out local condos situated beach-side and enjoyed dips in the Gulf of Mexico between rounds of beach Ultimate. There were cookouts, siestas, fiestas, Florida Rock Crabs for dinner and Sea Anemone for dessert, delighted fans were queuing up for autographs from top players and best of all I got to go on a date with Drew Barrymore. Apparently she's always had a "thing" for Ultimate journalists.

NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS?

It should be noted that 1997 United States Nationals marked the first time that not all the teams were actually from the United States. The rule allowing Canadian teams to qualify for US Nationals was actually passed in 1996, however no team from the Great White North qualified. But this year provided a contender.

Ottawa's Stella was honored as the first ever Canadian team at Nationals without much dispute. Overall, players in the United States respect good competition over international boundaries and didn't mind losing potential Nationals spots (prized among U.S. teams) to Canadian teams. Knowing America's fierce nationalism, however, I can't imagine this good-naturedness lasting long.

It is a controversial rule that has benefits and drawbacks. The vote to allow Canada was narrowly passed, as many U.S. players didn't think much of the issue. Fostering growth and competition is good for the sport, but as Ultimate continues to grow, the combination of the U.S. and Canada–if there is still no funding for leagues–will be unwieldy and might result in some serious discussions.

THE RESULTS

The format for both divisions featured two pools of seven, an A and B pool, with the 1 and 2 seeds placed at the top of the pools.

Play was over four days, Thursday through Sunday. Teams played 5 pool games over the course of Thursday and Friday, and then the final pool play game Saturday morning followed by Semifinals. Finals of both divisions were played on Sunday.

In the past, the final pool game Saturday morning has proven to be a crucial one–determining who would advance to Semifinals (a huge distinction and honor to make the "final four") and who would be watching Semifinals (not quite a huge distinction).

This year kept up the tradition. Two very exciting qualifying matches were in the cards for Saturday play.

OPEN
THURSDAY AND FRIDAY

The results after the first two rounds were not terribly surprising. Top seeds DoG and Seattle emerged unscathed. Last year's Semi's qualifier Chicago Z also looked good, defeating a tough Double Happiness squad in a must-win game for them.

One more spot remained. The Condors were initially thought to be in position for Semis, but they were shot out of the sky early by the WSL All-Stars. It would come down to the WSL All-Stars and Ring of Fire in a mad scramble for qualifying.

The A pool ended with DoG at 6—0, Chicago Z at 5—1 and Double Happiness behind them.

Double Happiness was the surprise team of the tournament. They weren't supposed to be at Nationals after finishing third in the strong Northwest region behind Seattle and the upstart team from Portland, Pack of Lies.

Pack of Lies formed just prior to sectionals (therefore playing as team that did not practice on a regular basis) and swept through the NW regional like the devil's curse, eliminating last year's qualifiers Saucy Jack, World semifinalists Furious George and Double Happiness. But Pack of Lies could not get enough team members to go to far-off Nationals and had to turn down the bid, thereby awarding the coveted spot to Double.

Seattle finished the B pool on Friday at 5—0, qualifying for Semis, but not before a scare with Ring of Fire. The last game of the day featured the two undefeated teams going at it, and Ring of Fire gave it all they had. They played comfortably and confidently and stayed with Seattle the entire game. The game was tied at 12's when the cap was enacted, game to 14. A series of unfortunate contested stall calls against Ring resulted in the two final scores for Sockeye, 14—12.

Ring of Fire finished the day at 4—1. The WSL All-Stars finished 4—1, also losing only to Seattle. The teams had one game remaining–against each other Saturday morning.

In one of the most exciting games of the tournament, Ring of Fire came from behind to defeat the veteran-laden New York squad 17—14 and advance to Semis.

The game pivoted on Ring of Fire's groove and New York's lack of. The WSL All-Stars took half 9—6 and extended the lead to 12—9 in a game to 17. Led by the legendary Ken Dobyns, a fierce competitor uncomfortable with losing, the New Yorkers seemed poised to reclaim a spot in the Nation's elite. But it was not to happen. While the North Carolina team has stayed relatively intact for a number of years, the New Yorkers have been squabbling for power and the team cobbled together this year was not the tight powerhouse of year's past.

A second-half mental lapse revealed the team's weakness and Ring quickly tied the game at 12's. Ring of Fire pulled ahead 13—12 with a burst of momentum and suddenly New York was looking scared while North Carolina was playing loose. Another point for Ring of Fire gave them a 14—12 lead and Ring simply would not falter from that point on. They became the first team from the talented state of North Carolina to make Nationals' Semifinals with a 17—14 victory.

SEMIFINALS

Ring of Fire had 45 minutes to rest before matching up against the defending Champions, Death or Glory. Considering this was their first Semi's appearance ever, that Ring had gone 1—5 at Chicago Tune-Up (a preliminary tournament for top teams) and that they were seeded 6th overall at Nationals, this was quite a remarkable feat.

Remarkable or not, they certainly proved they belonged.

In one of the greatest games I've witnessed, Death or Glory came back from a 4—10 deficit to defeat the hard-playing Ring of Fire 17—15. If you were wise, you'd read the sidebar telling you all about the game.

The second Semifinal featured familiars Chicago Z versus Seattle Sockeye. Chicago's strength lay in its awesome starting seven and the prowess of team leader Rich Farmer, while Seattle featured an impressive roster of veterans, giving them a strong depth off the bench. The teams have matched up several times in the past few years with Seattle going undefeated in the matchups.

Chicago stayed strong in the first half as Seattle took it to halftime by a slim margin, 9—8. The second half belonged to Seattle.

Sockeye captain Eric Kehoe challenged his team to shut down Farmer as a way to stall the entire Z team. It worked. Z's offense floundered while the Seattle defense stepped it up. Three straight scores propelled Seattle to a 12—8 lead. "The Chicago Seven" became tired and could not get it going. Sockeye used its bench strength to finish the game easily, 17—11.

WHAT KEEPS THE DOG IN THE YARD?

De—fence. 1997 Nationals was all about defense and it showed across all divisions and all levels of talent. It was Death or Glory's superior defense that won the Cup for them. It was Ring of Fire's young defensive speed-demons that brought them to the top levels of Ultimate. Lady Godiva's superior defense anchored their successful claim of the Cup, and Seattle's defense proved too much for every team but one. When the pressure is on, its the defense that steps up to make the big play.

It's the defense that keeps runs alive, not the offense. The defense breaks games open and puts opponents back on their heels. The defense allows for easy half-field scores at crucial times.

DoG developed several trick zone defenses as a response to years of defeat at the hands of NYNY, but they always, always, realized that pressurized man-to-man wins games at the end. Boston uses its varied defenses to confuse teams and set them up for the end stretch when they turn on their superior man defense. When the game pressure is on, the field of play shortens and allows an intense D to get key blocks.

So now you know. Just thought I'd tip everyone off about the real secret behind the Clam.

WOMEN

Watch out for the Northwest region. Number one seed and World Champions Women on the Verge, from Seattle, looked to be a near lock on finals this year. They had lost only one game the entire season. They were the dominant women of Ultimate and wanted to reach the climax of the sport.

Two-time Defending Nationals Champions Lady Godiva? They were seeded second. Last year's finalist Ozone from Atlanta were seeded third, followed by the Philly Peppers, Chicago's Nemesis and San Diego's Safari.

The first two rounds of pool play were more harried than the Open division. Unlike the men, there were a legitimate seven teams with a shot at making finals.

In the A pool, Women on the Verge finished at 6—0 with key victories over the Philly Peppers 15—10 and Nemesis 15—11. They comfortably awaited the B pool number two seed for Semifinals.

The second seed in the A pool was more of a contest. Both of last year's semifinalists Philly Peppers and Nemesis ended up in the same pool, along with a tough team from Denver, Rare Air.

Something had to give. This year it was the scheduling that favored Nemesis. They faced the Philly Peppers at 9 am on Friday in what would be the determining game for qualifying.

Nemesis featured a tight squad of 13 women who were well-focused on winning. The Peppers are not an early-morning team. Never have been. They couldn't get on target and Nemesis wouldn't let them. Nemesis rode an 8—5 halftime lead to a 15—9 victory and sealed up the remaining spot in the A pool for their second straight Semis appearance.

Lady Godiva marched through the B pool without a scare. Neither a re-match of last year's Finals with Ozone, nor a game with the team that eliminated them at Worlds, Schwa, proved a challenge to the über-veteran Boston squad. They defeated Ozone 15—6 and Schwa 15—8 en route to qualifying for Semis for the tenth year in a row. No joke. Nationals for Godiva is like the Democrats winning Minnesota. Automatic.

Who would come out to claim the second seed? There was one team in particular with their eyes on the prize: tenth seeded Schwa from Portland, third qualifier from the Northwest region, a sneaky team featuring height, defensive quickness, and a winning attitude. They finished Thursday and Friday pool play at 4—1, along with Ozone. Like the Open B pool, the teams faced each other early Saturday morning for the rights to Semis and beyond.

Schwa and Ozone matched up in a gruesome battle with the wind and the turf. No team could get more than two points ahead of their opponent as turnovers were frequent. Schwa utilized their "huck to Kajsa" strategy while Ozone's Chris O'Cleary cranked 80-yard backhands. Both sides were exhausted towards the end of the game. The final score was Turf: 35 Ozone & Schwa: 28.

Schwa brought more players to Nationals, and despite the vagaries of the wind, managed to be a little less tired. They won 15—13 to advance to Semis and play their much-anticipated game against fellow Northwesterners Women on the Verge.

SEMIFINALS

In one of the bigger upsets of Nationals' history, the team from Portland defeated their rivals, the heavily favored Women on the Verge from Seattle. It would do you good to read the sidebar, lest the same fate happen to you.

Meanwhile, Nemesis and Lady Godiva were battling it out. Chicago provided the toughest test for Boston so far. They kept intense focus on the game and were able to defend Boston's array of handlers. They never succumbed to the pressure of playing one of the most dynamic teams in the history of Ultimate.

Unfortunately for Nemesis, Lady Godiva is exactly that–a dynasty. Winners in '88, '91, '95 and '96 and runners-up in '87, '89, '92 and '93 the team has played at the highest level of Ultimate for years. Amazingly, there are still women playing for the team that played in all those games, and the core 10—12 players have been playing together since their Championship season of 1995.

Still, Nemesis was right with them. Twice Godiva went up by two points and threatened to break open the game and both times Nemesis fought back to tie. The last occasion brought the game to a deadlock at 12's and it looked like it could have gone either way.

But Godiva's superstars rose to the occasion. Led by Christine Dunlap and Molly Goodwin they took the next point, 13—12, and cap was enacted, game to 15. Godiva came out in a tough person-to-person defense (defense wins games) and pressured a Nemesis turnover near their own goal-line. Godiva scored easily.

Nemesis had trouble with the wind on the next possession and could not score. Godiva patiently worked through the Nemesis zone to score the game-winner and advance to finals with a 15—12 victory.

FINALS–BOTH DIVISIONS

So It Hath Been Written. Death or Glory from Boston, Massachusetts shall play Sockeye from Seattle, Washington.

Lady Godiva from Boston, Massachusetts shall play Schwa from Portland, Oregon.

The women played first. It rotates every other year which division will play the morning final and which will play in the afternoon.

The wind was blowing Sunday morning. Not a whole lot, but enough to cause some trouble for the women, and later, for the psyche of Seattle.

"Our defensive strategy was to force them to the trap side, to throw their forehand against the wind. And our offensive strategy was to try and break it when they did the same thing to us," explained Godiva veteran Peg Hollinger.

The first half was well-played as both teams were able to effectively move the disc. At 5—5, Godiva rallied for a short burst of point behind team leaders Dunlap and Pooch and jumped out to an 8—5 lead. Lady Godiva extended the lead, going into halftime with a 10—6 advantage.

Points were hard to come by for both teams, and a 4-point lead was not going to be made up easily against the defending Champions. Schwa had to do something in the second half, so they turned to the zone. And the wind picked up. Soon the game turned into "huck and punt." Hang on folks, for the Finals huck-out at the OK Corral.

"When they put the zone on us, we felt that our upwind, really aggressive throw was our easier throw, as opposed to the swing pass, and that's why we started hucking it. In that wind it was actually easier to throw it straight–because you didn't have to worry about spin–rather than crossfield, which was angle and spin," explained Hollinger, "that's why it became a huck-fest."

Schwa tried to stick with their normal offense, but considering they work best beating their person downfield and moving the disc quickly, the conditions were too prohibitive for them. At 13—9 Godiva, Schwa turned to the huck strategy as well.

"We weren't able to use our run-and-gun style," commented Schwa captain Jeanne Selby, "and we've never played well in the wind."

Soon it was "Tines" Dunlap's punts for Godiva versus Tracy Satterfield's cranks for Schwa. Unfortunately Schwa could not gain any ground on Lady Godiva and the game ended with a Judy Layzer to Gwn Tracy stroke for the Godiva victory, 19—13.

Lady Godiva and their three newborns celebrated their successful defense of the Nationals Cup. The Boston women were simply twice as experienced as any team at Nationals. If they can stick together for another year or two, they will yet again prove formidable.

Would Boston sweep again? How un-exhilariting!

"We were thinking with the wind it would be a zone game. As it turned out, DoG played almost all man-to-man forcing down-wind. I don't think we were mentally prepared for how difficult playing against a good trapping man defense would be with the wind," recounted Sockeye's veteran captain Eric Kehoe.

Yep, again Boston's vaunted Clam defense confused the opponent–this time by not being played. DoG's starting defensive seven Jeremy Seeger, Paul Greff, Lenny Engle, John Bar Axon, Bob Lobel, Billy Rodriguez and Dick Brown provided Boston with all the manpower they needed. That squad started 1997 Finals with a 7—0 run in Boston's favor.

Trouble for Seattle. Before anyone knew what was going on, Sockeye was down by seven points to the three-time defending Champion. The game looked to be over.

It wasn't quite over yet. Once Seattle got lucky and scored to end the drought they were able to get their defensive team on the field, and in turn ran off five points of their own.

Finally the offense for both teams clicked and Boston eased in a few more to take half, 10—6.

Seattle needed to calm down after the early collapse. Eric Kehoe got his troops to relax and they responded by putting in the first two of the second half. The last one was a potential game-turnaround point. Seattle's Ricky Melner made an picture-perfect "greatest play" to Lou Burruss to record the score, and landed on DoG's Steve Mooney out-of-bounds. Mooney was hurt (he would find out later that he had a separated clavicle), Seattle had the momentum and they were only down by two.

At this point, veteran Boston player Jeremy Seeger, who had retired at the end of the 1994 season, rose to the occasion. He scored three of Boston's next four points and took the game back in charge for Boston with a 14—9 lead and the cap looming.

Seattle scored the next point, the cap was enacted–game to 16, and Boston finished up the weary Sockeye team 16—10 to win their fourth Nationals in a row.

"I told Jim [Parinella] that if you want to win five and six–you're going to need to recruit young players. We had a lock on the ice bags at Nationals," explained Mooney, "But I'm sure we're not going to overhaul. We're still going to miserably old. At some point some fearless team like Ring won't let us back in."

And there you have it. In true Ultimate fashion, I hopped in a van the instant Boston scored and raced at 80 mph the 100 miles to the Tampa airport to catch our flight out of the surf and sun back to the cold rain. Oh yeah, and the flight was delayed.

SIDEBARS

OPEN SEMIFINAL DoG VS. RING OF FIRE

Ring of Fire officially started off this year's medal round with a bang. They were unafraid of the veteran DoG players. They ran harder, played smarter defense and scored when it counted. Soon the score was Ring of Fire 6, Death or Glory 1.

But DoG did not lose their patience yet. It wasn't until Ring scored a really tough point featuring three incredible layout grabs to go up 8—3 that DoG got nervous. They weren't expecting this, and like every team in Ultimate, DoG can rely on their mental edge. But Spiritual Leader and Team Captain Steve Mooney calmed down his troops, and the game eased into half at 9—4, Ring of Fire.

Ring scored the first point after half for their biggest lead of the game, 10—4. Now it was time for Boston to get on track. What makes Death or Glory so tough is that physically, they are some of the best athletes in the game. You can take them out of their mental rhythm, but matching up with them one-on-one is devastating.

From that point on, Death or Glory outscored Ring of Fire 13—5. They used a run of three to close to 7—10, then another run of six to take a late 14—12 lead. Their defense was stifling and Ring's offense could not make the immaculate connections they were making in the first half. Stealing a slice of perfection from their own history, Boston committed only two turnovers versus thirteen scores in the second half. The sleeping giant had awakened.

Still, Ring of Fire had a chance. Although they were dazed after DoG's vicious upsurge, they were still in the game. Ring averted the knockout blow several times, scoring to close to 14—15, DoG, then traded points to stay in the game at 15—16, DoG–game to 17.

Death or Glory received the pull and looked to finish the game. A streaking Parinella was suddenly sighted wide open in the endzone and the disc came at him like a cruise missile. It wasn't an easy catch for Jim to make, but he should have caught it and ended the game. Instead the disc sailed through his outstretched hand and Ring of Fire had a chance to tie and extend the cap.

Unfortunately for them it was not to be. A high hooking forehand split the seam in Boston's clam and came in nicely to a waiting Ring player. But he too couldn't make the grab, perhaps feeling the pressure, and the disc bounced off his hands. Boston took the turnover and easily converted to win one the most exciting game at Nationals and advance to the finals for the fourth year in a row

WOMEN SEMIFINAL

WOMEN ON THE VERGE VS. SCHWA

Women on the Verge and Schwa are quite intimate. Both teams sprung up at the same time, circa 1991. Seattle and Portland are a mere 173 miles apart (for comparison, Boston and New York are 194 miles apart. Coincidence? I think not…) The teams meet regularly in the finals of tournaments throughout the Northwest. Women on the Verge lost one game coming into Nationals, at the hands of Schwa in pool play at Worlds. And two Schwa veterans ended up playing with the Verge this year. It might have been the wrong year for them.

It is no understatement to say that Verge expected to win Nationals. They came with only that goal on their minds. And it may well have been Schwa's goal to prevent that from happening. Verge did not want to play Schwa in the semifinals. They might have known that Schwa had their number this year.

So the showdown happened, NW vs. NW. One team left standing to advance to the finals. And Schwa prevailed in one of the biggest upsets in recent Ultimate history.

Schwa knew Verge's players like their own and were able to matchup perfectly. They knew Verge's plays and their strengths and weaknesses. Same with Verge.

Schwa took off in the first half with a five-point run to take a 4—4 game to 9—4 at halftime. From then on it was a matter of withstanding the Verge offensive and keeping themselves loose. Verge may have been afraid to lose, whereas Schwa felt they had nothing to lose.

"After the first five or six points I think most of us thought we could [win the game] and I'm sure we thought we would by half-time. However, nobody took it for granted. Verge has come back to beat us from a big deficit before, and we knew they were a better team than ever this year," explained Schwa's Kajsa Wing.

Schwa took nothing for granted and stayed ahead to pull out the win, 16—13, and advance to Finals for the first time in the team's history.

MASTERS OPEN

There's wasn't a team representing just Boston. But just to be sure, longtime Bostonian James Milan teamed up with longtime New Yorker Dave Blau to produce a truly stacked Master's team for 1997 Nationals.

Featuring lots of players with lots of World Championships, National Championships and Hingham Trophies between them, YESSS! looked to add a Master's one to the collection.

Yes, but what is YESSS!? In its written form, the name does little to recall famed sportscaster Marv Albert's familiar exclamation used for sublime moments of superior sportsmanship. Albert had recently been taken off the air by a sex scandal–in America that means admitting to having performed sex. In particular he was in trouble for biting a bimbo on the back while dressed as a broad. You'd think he was a French Minister or something.

Riding the homage to Marv (the team sported a lingerie-clad Albert reaching out for a disc on their jerseys), YESSS came, saw and conquered.

The competition wasn't particularly powerful this year, although the Love Handlers, from Texas, have always prospered in the division.

Perhaps the most enjoyable team at Nationals was Elmer's Used Cadillac, from somewhere in Ohio. Comprised of former Procter & Gamble corporate-league players and captained by 1998 World's host Greg Williams, The Caddy lost all of their games but clearly had the most fun. A rumor has it that they smuggled illegal Ohio Gin over the Florida border...

The finals were between YESSS and the Love Handlers. For the second year in a row, the Love Handlers were the bridesmaid and not the bride. YESSS's sheer size (they must have had at least 40 players) and talent were too much for the veteran veterans. YESSS won 17—8, notching up another half-championship for Boston.

WOMEN MASTERS

Five teams competed for the Women's crown. Last year's winners the Great Dames, from Boston, did not come to Florida, but many from the team re-combined under the name Blue Hair. They were the favorite to win.

The division was quite competitive as two Florida teams, Swear and West Palm, the Texas team Disc-O-Tex and a combined Mid-Atlantic team S—Prime gave Blue Hair troubles. I'm sorry, but I keep picturing Marge Simpson when I write "Blue Hair."

Nonetheless, the Marge Simpsons swept through pool play undefeated and figured to win it all. In fact at the end of the day it was reported that they had won the Finals, and convincingly by nine points!

To get there, Blue Hair burned up a lot of energy defeating a tough Disc-O-Tex, 15—10, in Semis. The Texas' team's hucks kept the Boston women running.

The team that hadn't practiced before coming to Nationals because they resided in no less than ten different cities throughout the Mid-Atlantic division, S—Prime, escaped a tough West Palm team in Semis, 15—13, in a game devoid of Ultimate's usual cheeriness.

Whoops. It turns out Blue Hair didn't win the Finals. Apparently they didn't have enough juice left in the tank, and the S—Prime team ran through the beleaguered Northeasterners all game.

Led by veteran Laurie O'Donnell, S—Prime connected while Blue Hair couldn't get the turnovers out of their system. S—Prime stretched a 9—5 halftime advantage into a 17—8 victory.

Maybe all along it was simply their superior battle cry:

"Abstinence turns desire into obsession, So out of retirement we come with a passion. We are back doing what we love, no matter how much we get, it's never enough. We are here to proclaim: "It's been too long!" It is definitely time. We are women–in our 30's–we are: S—PRIME!"

1997 U.S. Club Nationals
Women
Open
Masters Open
Masters Women
Regarding Rule Changes

I don't exactly know who I wrote this for, maybe the WFDF. You can read the more complete reports through the links above.

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