YESSSS SHOOTS, SCORES!
1997 CLUB NATIONALS
OCTOBER 23–26, SARASOTA, FLORIDA

Seven teams made the vacation trip to Sarasota this year. Most of them had scant competition at Regionals. Master powerhouses U.S. Tampico from San Francisco, the Beyondors from Santa Barbara/L.A., and whatever combination of Chicago veterans neglected to get a team together, leaving the division wide open to newcomers.

That was a surprise to James Milan. With the Master's winner receiving the only bid to the much-anticipated 1998 Worlds in Blaine, Minnesota, Milan figured there would be more fierce competition.

Milan put together Yesss, a killer team that featured several players from the NYNY legacy and various Boston pros with similar histories of winning big tournaments.

"It was very disappointing that no other teams have gotten together," commented Milan, "this year wasn't anything like 1994 when it looked like the division would be very competitive."

The Love Handlers may have been the only team capable of beating the Nor'easterners. They have been steadily improving as a Master's team and are very familiar with the division.

THURSDAY POOL PLAY–DAY ONE

Savvy Midwest veterans saw an opportunity, and Wisconsin/Minnesota legend Greg Williams commandeered an excitable bunch of Ohioans (self-described as 'Proctoids', presumably from playing as a Procter and Gamble corporate team in Cincinnati's summer league) and whoever else wanted an excuse to hit Florida for five days. Unfortunately Elmer's Used Caddy was not the most talented group of Ultimate players. They lost all of their games. But they had a lot of fun in the sun and should be commended for getting a team together and making the trek. Rumor has it that some players snuck over the Kentucky—Tennessee border with 10 jugs of bootleg Bourbon en route to the Big Show.

For the more competitive-minded, elder Ultimate statesmen from New York/Boston, Washington DC, Austin/Dallas, Boulder, Atlanta and Miami battled it out for bragging rights across the continent. Plus those nifty UPA Championship hats.

There was no seeding for Masters; the teams played round-robin. The acknowledged favorites were the familiar Master's force from Texas, Love Handlers, and the rumored super-combination from New York and Boston, Yesss. Atlanta, Boulder, Miami and Washington DC were not weak teams by any means and close games were frequent.

Old & In The Way had the distinction of playing every game tough without pulling out a win. They started Thursday by losing to Miami, 11—15. They then lost a game that was closer than it seemed to Atlanta's Master Blasters, 10—15, and finished the day with a 11—15 loss to Pocomoke Fish Kill. Their relative newness to the division (although the name had been previously used by Mid-Atlantic Master's women) might have hurt their chances of pulling out close games. Look out for them next year.

Pocomoke started off with a tough loss to Yesss, 11—15. The loss may have deflated the talented team and set them up to lose the very next game to the Love Handlers 15—5. They bounced back with a victory over the unfortunate Old & In The Way.

Both favorites ran into trouble early. After the close game with Pocomoke, Yesss came across a Miami team looking to capitalize on home-field advantage. The game went to cap, and NY/Boston survived 16—14.

The Love Handlers faced Atlanta in the last game of the day. Several turkey vultures were spotted overhead in their search for sprained ankles and rehabbed ACL's. Texas got their Twister going again and defeated the Master Blasters 15—11 to finish the day 2—0.

The Miami team provided the most controversy at 1997 Nationals. There is no doubt that the Master's division currently favors teams close to the Nationals site. The levels of communication in the division are weak at best. Oftentimes teams are unaware of openings in the division and don't put a team together. This happened with several Women's Masters teams, and the Central Open team barely got people together in time.

But the local teams, with nothing to lose and nowhere to travel, are in close proximity to the people who are the communication providers. Ultimate is a very disorganized sport on the whole, and it is the Master's division that has been victim of Ultimate's clique-y nature and word-of-mouth means of passing on information.

Miami finished fourth at Southern Master's Regionals. Comparatively there were hardly four teams total in the rest of the regions combined. When it was discovered by the UPA that not enough Master's teams had played Regionals, they awarded the vacant slot to whatever team was next in line. But again, the swamped UPA has difficulty getting the facts together and communicated to the masses.

The Texas team that finished ahead of Miami was never contacted about the open bid. Miami was "awarded" the spot and competed while the Texas team was never made aware of the opportunity.

This also brings to mind the problem two Texas women's teams had at Butch Brown's Regionals, not being allowed to play. Either there's some bad blood running between the two states, or Brown's got Jimmy Hoffa buried in his backyard.

FRIDAY POOL PLAY–DAY TWO

In an early morning regional rivalry, Atlanta faced Miami for rights to claim the close South. The Georgia team proved too much for the sun-soaked Floridians and won 14—8, putting them in good position for Semis at 3—1.

The anticipated match between Love Handlers and Yesss occurred Friday at 9:00 am. [Insert your own 'old people driving in the morning' joke here]. Yesss wanted to send a message early and put away Texas 15—9 to remain undefeated.

Miami still had a good shot at making Semifinals. They had to beat Pocomoke in the second game of the day. But Pocomoke proved too strong, perhaps utilizing the wealth of Ultimate players the WAFC provides every year. Pocomoke won 15—10 and finished the day at 3—2 after having started 0—2. Barring any upsets, the victory over Miami would prove to be the key game for the right to semifinals.

After four straight tough games, Old & In The Way finally got a breather and defeated Elmer's Used Caddy for their first victory.

The Master Blasters tried to pull an upset over Yesss, but Marv Albert and crew were too strong in the end and stayed undefeated with a 15—11 win.

Yesss is properly written as YESSSSS! on the stellar T-shirts of the NY/Boston team, depicting the exclamation in a cartoonish bubble from a lingerie-clad Marv Albert reaching for a disc. Needless to say these timely shirts were the most coveted in the tournament.

Miami had one more chance at getting to semifinals–they had to beat Love Handlers. They got clobbered instead, 15—4.

SATURDAY POOL PLAY–DAY 10

Yesss's toughest game came against the Colorado team. Perhaps fired up because they were in Florida while 'home' was under 21 inches of snow, Old & In The Way provided quite a battle in a game that was non-consequential for either team. They had played well all tournament, but looked best playing the best team. The match was close throughout, with Old & In The Way leading from the start. At game point Colorado, 14—12, Paul Sackley (yes, that Paul Sackley of rec.sport fame) made three amazing plays in a row to propel the game to a cap: two consecutive point blocks followed by a mac-layout-catch gave Yesss the two points it needed to effect the cap. Those plays gave the team the surge necessary to eclipse Boulder and win 17—15.

Elmer's Used Caddy managed to put up their best numbers of the tournament, 8, against the Love Handlers. It was suggested that they benefited most from the Friday night beach party.

In the game to decide which team would play where in semifinals, Master Blasters and Pocomoke Fish Kill played what amounted to be the game for third and fourth place. The Atlanta folks won decisively, 15—8, and earned the right to avenge their Thursday loss to the Love Handlers. Pocomoke finished at 3—3, enough to earn them the slot versus Yesss.

SATURDAY SEMIFINALS

Yesss was not about to face another long and tiring Saturday match. They came out against Pocomoke decidedly anti-lengthy-game and succeeded in their plans by defeating the DC team 15—8 for a right to the Finals and a chance win the vacant Open Master's Championship. And those spiffy hats.

The Love Handlers also had their eyes set on winning. They lost a tight game to Windy City in last year's finals and desperately wanted to bring a crown to the state of Texas.

The Hugh Bender and Neal Dambra-led team has been playing on the Master's circuit almost since its inception in 1991. They are one of the few teams that consistently sends a Master's team to Nationals. The Master Blasters appeared to be a relatively new team springing up from the Atlanta area, which has been a hotbed of Ultimate activity for some time now.

The Love Handlers used their height and experience to defeat the blasterless Masters, 15—10, and advance to the finals for the second year in a row.

All seven teams celebrated Saturday night with free drafts of local brewery Ybor Ale. It would be a test of wills between Texas and the Northeast for the championship.

SUNDAY–FINALS

The incredibly veteran Yesss team had too many big guns. Many of the players were graduates from successful New York and Boston-area teams. Nationals' titles, Worlds' titles, Hingham Championships–all these laurels rested with the combined Northeast superstars.

Yesss had anticipated a tougher match with the Love Handlers. The Handlers were the favorites going into Nationals and their experience in the division is strong. But the game proved to be a blow-out victory for Yesss.

Led by James Milan and Andy Borinstein, Yesss' big men Rick Deman and Dave Blau, and their small men Mike Nevins and David Goldemberg connected repeatedly for big scores.

Tied at 3's, Yesss was able to generate a run of three by converting on forced turnovers. From that lead the teams traded points to half-time, 9—6 Yesss. The game was a well-played one. But Yesss' defense proved more capable of making the big play, registering six blocks in the first half, an unusually high number.

Yesss received the pull to start the second half and quickly scored after four long passes. They came out in a zone to shake-up the Love Handlers and it worked, forcing a throwaway that resulted in another score for the Northeast, 11—6.

Texas needed to score immediately, or else fall down by six points. They failed to stop Yesss' first possession of the second half and couldn't score against the zone. They were losing control of the game quickly and were in danger of getting buried very early in the second half.

They had their chance. A short pull put them in very good position to break the ice. But they again failed to score, giving Yesss another chance to add to the lead. Texas stopped that possession with a defensive block, but the offense choked again and immediately turned the disc over. Yesss scored, forced another turnover and scored again and soon it was a seven-point game, 13—6.

Yesss loosened up, Texas scored to 13—7, and then Yesss registered two more blocks, four goals and only two turnovers in the last six possessions to win without trouble, 17—8.

Look out for Yesss in August 1998 when they again return to playing form at World's. It has been suggested that they might be able to recruit Marv Albert as event Emcee should his career fail to regenerate.

Yesss captain Milan provided a speculative look at the future of Master's competition. He pointed out that many top-level players of Master's age prefer to stay within the Open division. There is also the well-noted rotation effect, whereby an old team will get players together for a one-year shot at winning the title. Yesss, in fact, falls into this category. They do not plan to defend their title at 1998 Nationals.

Milan suggested that the future of the division may lie in teams like Elmer's Used Caddy–summer league or corporate league teams that play a less competitive version of the game (of course, all versions of Ultimate are less competitive to the one that Boston and New York play).

It is difficult to determine the future of the division. Then again, the entire sport seems to be progressing and regressing simultaneously, so who knows. Maybe some Ultimate astrophysicists can offer some insight into the situation.

A hearty congratulations to the following roster of Yesss players: James Milan, Malcolm White, Justin White, Eric Cochran, Paul Sackley, Andy Borinstein, Pieter Smit, Bruce Jacobsen, Rick Pretsfelder, Chris Phillips, Eddie Stone, Bart Bruner, Doug Propp, Phil Vlahakis, Dave Chaiken, Mike Nevins, Paul Shields, Scott Hollinger, Sanjeev Khanna, Dave Blau, Robert Barnicle, Vinnie Shelton, John Dubinsky, Bill Baer, Joe Hunt, Rick Deman, David Goldemberg, Harry Lipman, Jared Tausig, Dave Mandelbaum, Kamm Basta, Elliot Fu and Mike Yonda.

This was written for the UPA Newsletter.

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