DEATH OR GLORY WINS FOURTH IN A ROW
1997 CLUB NATIONALS
OCTOBER 23–26, SARASOTA, FLORIDA

Between the Open and Women's division, the competitive Ultimate metropolis of Boston, Massachusetts has now won 10 National Championships. Death or Glory faced some difficulty at this year's tournament but still emerged victorious and undefeated. They proved that they remain the team to beat.

THURSDAY POOL PLAY–DAY ONE

Early player speculation feared the A pool which placed potential spoiler Double Happiness in the fourth spot, along with the much-hyped Houston Houndz, Central power Z, and Death or Glory. But the B pool turned out to be more exciting, featuring the concentrated play of New York's Westchester Summer League All-Stars and Raleigh-Durham's Ring of Fire, not to mention annual contender Seattle Sockeye.

Every game is important at Nationals. Proving that maxim, two very similar teams, third seed Ring of Fire and fifth seed Chain Lightning, matched up in the B pool Thursday at 9:00 am. Last year Chain finished 4—2 and narrowly missed semis on point differential. Ring failed to qualify for Nationals. This year was different.

"Chain is very equally matched with us. We lost to them at Tune-Up, and I think that really helped us focus," related Ring captain, Mike Soo.

The teams are quite cozy with each other and often meet in the finals of various Southern tournaments. Both of them have the capability to play high-level Ultimate and both can lose concentration and play less than spectacular. This match was certainly of the latter category.

"We still played more sloppy than we wanted to but we made a surge late in the game," commented Soo.

The game was sloppy, very sloppy, as if neither team wanted to win. But Lady Luck favored Fire over Lightning and Raleigh-Durham came from behind with six of the last eight points to win a brutal match of turnovers, 17—15.

The rest of Thursday favored Ring of Fire. They finished 2—0 with a victory over Pump House 5. Chain Lightning, however, was scheduled into unforgiving matches with Seattle and New York and ended the day a demoralized 0—3. Who knows what would have happened if the victor were reversed.

In the A pool, third seed Houston Houndz started against close rival and fifth seeded Johnny Bravo. Like the Ring—Chain game, the teams are similar in style and substance and had played each other throughout the year. But unlike that outcome, underdogs Johnny Bravo doused Houston's aspirations with a 17—11 victory. Houston would never recover from the opening round loss.

The second round featured crucial matches between the second and fourth seeds of both pools. Chicago Z faced Double Happiness and the Santa Barbara Condors played WSL All-Stars, also called 'WUDI' for Westchester Ultimate Disc Inc.

Z wanted to prove that last year's semifinal appearance was no fluke. They needed to defeat Double and put an end to talk that they were overrated.

"The Double game was one we knew we had to win," said Z's captain, Rich "Farmer" Hollingsworth.

Z capitalized on frequent turnovers courtesy of Double's Dennis "Cribber" Warsen for a 9—6 half-time advantage. But Double Happiness came right back with an 8—4 run to take the lead late in the game, 14—13.

"They took the lead and we took it back," emphasized Farmer.

Again converting Double throwaways, Chicago was able to get back on top with three straight points, the last one highlighted by a patented Farmer high-release forehand and capped by Joe Cesario's blade to Dave Boardman, 16—14, Z. Double immediately countered with a big Cribber huck to John Shelton but it was too little, too late.

After receiving the pull a patient Z team worked the disc down-field without difficulty, setting up the final score–a hooking forehand from Farmer to Windy City veteran Mike Glass for the game, 17—15.

"That was a big win for us," said Farmer.

That may be an understatement. Even though Z feared Houston after losing to them at Tune-Up this year, they would not succumb to the toothless Houndz nor any other teams beneath them in pool standings.

The WUDI—Condors matchup was another key game for both teams with the winner expected to make a strong run for semis. It was like a flashback–Dobyns running the show for New York and the ancient Condors soaring again. Nope, just the Sarasota sun playing tricks. Santa Barbara featured a new team absent of many Condor veterans and stocked with recent UCSB graduates instead. The New Yorkers, too, had undergone several player and team shifts and were a new combination of talent.

WUDI's use of the old-school lineup would prove too powerful for the fledgling Condors. New York took half 9—4 and kept the lead throughout, even after Bronx High School teacher Skip Kuhn lost his cool at 15—11 and kneed his opponent in the groin–triggering a bench-clearing fight.

"He had his legs between my feet, and for the first time I can remember I thought of my ACL. And then right after that we were bumping and grabbing and pushing. It was a heat of the moment thing. It was the stupidest thing I've ever done. It wasn't like I did it because I wanted to," explained Kuhn.

Director of Competition Rex O'Quinn took care of the situation. Skip was suspended for the first game of the following day and the team was issued a yellow card–any more warnings against them potentially resulting in team suspension.

WUDI finished the game 17—11 to remain, ahem, in good standing within the B pool.

Michigan's Big Ass Truck and Indianapolis/Cincinnati's Pump House 5 matched up in the most indicative-of-the-sport game of the tournament. The teams are intimate and Truck decided to ask for observers as tensions could run high. However, more than several calls went against them, including a comical but accurate ruling on the goal line.

A Truck player called himself in and spiked the disc without checking the observer, who had signaled 'straddle'. After a few minutes a keen House player calmly walked over, pointed to the signaling observer and noted that the spiked disc was a turnover. The observer could only agree, although he thought it was un-spirit-like to declare a turnover. But neither House nor Truck considered that spirit could be enacted after an observer's ruling. And it was a legitimate turnover.

At half-time the teams conferred with Truck asking for the observers to be removed. House consented, and befitting the sport of Ultimate, they asked the men in pink to hit the road. "We just can't figure out how to work with them," explained a Truck convoy leader.

"It's the only sport where you can kick out the referees instead of the other way around," commented House veteran Ben Barbera. Pump House's annointment by the now-departed observing crew led them to the upset victory, 17—14.

The final games of the day featured the two top seeds from each pool facing each other. DoG played Z and Sockeye met with the Condors. Neither match lived up to expectation as DoG and Sockeye won easily, 17—9 and 17—10. Death or Glory player Jim Parinella commented, "I don't think they [Z] are mentally prepared for DoG."

FRIDAY POOL PLAY – DAY 2

The big matches of the opening round were Z versus Houston and Ring of Fire facing another morning test against Santa Barbara. Other opening games were of little consequence, although WUDI narrowly avoided an upset courtesy of the tenacious Truck squad and fought hard to escape with a 17—15 victory.

Z was worried that the Houndz might bounce back from their 0—2 start. But Bob Deman and Sandy Ganzell's team was learning how to play at Nationals the hard way–by losing. That didn't dampen their spirit however–they remained one of the most spirited teams to play against. Chicago won 17—12.

Ring of Fire had built up confidence and they were not about to let the grounded Condors take them out of their rhythm. They beat Santa Barbara convincingly, 17—13, ending the Condors hopes for finishing as they were seeded–third over-all–and putting Ring in good position to earn the vacant slot.

"I think it was a good time for us to realize that we were better–and we beat teams that beat us in the past," said Soo of his team's march through the B pool.

The second round was highlighted by the Boston—San Francisco and Seattle—New York matchups. Seattle's bench is deep and their ability to run hard and play tough D seems unlimited. This used to be a signature of New York teams, but Seattle has since taken up the designation. They used their all-around talent to cruise past WUDI, 15—7.

The DoG—Double match was far more exciting. If Double could pull off the upset they would have a good chance of making semis on point differential. Plus they were, according to their bio, "a team with a second chance and nothing to lose."

Double Happiness came to Sarasota as a mixed-up bunch, having received a late bid to Nationals after Portland's Pack of Lies backed out. However they also came without paying the price. Apparently they actually signed a contract guaranteeing Pack of Lies their jerseys should Portland pass on Nationals and "give" the bid to Double. Several high-profile sports lawyers are currently working out the legal entanglement.

The game was tight as Double's D was able to run with the Boston veterans. There were several point swings as the teams played good Ultimate. Boston, however, seemed to capitalize more on foul calls. Several points I witnessed featured controversial Boston whistles that deflated Double's happiness. Certainly the crowd felt the same way.

The turning point of the game came at 12—11, DoG. Double had called a time-out with the disc 15 yards from the goal when the horn sounded–cap initiated after the point. If they could score, it would be a race to two.

Mysteriously, was it the Pack of Lies curse? Double failed to comprehend the gravity of the situation and immediately clogged. Everyone squirreled and the offense failed to open up, allowing DoG's Jim Parinella to make a quick block. Boston then drove downfield easily for the score, 13—11, cap at 15.

Double could not recover from the two-point turnaround. The nearby Z team cheered the turn of events and watched Death or Glory effectively eliminate Double Happiness, 15—12.

In the battle for respect, Washington DC's Anodyne was on the prowl, picking off the withering Houndz in the second round and bringing Johnny Bravo back to solid ground with a 17—12 victory. They are not the same Anodyne team that has often been second to Chesapeake. Both DC teams lost players this year so the captains decided to combine, but couldn't decide on a name. The Gods said: Anodyne. Their victories over the Houndz, Bravo and RoQ were not surprising even though they were seeded 12th overall.

The Team Formerly Known as Snapple also managed to play better than their seeding–13th overall–by beating Houston and Johnny Bravo. RoQ has benefitted from Death or Glory's rigidity and the wealth of Northeastern colleges that play Ultimate. RoQ and WUDI have been competing for up-and-coming talent, and RoQ's 4—2 performance as Snapple at last year's Nationals provided the team with positive press.

RoQ was also involved in a particularly quaint version of our beloved Ultimate. At game point RoQ over Houston, 16—15, a goal pass was bobbled and caught by a well-covered Lars, but it was nearly impossible to determine if he 'had possession' before sliding out-of-bounds. Lars called himself in, Houston starting balking immediately, and soon both teams were standing around as the required discussion moved at its laborious pace.

But Ultimate was introduced to a novelty gadget and everyone had to have a look-see. An adventurous spectator (the only one sighted) was recording the game on a hand-held video camera with the ability to play back tape on a small black-and-white screen. Amazingly she had an excellent shot of the controversial play. But running at full speed it was very difficult to make the determination, and RoQ seemed fixed on calling the goal 'in'. Several gawkers, myself included, sauntered up to Ultimate's version of Instant Replay. I expertly opined that he was out, as his jeg was rolling over the side-line as he caught the disc. Someone, however, pointed out that I was not unbiased (I defend my judgment) and ten more minutes went by before play finally resumed with the decision that was destined to happen: return to thrower. RoQ scored easily after that to win the game.

Pump House 5 also garnered some respect. They came out against the fearful New Yorkers and kept stride, running four straight after half to ease within one at 10—9. WUDI was forced to keep playing hard and inched up to 12—10 before finally putting away the pesky Midwesterners, 15—11, in their second scare of the day with the Central division.

In the match of the winless, Chain Lightning faced Big Ass Truck in the 'Bagel Bowl'. Michigan won the Bagel and lost the game, 17—12.

Ring was en Fuego and came into the final game of the day against Sockeye with a sterling 4—0 record. Could they broil some salmon and polish off the B pool?

The teams were evenly matched. Points were traded early and often with several crowd-raising plays on both sides.

There were no outbursts from legendary bad boy John Gewirtz. The Seattle team did not enjoy Gwiz's notoriety and relinquished his captaining duties before the fall season in an attempt to "muzzle" him. He was, by all accounts, an angel on and off the field.

Ring finished with two straight to take half, 9—8, then Sockeye tied, then Ring 11—10, then Sockeye again at 11's, then Sockeye 12—11. The 'play of the tournament' occurred on Ring's possession downfield. A throw to the flat was interrupted by a diving Seattle player who mac'd it into the air. An alert Ring player came back to the floating disc, but an unseen Sockeye slipped into position and layed out for the second block. The disc then sputtered to the ground when suddenly the Ring player, now falling down, made a stab and miraculously snatched it off the turf. The game stopped shortly thereafter to give the appreciative crowd 30 seconds to cheer. You shoulda been there.

When play resumed, Johnny Gewirtz got a phantom block, then Seattle gave it back because they felt bad, then Ring capitalized behind the play of Augie Kreivenas to tie at 12's, cap at 14. It was anyone's game.

Seattle effectively and patiently moved the disc downfield towards the next score. But Greg Shiring tried to toe the goal-line and dropped the disc. Ring was not able to officially cash in on the gift possession. An apparently successful huck was called back on a contested stall. Ring had to huck it again but could not convert. Seattle took the turnover and moved downfield with Ring's D all over them. They finally got the disc into the hands of #25 Sean Federbush who was able to stroke a beautiful break-force backhand two inches off the ground to the short corner for a 13—12 lead and game point.

It's unfortunate that the game ended soon after that. After another contested stall against Ring and a Seattle turnover, Ring's O got jammed near their own goal. Two Ring players collided as the disc was thrown. The disc instead sailed into the arms of Gewirtz. Seattle scored easily to win the breath-taking game, 14—12.

Both Ring of Fire and WUDI ended the day with 4—1 records. They faced each other Saturday for the right to go to semis.

The A pool was locked up by DoG and Z. DoG had only to defeat Anodyne for first place and Z needed to put away Johnny Bravo to clinch their second straight semifinals appearance.

SATURDAY FINAL POOL PLAY – DAY 3

Both qualifying matchups, Ozone—Schwa and Ring of Fire—WUDI, were played simultaneously on adjacent fields. I camped out at the back of the endzones and vicariously enjoyed the competitive atmosphere while mentally preparing plans to get back at my enemies, like Nixon.

Ring of Fire had been playing superbly at Nationals, but New York is just the team to not pay attention to such things. Dobyns' squad featured several players with multiple Championship rings. Could Ring of Fire beat WUDI in one of the most important games they had ever played?

The teams looked great. Both sported the same Nike-striped jerseys–Ring in red and WUDI in blue. The presence of snazzy uniforms guaranteed a good game. The Blue team made the first push of the game, taking half 9—6 with a two-point run. Ring of Fire seemed hesitant while WUDI's veterans were confident of victory. Fortunes would change in the second half.

"Early on we were playing scrappy, we were down, we made some mistakes and [at half-time] we decided to open it back up with some deep looks. We got a huck right off the bat from Augie to Dan," commented Ring's Mike Soo.

Ring's revitalized offense kept them from being closed out early and WUDI failed to capitalize on important possessions.

"We had three consecutive defensive possessions in the second half where we forced turnovers and didn't convert. Each one of those could have given us a four-goal lead in the second half," spoke Dobyns of his team's problems.

At 12—9 the men in Blue started to lose their tenuous grip. A rookie throwaway led to an easy score for Ring. WUDI seemed to lose concentration, as several more errant throws by veterans and youngsters alike allowed Ring to gain confidence and momentum, running off three more points to take the lead at 13—12.

WUDI finally stopped the bleeding courtesy of a misread Ring huck and scored to tie. They immediately enacted the zone in an attempt to dampen Ring's re-found fire. Ring worked the disc patiently, finally putting it in with a crowd-pleasing scoober to retake the lead at 14—13.

On the second throw after the pull, a WUDI player mysteriously opted for a huck that failed to connect. New York immediately clamped on the zone and hoped for the best. They were going to need it.

Ring had some trouble in the beginning, relying on the omnipresent Tim Brooks to keep them on track. Midway through the lengthy zone point, the horn sounded indicating cap. A turnover could tie the game for WUDI while a score would give Ring a two-point headstart in a game to four. Ring showed true patience when it counted, culminating in a Kreivenas forehand to the corner for the score, 15—13. That point seriously dampened New York's confidence and gave Ring of Fire an excellent window of opportunity.

Ring of Fire sensed victory and the stunned WUDI team could not recover. Ring celebrated shortly thereafter with a 17—14 victory and a berth in semifinals against Death or Glory.

"We weren't deep enough to withstand Ring physically. They really physically beat us. They ran harder than us down the stretch, they made the plays, they got to the discs. The better team won that game," said Dobyns.

Dobyns felt that his team had been weakened after the two drawn-out matches with the Central division the previous day, and came into the Ring game a bit winded.

Ring credited the victory to their recent emphasis on defined offensive and defensive squads. The over-30 Research-Area veterans provided offensive savvy and experience while an under-25 group of recent college grads was squired to play intense defense.

SATURDAY, SEMIFINALS

Ring had 45 minutes to rest up for their match with the defending champions Death or Glory. This was the first semifinals appearance ever for most of Ring of Fire's lineup. Some of the core DoG players had been to the last ten semifinals, including several finals appearances and National Championships in the last three. It was like that little Bible guy versus that big Babylonian behemoth.

Ring got on the board first, quickly followed by a DoG score. From there it was all Ring of Fire. They were fired-up and the young defensive squad was thrilled to be on the field. Several exciting blocks by #22 Roy Attride propelled Ring's D as DoG's offense consistently found it difficult to score. Chris "Corky" Corcoran could not get on track as Attride got the best of him more than once. Ring inched up to 4—1, then a huck caught by Brian Snyder added another point to 5—1, then Ring's B.C. Connelly made a great D block and soon it was Ring of Fire 6, DoG 1. Could the upset happen? Did Ring posses what it took to win the game?

I thought so, and immediately called Vegas to place a bet on an even line. Ring was playing very well and they hadn't succumbed to head games all weekend. It would not be easy, but they could hang onto a five-goal lead. They had been playing very consistently.

DoG put in the next point and I tried to cancel my bet. Ring patiently moved the disc through one of DoG's junk zones and scored to take a 7—2 lead in a game to 17. DoG's offense was up to bat again. They were still out of rhythm and relied on two heart-skip throws that somehow connected to notch up another one to 7—3.

The next possession may have been the turning point of the game, according to DoG master Steve Mooney. A Ring throwaway and a DoG drop on the goal line led to a Ring offense and a tightened DoG defense. Boston was starting to feel the pressure and desperately wanted a 'stuff and score'. But Ring was able to move the disc through a defense that was meaner than ever. A huge layout catch by Bryce Tennant was followed by an even more spectacular layout from Dan Axon to preserve the disc. Ring finally scored the very tough point to take an 8—3 lead.

"The defense walked off the field kind of dejected and I said, 'No way, that's great D, they are at the edge.' When we came out in the second half they weren't completing those same passes," explained Mooney.

Death or Glory had started to feel a twinge of nervousness. But Mooney and all quickly sucked it up and re-focused on victory. A Boston offensive score brought DoG closer before Ring patiently moved through the Clam to take half 9—4.

At half-time Mooney told his team, "We're not going to get this back all at once. I think we're going to get this in three sets of two. The most important thing is that if we get a little bit back we can't relinquish whatever we get."

The Burning Ring of Fire continued to play strong, but the awesome grabs and nearly immaculate offense (they had four turnovers in the first half) was no longer forthcoming.

Ring received the pull to open the second half and scored to inch tantalizingly close to a put-away at 10—4. Boston's offense finally got on track. DoG got two to close at 10—6 while the Ring offense seemed tired. Boston scored again–a three point run. DoG may have given weary Ring a break on the next possession, enacting the Clam. Ring broke it easily with a huck-and-hammer O to stem the blood loss and maintain a comfortable four-point margin at 11—7.

A little luck came Boston's way on the next point, and that may have been all they needed for the prophecy to come true. Parinella let a bowling-alley forehand to Corcoran slip off his fingers and could only watch as the disc sailed over Cork's head. Fortunately an alert Michael Cooper was cutting directly to the overthrown disc and it landed comfortably in his hands. Coop sent it back to Corky, and he sent a shaky forehand into the endzone for Mooney. The best way to judge a shaky Corcoran forehand is to have played with it for years, and Mooney was fortunate to have this advantage as a confused Ring player was unable to make the defensive play.

For underdogs Ring of Fire to win this game, all the breaks had to go their way–not just some of them.

Ring scored to make it 12—8. Mooney sent a picture-perfect huck to Corky for the score that would propel them to three more. Another Ring throwaway, Boston point, Ring throws into a crowd and Jeff Yu gets the big D block, Ring's O stalls and is forced to send up a hanging hammer, knocked down by DoG, and it was suddenly tied at 12's. You knew it had to happen. Was Ring prepared?

Boston tried to help. Crazy Jeff "Jethro" Yu went down suddenly with an ACL injury. He was carried off the field. Bob Lobel came down hard on his wrist and painfully walked off. If North Carolina could keep up this effective strategy, maybe they would win.

But the injuries did not deter Boston. Their defense came out as fired-up as ever and again got the big block. Boston's defensive O happily converted the point and Death or Glory had its first lead at 13—12 after running five straight points. Boston became more and more enthusiastic, officially awakened from their slumber.

Ring's offense was cowed into submission and had the same sort of dry spell that Boston had in the first half. Again they threw the disc away, and again DoG capitalized with a big Al DeFrondeville crank to Parinella for the sixth point in a row and a late two-point lead. That may have broken Ring, but they did not fall apart.

Ring took the pull and finally ended the drought with a hammer to the endzone to close in at 15—14. Several close line calls later, with Ring's D playing heavy, Boston responded with a Corky score to pull within one of winning the game, 16—14.

Time was running out on Ring of Fire's excellent upset bid. Boston had not just gotten back into the game, they had gotten back on top of the game. Ring suddenly found itself in familiar territory after having trailblazed a path to victory.

Ring played smart on their next-to-last possession, moving the disc well without forced throws or clogged cuts. They put the disc in to make the score 15—16 in a game to 17, capped at 18. They now had to pull to Death or Glory, and DoG was sniffing victory.

DoG struck quickly. Moving effectively against the pressure Ring defense Boston was able to get to half-field with little trouble. Suddenly a wide-open Parinella was streaking into the endzone. Ring could only watch as the inevitable throw came after him like a cruise missile. The disc was moving low and fast and flirting with the sideline. Not an easy grab to make, but one Parinella had made countless times. He slid to the disc with arm outstretched and everyone felt the game end.

But all Parinella caught was air. Was it a sign of weakness emanating from Death or Glory, a sign that they weren't the flawless Gods of Ultimate, and maybe, just maybe, that their age was starting to show? The game should have ended right there. Giving Ring another chance was dangerous.

Ring picked up the turnover and managed to smartly move the disc against a vicious DoG defense not about to let the game slip away. If they could score, the pressure would be on DoG. They were playing crisp again. A high hooking forehand, almost a left-handed hammer, split the seam in Boston's defense. A Ring player had to make a fairly routine slide and catch–but he heard footsteps. The disc bounced off both of his hands.

It was a crummy way to end a great game. The poor Ring player was still grasping his head in disbelief after DoG took the turnover and scored with an easy huck to Bickford for the victory.

Somehow Ultimate always seems to find a way to be anti-climatic. Everyone in the crowd was eagerly hoping for another Ring score to tie the game. I don't know if there's anything we can do about anticlimactic Ultimate games, though. Maybe we should bring back the two-point line.

Death or Glory was back in the finals looking for their fourth consecutive championship. They deserved to be there after the incredible come-back staged against an impressive Ring of Fire. Stealing a slice of perfection from their own history, DoG committed only two turnovers in the second half versus thirteen scores.

Ring's efforts did not go unnoticed. They were voted the Spirit of the Game award for the tournament, and lost only twice to the top teams by a total of four points.

The Sockeye—Z match could only hope to be as exciting. The teams match up well. Z has some serious talent on their team but the wealth of experience 'off the bench' favored Seattle. The first half was close.

The 'sequence of the tournament' occurred on five consecutive plays at 8—7 Seattle. Chicago pulled to Sockeye and Z's #34 Jeff Cappella hand-blocked the first throw of the possession. Chicago picked up the disc looking to score, only to be point-blocked in return by Martin Saxer. Oblivious to the strange set of circumstances, Seattle threw the very next pass into a crowd and Z's Rick Fowler came charging through to make the layout block. Not wanting to hesitate, Capella picked up the turnover and fired a forehand to a well-covered Cesario. He capped the entire sequence with a monster layout in the endzone to tie the game at 8's. It was so beautiful I cried.

Seattle scored the next point to take half 9—8 in a game that was shaping up to be exciting.

"At half-time we talked about who on their team was hurting us and came up with a plan on how to stop them. I think more importantly, we realized that we were not playing with the heart that they seemed to be playing with," related Sockeye's captain Eric Kehoe.

"In the first half our O was good and safe and smart. In the second half, it was tired and not smart. Our D was getting tired too. A lot of our better D players had played a lot of points over the course of the weekend," spoke Farmer

The combination or Seattle's re-dedication to winning and Z's tiredness proved deadly for Z's upset bid. Seattle's first strategic move was to put Faust on Farmer.

"I couldn't cut the way I wanted to due to my knee injury (a hyper-extension). Josh Faust was covering me most of the game and he's a very good player. He made me work hard and probably wore me down some," explained Farmer.

Seattle came out on offense and scored quickly on a Chris Page to Greg Shiring throw. That score propelled them to two more as Chicago's weary offense could not get on track. Suddenly Sockeye was holding a four-goal lead at 12—8 and Z seemed to be running out of fuel.

Chicago managed to put in the next goal after four turnovers by each team, but Seattle quickly responded to hold at 13—9.

A lazy Chicago turnover on their side of the field gave Sockeye the opportunity to run a nifty play. Seattle settled into a stack as Gewirtz sauntered up to the disc with Faust behind him. Gewirtz faked picking up the disc and bolted to the endzone instead. Faust rushed up and quickly sent a forehand Gewirtz's way for the score. That play made Z look bad and it gave Sockeye a five-point advantage late in the game.

Several more Chicago throwaways led to another Seattle score, 15—9, and then Z completely fell apart on the next pull. The offense formed a circle around Farmer. He had nowhere to throw and flipped a dump throw on stall 9 in the hope that someone would bail him out. But no one was there. Seattle scored easily for game point at 16—9. Z scored two more before Sockeye closed them out 17—11 to earn a rematch with Death or Glory.

"Our plans are obviously to keep improving. We'd love to take the next step and reach finals. We need a deeper (and taller) team for that, though. Our goal last year was, "get to semis and see what happens." This year it was, "win a semi and see what happens." We improved, but not quite to the level that we wanted," commented Farmer about his team's future plans.

SUNDAY, OPEN FINALS

Contrary to popular usenet postings, the Open final was not as long as it could have been. Director of Competition Rex O'Quinn remained consistent with time caps and sounded the horn at 4:00 PM, capping the game at 16.

However, it could have been more exciting. The fields were rife with languid Ultimate players waiting for their Sunday flights. As usual there were few, if any, spectators. Most of the excitement resided in hearty rounds of Fantasy Ultimate.

It's kind of weird that the pinnacle game of our sport is at once both fascinating and unwatchable. Many suggestions have been made as to what we can do about this. It may be time to implement some new strategies for Nationals of the future.

Then again, it could simply have been the 'year of the sloppy offense and tight defense.' Both DoG and Sockeye were relieved to get their defense on the field after the hapless offense failed to score points. DoG's defense scored six consecutive points after the first one, Seattle's offense got lucky, and then their defense scored the next four. In fact, of the sixteen points scored in the first half, eleven were scored by a defensive team.

Seattle's offense was also to blame for DoG's run of seven points to open the game. They could not adjust to the crosswind and were not prepared for DoG's intense man-to-man defense.

"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 Eric Kehoe.

Several uncharacteristic drops–two in one point by normally trustworthy Tom Barnouw– fed the disc to DoG and their defense converted dutifully.

"The defensive O was amazing. There was a point in the 7—0 run–against the wind–that they made the block. They then had five or six passes in a row [on offense] where no player held it for more than a second before finally scoring," related Mooney.

DoG's starting defensive seven clicked on offensive possessions throughout Nationals. Jeremy Seeger, Paul Greff, Lenny Engle, John Bar Axon, Bob Lobel, Billy Rodriguez and Dick Brown were the catalysts for DoG's superior play over the four days.

Overall Boston's throws were better in the wind while Seattle appeared to forget how to put a decent spin on the disc. Sockeye began to get tremendously frustrated at failing to score over such a long run. They finally broke the drought on a pass tipped by Corky that was caught by a quick-thinking Federbush.

Finally Seattle's offense was off the field and DoG's was on. Pressure Sockeye D forced DoG turnovers that they converted to gain some momentum to 7—4. The next point contained eleven turnovers and two time-outs. Seattle scored after a Parinella throwaway, but it was clear to everyone that DoG had gotten the turnovers out of their system. The offense was ready to score again and they did so in grand fashion with a big DeFrondeville huck off the pull to a streaking Corky in the endzone to stop the Seattle run and pull ahead by three, 8—5.

Seattle responded with improved offense of their own and scored after a crisp thirteen throws, featuring a great Barnouw grab after Boston's Paul Greff got a piece of the disc. DoG's offense decided to finally contribute themselves, and Eric "Zaz" Zaslow threw a score to Jay "Bickford" Watson for a 9—6 lead. DoG came out in a trademark Clam defense that switched to man-to-man on an audible. The defense didn't exactly confuse Sockeye, but they threw the disc away in the wind nonetheless, and DoG worked extremely patiently through a Sockeye zone to feed Mooney the point for half-time, 10—6 DoG.

The fans were rightfully bored. Everyone knew that Death or Glory wasn't going to give up the game. But the finals are like that in many sports: the Super Bowl, for example, is routinely a blow-out game. And many NBA finals are less than spectacular.

Boston knew they were going to win as well.

"At half-time we had stopped their momentum, so even though they had come back, we had this four-point lead. The team felt that they [Seattle] would have one more shot. They were going to push one more time–and if we match that push we we're going to win," explained Mooney.

Seattle's Eric Kehoe, meanwhile, tried to get his team more relaxed. They were still a little jittery after the early collapse.

"The one thing I remember saying is that we will all be thinking about this game for a long time, win or lose, replaying situations, and if you have a chance to do something out there and don't, you'll be kicking yourself for a long time," recounted Kehoe.

Seattle came out of half and worked the disc patiently through the DoG Clam to score, 10—7. EK's words must have floated prophetically through the heads of Rick Melner, Lou Burruss and Josh Faust on their next possession.

After DoG's offense failed after ten throws, Seattle recovered and started to move downfield patiently. Faust became frustrated with the lack of excitement and gamely cranked a backhand into the endzone. Melner was tracking the disc, but 6-foot-4 Mooney came back on help coverage and both of them followed the disc out-of-bounds. It was hard to tell the position of his feet, but suddenly Melner skied to the disc and flipped it behind him before landing out (and on Mooney). Burruss, meanwhile, had positioned himself in the endzone and waited patiently for the disc, which came directly to him.

"I knew it. I knew exactly what you were going to do!" exclaimed a triumphant Burruss after recording the score on Ricky's "greatest play." Unfortunately Mooney was not getting up on the sideline. Melner had come down hard on top of him and Mooney was in pain.

The exuberance generated by the play brought Sockeye back into the game at 10—8, DoG. And DoG's captain was down and out on the opposite sideline (Mooney found out later that he had a separated clavicle). It seemed that this might be Seattle's best opportunity to put some serious points on the board.

It was not going to happen. Death or Glory followed their captain's half-time advice, too. The opening second half points scored by Seattle constituted their 'push'. Now it was time for Boston to push back.

Jeremy Seeger, Paul Greff and import player Daisuke Koyamo led the charge (Daisuke was playing with Boston to gain knowledge and skills to take back to Japan). The offense started the next Boston run as a patient DoG scored after a rather impatient Corky throw found Seeger rising up in a crowded endzone, 11—8. On the next point Greff made a diving block on the second Sockeye throw, leading to another Seeger score, this time toe-ing the line on a pass from John Bar, 12—8. A miscommunication on the second Sockeye throw of the possession led to another easy score for DoG, Engle to Koyamo, 13—8.

Sockeye gave DoG yet another easy scoring chance on the next possession, but this time DoG did not convert and Seattle finally ended their concentration errors with a score, 13—9. But it might have been too late.

Seeger again found himself in the endzone and Parinella put it to him for his third score in DoG's last four points. Midway through the next eight-turnover point the cap was called, all but declaring the game for Death or Glory. Sockeye scored to make it 14—10, DoG, but Boston ran off the next two points with little difficulty and won 16—10.

Death or Glory won their fourth National title in a row. It is no secret that they are in hot pursuit of arch-rival New York, New York's record of five Championships in a row and six out of seven.

Billy Rodriguez has kept his record intact. He has now won eight straight Nationals' championships and boasts a record of 58—0 in Nationals competition. Rumor has it that Seattle is trying to recruit the good doctor to the Pacific Northwest.

It has been DoG spiritual leader Jim Parinella's vision that Boston would eclipse NYNY. But the record will be hard to break.

"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."

Mooney supports changes in the rules of Ultimate, most noticeably the time between pulls, turnovers, time-outs and half-times. In fact, all the captains I spoke with were in favor of amending these specific rules.

Sockeye will have to wait another year before getting another opportunity to unseat Death or Glory. And Ring of Fire, Z, WUDI and other up-and-coming teams will be pushing the envelope as well. DoG has won number four–can they win number five?

Mooney has been the Nationals' bridesmaid several times. He realizes the closeness between competitors: "I know that the difference between the team that holds the trophy at the end and the team that does not is minuscule."

This was written for the UPA Newsletter.

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