"DEATH OR GLORY STILL PERFECT"
1998 U.S. CLUB NATIONALS
OCTOBER 21–24, SARASOTA, FLORIDA

It's true. Since forming in 1995 Death or Glory has not lost a single game in Nationals competition.

They will have to regroup this year and see if they have it in them to pull off an unprecedented 6th National Championship in a row. It sounds audacious now, but when Death or Glory has thrown its last disc, when they ascend to a glorious Ultimate death, then an era will be over. Whether that era truly ended on Sunday, Oct 24 at approximately 12:30 pm will be determined sometime next year when the Spring thaw brings its emotions to Boston.

OPEN POOL PLAY

Who would come out of Thursday Pool Play with a solid record and who would start thinking about drinking imports on Friday night?

The fields were damp after an evening storm and the wind was gusty. But the sun shone through clouds and the rain never returned. It was a good time to play Ultimate.

Last year's semifinalists Chicago Z were not expected to return to semis. They lost half their team in the off-season and had to recruit young players and retired veterans to plug the holes. They even lost in Sectionals to Dark Prophesy from South Bend, Indiana.

But still they have some of the best players in the Midwest. They have lots of speed and plenty of good throws. Now if they could put an end to those turnovers...

It killed them Thursday morning 9am against the Houston Houndz. They took an early lead and kept pace in the second half. At 10—9, Z, they failed to punch in a crucial upwind goal. Chicago icon Mike Glass commented matter-of-factly from the sidelines, "That's probably the game right there."

Houston came on strong, scoring two upwinders behind big man Damien Scott. Houston's sideline trap stifled Z and forced them into silly forehand throwaways. The Houndz won 14-11 and erased the bad memories of last year's 0-6 Nationals appearance.

Facing Ring of Fire and then New York's WSL All-Stars, Z finished the day's rough schedule at 0-3, while Houston headed into the clubhouse 2—0.

In pool A, favorites Death or Glory and Furious George won their opening games convincingly, 17—3 and 17—7.

DoG's Jim Parinella told me earlier to take a look at that first game against Regional rival Red Tide, "If we come out in the first half of the first game at Nationals and play well, then we've got a good shot. If we don't, then we could be in trouble."

Prescience?

The wind picked up a little more for the start of round two. Was it going to affect Furious George, the Worlds' winners from Vancouver, Canada, a team with a core of young and fast huckers and jumpers?

Furious plays an electriying game, relying on huge skies from 24 year-old 6'2'' Mike Grant and team psyche Mitch "Space" Scott. But they faced Sub Zero, another young and fast team with a deep game.

Furious stayed comfortably ahead by 2-3 points, but they repeatedly failed to widen the lead. Several upwind opportunities were squandered by impatience on both sides of the disc. Both teams had no problem scoring downwind however. It was quite entertaining watching Furious' Jeff Cruikshank and Zero's Mark "Paco" Enright send big hucks for scores all game. Plus the added value of Furious players' exclaiming "For fuck's sake!" every time they failed to stop Zero from scoring.

Furious finally pulled out the win, 17—15. Sub Zero credited the loss with opening—Nationals jitters. Only two Zero players had been to Club Nationals and this was their first game of the tournament..

In pool B, the game to watch was New York versus San Francisco. Or if you will, the Westchester Summer League All-Stars against Parking Lot Jam.

Plenty of history and rivalry among player's on these teams. San Francisco, playing as Double Happiness, had been befuddled by the Josh Faust—Jon Gewirtz led Seattle Sockeye team for years. Gewirtz is a former NYNY player while Faust assumed the captaining duties of the WSL All-Stars this year.

Jam stormed through the vaunted Northwest Regionals. A team from the Northwest has made Nationals semifinals seven straight years. All the pre-tournament press had them making it eight.

You knew it was going to be a tooth and nail game to the end. Both teams are intense competitors. They feature awesome athletes and hard-nosed runners. Both teams were focused on winning this year's Nationals. They weren't here for an appearance only.

Jam's coach Mike O'Dowd is an outspoken über-veteran whose singular attitude propelled Chicago's Windy City to two Championships in the mid-80's. WSL's player-captain Josh Faust is a soft-spoken egotist with visions of Ultimate Harmony and Ultimate Dedication. Both wielded near absolute control of their ego-laden teams.

Jam highlights three big men, Big Jim Schoettler, Scott "Lippy" Lipscomb and Dennis "Cribber" Warsen. All three stand comfortably around 6'4". While Cribber still likes to send big lefty hucks, he can still get up in the endzone. Same with Lippy. Big Jim just catches them and ambles to the sidelines to sit on D points.

WSL keeps its top players almost secret. No. 23 Dave "Babs" Babkow and Allon Katz are the core of the team. Babs is built like a defensive back. Mid-sized and muscular. He wears a red cap covering short hair and rarely talks to his opponents. Allon, too, is not one to jaw teammates or opponents while maintaining a low profile. Both are near-perfect Ultimate players.

But as for the demeanor of the two teams–well you could say that there the differences cease. People always tell me that San Francisco is the closest city in attitude to New York.

WSL opened up to a 4—2 lead. Neither team had trouble with the wind. The tight cuts they run makes wind a much less volatile factor. Jam tied at 6—6. Both teams put in consecutive upwinders to knot the game at 8—8. Jam took half and then added one to open up a two-goal advantage. WSL came back with energy and emotion, scoring three in a row to take a 12—11 lead. Both teams were playing good, clean, intense Ultimate.

But the pressue got to them. Jam's young phenom Idris Nolan made what looked to be a most spectacular defensive block, leaping from behind and above a WSL player to nip the disc just as he was throwing it. It looked amazing, but a legitimate foul was called. From that point on, the game was all jaw.

Jam's players starting yelling on the sidelines, WSL's sidelines immediately countered with creative and crude verbal abuses, both teams started yelling at their own players, WSL scores the point, Cribber calls a cheap foul on a bad huck, then hucks it again to score, WSL's offense gets tentative and ineffectual but scores anyway, O'Dowd exhorts his players to play better, Big Jim drops a short pass, WSL scores to go up 14—12, Jam hucks for a score, a chalkboard on the sidelines has a badly drawn caricature of O'Dowd exclaiming "Do it my way!", Jam drops another disc, O'Dowd not happy, Chicken Joe throws it away, Jam scores to tie, cap goes on, WSL's offense looks tired, Jam scores again, WSL sideline player comments about WSL "That's what you call subbing to lose," WSL's O looks terrible, Jam gets a turnover then turfs it, WSL moves to within 15 yards to tie then Marty calls foul on defender on break-mark backhand, Marty again calls foul on defender on break-mark backhand, O'Dowd tells his team not to foul, Marty calls fouls on defender on break-mark backhand, "I said NO FOULS!!", Kevin Beck calls foul on Marty, other Jam defender calls foul on Chicken Joe for stiff-arming him, Pick call, Marty calls foul on defender on break-mark backhand, Marty completes pass to Josh or Babs, no foul is called, WSL scores, sideline Guapos players boo WSL and heckle game, O'Dowd berates them to shut up, Guapos shuts up fast, game tied at 15—15 to 16, Jam recieves pull, Cribber sends big upwind backhand huck brought down by Jam receiver, maybe Shelton or Kevin Beck, Jam scores, celebrates, Cribber proclaims to the large audience, "Both teams is a fucking disgrace!!"

Yeah, but fun to watch if you're into that kind of thing.

At 2:30 Death or Glory faced Furious George in the first rematch since Minneapolis. Furious was coming off of a longer-than-should-have-been—game against Sub Zero while DoG had cruised to a win over the Refugees.

"I think we're more mentally prepared now than then," spoke Parinella about the rematch.

"With Worlds you only have two games a day and lots of time in between," compared Furious' young captain CJ Harmer, "There's better quality teams here and three games to 17 in seven hours is really, really hard. We've never done that before."

Sure the wind was a factor, but so was Death or Glory's confidence at playing in a comfortable tournament for them–namely U.S. Nationals. Furious traveled a long way to get here–three big Northwest Regional dogfights, 14 hours in a plane, and one rule change two years ago.

Using classic DoG defenses, switching between very effective 2-3-2 to a 1-3-3 zones, they kept Furious grounded every step of the way. DoG masters of mood Steve Mooney, Parinella and Bob Lobel chatted up the Furiuos youngsters on the sidelines, weaving them into their personal fabric of fate. Furious eased towards the end of half, happy to be at the big Show.

DoG kept it together and won 16—9. They were defintely in prime form for winning the big game.

"They were a lot more physical. They just played…harder," said Harmer after the game.

In pool B top seed Ring of Fire dueled Jam for an undefeated Thursday.

Ring has been on the upswing for a good year now, playing strong, focused Ultimate after their somewhat surprising semis run at last year's Nationals. They won Tune-Up, besting top teams across the nation. They won Regionals (but oh so barely) and impressed enough teams to be voted a top seed.

Jam has also been playing well all season and some credited coach O'Dowd for bringing an often contentious team into fine form. They lost to Ring in the finals of Tune-Up and plastered Furious George in Regionals' finals.

It was all Jam to start. They grooved to a 9—4 halftime lead and appeared to be in control of the rowdy NC St parking-lot sideline. But the North Carolina revelers were not dispirited. They've gotten quite comfortable with each other over the successful year.

Ring had looked dry in the first half. They caught their Fire in the second, lighting on a 5—1 streak to start. They tied it at 10's when Brent Shannon picked up a turnover and sent a perfect upwind huck to big-little man Omar.

"Really good D," credited Ring of Fire for the surge. Was Jam's offense working though?

"No," responded a player.

Ring scored two more to stretch out a 8—1 ride. Jam looked hectic. They called their second timeout of the half to try and regain composure. It worked for a bit. They scored two to tie at 12—12.

But the game may already have been lost. Ring's offense now had a chance to show they could equal their sterling defense. River and Augie and Stick hooked up to put the game away. They did, 17—13, leaving Jam spread apart and confused.

"Our goal was to make semis, [this win] takes us a step closer to that. It's enormous for confidence, knowing that we could come back like that," spoke Kreivenas after the game.

Ring ended the day 3—0, Jam 2—1 and in control of their destiny. WSL All-Stars escaped a gritty Z, 16—13, in the final game ot the day and closed at 1—1.

FRIDAY POOL PLAY

Two big games in particular defined the opening round of Friday games. The relatively untested Condors would play Furious George for the track to semis, while Jam and the Houston Houndz tangled for seeding in pool B.

The strong wind was a factor in both games. Furious had a tough enough time dealing with Sub Zero and DoG in the prohibitive conditions. Now they had to face the wind-savvy Condors.

"Furious has the best of crop of receivers in the game. Unfortunately for them in these windy conditions its hard for thme to isolate their tall jumpers," speculated Condor mascot Jacob Sider, an import from the disbanded Saucy Jack team.

The Condors laid an early claim to the wind advantage, scoring an upwinder to take a 3—1 lead. Behind pale man Jeff "Crank" Cruikshank, Furious responded with an upwind goal. The Condors came right back with another one. Furious scored an upwinder. Condors scored one. Furious scored upwind again. But Furious was scoring on hucks and their defense could not find a way to contain the Condors at all. It was going to be a long day for the World Chimps.

The Condors finally edged up a couple and then held on in the second half when the game dragged and neither team could find their offensive groove. They closed out with a capped victory 13—9.

Furious' aspirations to be the first team from Canada to make Nationals' semifinals were seriously dampened.

Meanwhile the game next door was full of fast action. Minnesota's Sub Zero and Philadelphia's Rage were getting it on in a exciting game of offensive scoring. The teams were trading upwinders and downwinders with Sub Zero staying a point or two ahead. It would end that way, with Zero pulling out the tight 16—14 win, keeping their hopes alive for a semifinals berth.

In pool B, the day began with Houston and San Francisco.

Last year the Houndz squad picked up confident New York veteran Rick DeMan and comfortable Seattle veteran Calvin Lin, adding depth and experience to the young team. This year they went a step further and signed free agent Jon Gewirtz, giving the team instant respect and the sparkplug they needed to be a Nationals contender.

It worked. Houston's zone stifled Jam in the first half.

"They went up 6—1 and that's where the game was won," conceded Jam coach Mike O'Dowd afterwards.

"We were able to shut down their long game. They had a lot of trouble working against our man going downwind and our zone going upwind," explained Houston captain Sandy Ganzell.

Both teams credited Houton's transition as being effective. Houston's defense was able to score after Jam turnovers while their offense played effective zone defense against Jam after turning the disc over.

Still, Jam had a chance. They just couldn't get over the hump.

Houston claimed half 9—4. Jam scored four straight to open the second half. Star rookie Idris Nolan, a Callahan contender out of UC Santa Cruz, ended up with the disc on the goalline with the chance to tie the game. But Houston's defense hung tight and Nolan was forced into making a bad throw on a high stall count. Houston marched the turnover upwind and scored the goal, giving them a burst of momentum to finish the frustrated Jam squad.

"We're playing stupid. We're downwind with two timeouts to tie the game and we throw it away," commented a Jam player on the sideline.

Coach O'Dowd defended Nolan, "The kid has ice in his veins. He didn't have any plays behind him. He didn't really have an alternative."

The Jam faithful were dispersed along the sidelines with downturned faces, belying a deep frustration with the team's incohesive play.

Behind Jason "Pony" Calvey, big target and recent Rice graduate Damien Scott, and ever-present Jon Gewirtz, the Houndz won 14—10, putting them in contention for semis and, for all practical purposes, eliminating Jam.

"We know we're a good enough team to beat any team in the country," spoke Ganzell about this year's Houndz squad. "We came out with confidence."

Pool A was nearly all out of excitement after round two finished. The veteran-laden, scrappy Red Tide team from Portland, Maine used the same "go for their throats" mentality they employed at Regionals to great effect against an unprepared Furious George. Countering Furious' big men Space and Mike Grant, Red Tide's Benjy Usadi and Eric Olson repeatedly came up with big catches in the windy matchup.

Tide emerged victorious, 16—14, stunning Furious George and eliminating them from semis contention. The giant-killers had struck. You can never count out a team at Nationals.

The Furious loss meant that DoG, Condors and Sub Zero were left in contention. DoG beat a determined Sub Zero team in the second round 17—12. They played the Condors in the last round of the day on the showcase field. How appropriate.

Meanwhile in pool B, top seed Ring of Fire had some tough matchups with the WSL All-Stars and Houston. Ring held all the cards. Could they play the right combinations and escape unscathed from Friday?

Yup. The first Ace they played was against the All-Stars. Seeing that turning over the disc near the upwind goalline had killed Jam on the very same field, Ring opted to put the disc up quickly when going downwind.

The strategy worked, but WSL hung tough. The All-Stars were able to work through a very brisk wind to score through Ring's zone, but not often enough.

At 8—8 WSL had a prime opportunity to steal some of Ring's trump suit. They connected on two upwind puts in a row and sent the third one, a blade, to the endzone. But the WSL player could not hang onto the disc, and instead of gaining an upwinder and taking half, Ring scored instead. From there they inched ahead to a capped 13—9 win.

WSL barely escaped Pumphouse 5 in their last game of the day. The Indiana/Ohio boys were looking for some respect and found WSL looking past the game. Pumphouse took the game to a cap at 13—13 before WSL picked up their guts and won 15—13.

Against Houston the Ring team again held seed and played smart and tough. They won 17—11. But no one was watching the game. That's because a certain team from Santa Barbara was actively trying to end Billy Rodriguez' streak of 62 straight Nationals' victories.

Death or Glory hasn't lost in Nationals competition. Ever. They were in quite a bind today though, even more so than last year's semifinals scare with Ring of Fire.

The Condors played fearlessly and scored without difficulty upwind and downwind. They took a 9—6 halftime lead and appeared unaffected by the break.

"We just got to get back in our game," exclaimed DoG's Jim Parinella at the half.

They did, but the Condors never let up. They led 16—14 when the cap was put in effect, game to 18. DoG was on their backs but not willing to die just yet.

Boston forced the game to the cap when they scored two in a row to tie at 16's. The Condors had several chances to score, but DoG's "bend don't break" defense held. Still, the wind advantage favored the Condors. They scored downwind to take a lead at 17—16. Several DoG turnovers gave the disc to Santa Barbara with an opportunity to win the game upwind. Instead they let sail a few hucks that were defended by DoG's quick-thinking big men. Boston finally scored to tie at 17's, next point wins.

Santa Barbara recieved the pull going downwind. DoG played a zone defense. The Condors had some trouble with it, but they were still able to move downfield to within 5 yards of winning the game. Boston's trademark defense tightened up. It would take a great look or a great throw to break through. Captain Steve Dugan decided to go for it, snapping a scoober to co-captain Andy Crews in the endzone. Crews caught the disc heading out of bounds…was he in???

Nobody knew. Sideline spectators closest to the play disagreed. It was a question of whether of not he got his feet down. A camera caught the play on film, but you couldn't see his feet. Players on both sides were indecisive. The observers could not make a ruling. Crews thought he was in. Others said out. It seemed that no one could make the call. After a calm discussion between both teams and the observers it was ruled indeterminate. The disc went back to the thrower.

Such an odd thing in Ultimate. This part about going back to the thrower, this allowal for the rules of sport to be flexible, not rigid, dependent on players and spectators and nebuluousness. It's so very peculiar really. Keeps fate atop fortune. Admits that sometimes there is not right or wrong, so, jeez, why not just do it again and see what happens?

Anyway, someday someone will get a better understanding of just what, philosophically, "return to the thrower" signifies. But on with the game!

Santa Barbara did not score. They could not convert. Boston took the turnover the length of the field and put in the game-winner to record the victory in the longest game of the entire tournament, 18—17.

Death or Glory was exuberant. The Condors were stoic about the painful loss. They knew they played a great game of Ultimate that came up a call short.

"We dodged a bullet right to the head," commented Lenny Engle of DoG after the game.

The Condors maintained their composure. "We were happy with the way we played," insisted captain Dugan.

The Condors would have another shot at knocking Death or Glory off their pedestal. Today was over, tomorrow they faced Sub Zero in the game to go to semifinals.

SATURDAY POOL PLAY

What happens when a machine receives data it cannot compute? If you watch enough Star Trek, which thankfully I do not, you would surmise that the machine might self-destruct.

That's what happened Saturday morning.

Sub Zero and the Condors haven't matched up this season. But there is a long-running history underlying the teams. Minnesota's Carleton University and the University of California at Santa Barbara have played each many times in past College Nationals. UCSB's Black Tide has gotten the best of CUT in most of those matches.

Sub Zero's offensive squadron is composed almost entirely of Carleton graduates. The team calls them "the Borg". They are ruthless in their efficiency, except when some unknown computational factor messes up the system. Like Santa Barbara's sub-calling for instance.

The Condors cut ranks early in the season, trimming their Natinals-hopeful roster to 18. The team felt comfortable enough with each other that captains Steve Dugan and Andy Crews, veteran SoCal players, didn't find it advantageous to call subs at all. They had no offensive and defensive squads.

"We don't call subs, people can just walk on when they think they're ready to go in. People go in when they're fresh, not when someone else thinks they may be fresh, and it builds a lot of confidence," explained Crews.

The Borg could not deal with the loose California attitude. Sub Zero's offense blundered through the first half, losing concentration and dropping passes, misreading connections, throwing discs away. The meltdown spread unabated as Santa Barbara kept scoring and Sub Zero's offense kept on the field.

"We're f***ing up," muttered a sideline Sub Zero player.

The final tally wasn't pretty. 17—6 in favor of the Condors. They were returning to semifinals after a 14-year absence.

On the other side of the polo fields New York and Houston were doing battle for semifinals.

The Houndz beat WSL this season at Tune-Up, a one-point victory in a short game. WSL beat the Houndz at Boston's Easterns' tournament. It was time for the rubber match.

There was a catch to the game. Based on point differentials, WSL had to win by three or more to advance. Should the game advance to cap with Houston ahead or tied, it would be game over, Houston makes semifinals.

Before the game, Houston tall-man and ex-New Yorker Bob DeMan was concerned about New York's "appetite for lousy calls."

"This team is a bunch of college-age guys with a couple of veterans that can play that stupid game. It won't get in my head and it won't get in a lot of people's heads, but with some of our guys it will get into their heads because they haven't played that way. They haven't been the kind of team to get in someone's face and be aggressive and New York thrives on that," explained DeMan.

DeMan also predicted what might happen should Jon Gewirtz try to match New York's attitude.

"I just hope he doesn't go the other way with it and become an agressor, and then all of a sudden the whole team is faced with New York doing the same against all of us. He knows that it would not help the team if he started that way."

Too bad Jonny wasn't listening.

New York jumped out of the starting gate fast, 6—2. Or, as they were playing it, they won the first match 3—1 and the second match 3—1.

Faust had readied his troops by having them play mini-games to three. If they won all of their games-to-three they would win the game and the berth to semis. The strategy was successful. It kept the New Yorkers focused on shorter durations of play and allowed the offensive and defensive squads (which had been rigidly set up until Nationals) to mix and match more freely.

Regardless of all that strategy stuff, New York was primed for taking down Houston. They were "fired-up."

WSL strode into half 9—4, in control and feeling good.

Sandy Ganzell's team regrouped and came out with a big goal on defense. They closed to within three at 10—7.

It was now a game again and Jon Gewirtz was juiced. So juiced in fact that he had to let WSL know about it when he scored an upwind goal over a diving Allon Katz. In the wide-open field, with all eyes on him, Gewirtz walked back towards Katz, bent down and informed him personally what he thought about the defensive effort.

It looked real, real bad. Katz is a nice guy. He made a great layout attempt. The game had been clean up until that point. And suddenly Gewirtz is putting out some undoubtedly choice verbiage.

You don't really want to engage New York in a game of trash talk unless you're prepared.

Everything DeMan feared at the beginning of the game came true. Allon and the All-Stars took it in stride, although more than a few New Yorkers couldn't help offering personal commentary on Gewirtz for everybody to hear. Houston appeared shocked by the nasty turn the game had suddenly taken.

Gewirtz had stepped it up to a new level. But he was adrift on the team. No one wanted to match his attitude. Houston paid for the divisiveness.

The All-Stars fed off the emotional atmosphere and played even stronger Ultimate.

"I'm playing hard. It's not personal, I'm competing and I let him know," explained Gewirtz, looking like a man with a very large target on his chest.

Gewirtz is no different than thousands of athletes in every sport around the world, including Ultimate. His mistake wasn't trash-talking to the opponent, it was not respecting his team.

Katz, for his part, claimed to be unaffected. Play for two years in New York and you get used to this sort of stuff. He scored a big point later in the game and Gewirtz gave him a high-5 for the cameras in an attempt to re-establish peace.

But it was too late. The Houndz lost their groove; New York played better than ever and won 17—9.

SEMIFINALS

Two great matchups awaited the hallowed record-books of Nationals' semifinals. Boston faced a rematch of their 18—16 Regional win with New York. Ring of Fire played this year's version of them last year, the Santa Barbara Condors.

A team from Boston and a team from New York had made semifinals together 10 years in a row starting in 1986. The string was broken in 1996 when Cojones broke up and Randall's Island failed to make the cut.

The Westchester Summer Leaguer All-Stars of 1998 may be the first team from New York to make semifinals without Kenny Dobyns, a name practically synonmous with Ultimate in the Big Apple.

That in itself is quite a feat. But the New Yorkers wanted more. They are starting to chafe from the same positioning as second-best that Boston did for countless years under NYNY.

The teams are certainly familiar with each other. Boston was 2—1 in the season over WSL, with all three games decided by three points or less. But this was WSL's first appearance in semifinals. Were they frightened at all of the Champs?

Related WSL captain Josh Faust, "Yesterday, when Death or Glory played the Condors, I said 'I hope Boston gets the turnover and scores upwind because I would rather play them than the Condors'."

Continued Faust, "We have some older guys. We have a lot of winning experience. Those guys know that we can win. The team will feed off of that."

The All-Stars run hard. Boston is a little older and slower, and they know that. It would come down to whose style would dictate the pace of the game.

The wind had died down. It was still blowing, but at about half the strength of Friday's gusts. WSL opened with an upwinder and the teams traded upwinders to 2—2.

DoG came out in a zone and got a defensive score, then came out in a zone despite the fact that WSL was going downwind, and again scored after a big Paul Greff defensive block. WSL called time-out.

It didn't help. DoG stretched the lead to 6—2 before WSL responded with a Chicken Joe McHugh upwind huck to Walter vander Schraaf. It was DoG's turn to stumble as WSL continued the run, tying the game at 6s on a Faust to Brion Winston put after a huge sky by Fritz Burkhardt was called back on a contested stall.

The All-Stars were playing well. But there were some noticeable cracks in the offense and it may just have been a matter of time before DoG's unbreakable defense rose to the occassion.

The teams traded points to 8—8, next point takes half. WSL would be receiving the pull to start the second half. If they could get to half first they could gain in confidence and have a an excellent opportunity to go up by two points.

They had their chance. Moving effectively against the wind and DoG's defense the All-Stars found their way to within five yards of a score. But Arnold Sanchez got trapped on the corner and DoG eyes seemed to cover every possible angle for the throw to go. Sanchez sent a forehand into the endzone that became easy prey for Boston.

They quickly snatched the disc and Jeremny Seeger hit Jim Parinella far down the field for the half.

Maybe that point didn't matter to DoG, but it sure shook up the All-Stars. They were a little too tight and couldn't unfocus themselves from the turnover that, in their minds, was already the pivotal play of the game.

DoG, meanwhile, narrowed in on the start of the second half.

"We're good at stopping teams at the beginning of halves. And if we focus on not letting teams complete one or two passes then we can end the game right at that point," explained Mooney after the game.

While New York had expended much energy on the final point of half, Boston looked towards the second half when they could ambush WSL and maybe walk away with the game.

And that's pretty much what happened.WSL turned the disc over to start and DoG put in the upwind goal to much celebration on their sidelines, 10—8, DoG.

Faust may have jumped the gun. He started mixing up the offense at this stage in the game, playing a couple of key rookies in the zone offense. They played well, but New York could not find a way to get past DoG's zone.

Brian Cameros came up with a flying poach block in the zone and Boston scored again to go up 11—8. Billy Rodriguez made the next poach block and Boston put in an upwinder, 12—8.

WSL zone offense could not hang onto the disc and this time a fired-up Bob Lobel was given the opportunity to score for DoG, 13—8.

Whoa. The All-Stars called time-out. They had been snookered.

They finally stopped the bleeding and scored. Then they got a big defensive block from Sanchez, but could not convert. DoG took advantage with their patented back-breaking huck from Alex DeFrondeville, who for all practical purposes does nothing but send one of these killer beauties a game to Jim Parinella. That he did, a deep bomb that put DoG up by five and for good.

The All-Stars made one final run of the game behind big flying blocks by John Lipsky and Corey Sanford. They came within two at 14—12 before Corky got on the board, followed by Lobel to Rodriguez, another Greff D-block and a score to Lobel for the final, 17—12. Death or Glory was still very much alive.

Greff was again the star against New York, coming up with 5+ blocks and playing every defensive point and a few offensive points.

Ring of Fire had made it this far before. Last year, in fact.

A few of the Condors had been here before, playing with the Iguanas in 1990 when they made finals.

But both teams had players who had been to semifinals on the college level, several this year even. There was a lot of talented youth on both sidelines, balanced by veterans in key roles.

The teams didn't feel it necessary to have active observers in the game, which is a remarkable display of spirit for a game of such magnitude.

They didn't need them either. It was a tough and fair match.

Last year college boys Roy Attride and Brian Snyder propelled Ring to semifinals. This year Brent Shannon and Chris Hinkle brought the youthful optimism and spirit, while cross-state pickup David "Stick" Williams and old hands Robbye "River" Brooks and Augie Kreivanas played the knowing parents. Leader Tim Brooks was sidelined with an ACL injury but his presence gave the team an emotional mission.

Ring had gone through quite a scare Thursday being down five to Jam at half. They had also been tested by an unafraid Los Guapos team earlier in the day in the last round of pool play.

Los Guapos, yet another outfit of college kids, also employed the game-within-a-game strategy, splitting the squad into two teams and having each team play a game to two against Ring. The teams were divided by age–all UC San Diego players on one team and everyone else on the other. The sides kept track of points and the winner (the UCSD kids) got the right to landshark their frat-boy teammate at the party.

The game was meaningless, but Ring had a tough time dealing with the hang-ten Californians. They finally did win, 16—15 at the cap, but it may have been a sign of things to come.

The Condors, meanwhile, were still soaring from their near-win over DoG. Heck, they shouldn't have even been playing Ring of Fire in their minds. They should have won the pool to face WSL.

"That game against Boston, we showed ourselves we can do it," spoke co-captain Andy Crews.

In fact, 'that game against Boston' was the only loss of the season for the Condors.

Perhaps there's not enough rec.sport.disc subscribers in the SoCal region. The Condors didn't get much press despite having beaten everyone they faced–including Jam–over the year. However, they didn't attend Tune—Up, unlike nearly every Nationals-caliber team. But when was the last time the Tune-Up winner won Nationals?

The Condors won Boulder, the Santa Barbara Classic and UC Santa Cruz, not to mention Regionals. Now they were looking towards winning Nationals.

Ring of Fire started with the disc going downwind. They scored and the Condors answered right back. And then converted a turnover to put in an early upwinder.

According to Crews, that upwinder set the tone for the game, "That first upwind that we got showed them we could do it and when they didn't get an upwind back, that's the huge step."

Ring of Fire did get the upwind back a few points later to tie the game at 5—5. But the Condors had set the pacing. It was a matter of keeping their scoring rhythym intact (if you've watched Black Tide play you realize that they do have a scoring rhythm.)

Santa Barbara tried to get back on top by completing another upwinder (the winds were not as consierable as they had been earlier in the tournament.) Again Ring of Fire responded when Kreivenas willed a huge crossfield hammer into the endzone for the score.

Santa Barbara scored right back–which was a bad sign for Ring of Fire. Their vaunted defense, perhaps second-best in the nation to DoG, couldn't find a way to stop UCSB's high-powered offense. It was Ring's defense that triggered surges in the team–without the defense coming up with huge stops and scoring Ring of Fire was not Ring of Fire.

"We didn't get a spurt when we needed it," lamented Dan Axon after the game.

Fortunately Ring's offense behind Stick, River and Mike Soo was able to put points on the board for the team. They tied the game at 7—7 and hoped to piece together a run before half. But Santa Barbara responded followed by Ring scoring again to keep pace at 8—8.

Going downwind, Ring had an excellent chance to seize the half. After throwing the disc away, Roy Attride got a big block typical of a fired-up Ring defense. Ring drove to within 10 yards of the endzone and called a timeout hoping to insure a score. They couldn't hang onto the disc however after trying to stick it into the short corner. The Condors marched the disc right up the field and called a timeout of their own within striking distance of half. They scored to take a 9—8 half-time lead and the disc to start the second stanza.

"We were talking about playing the game of our lives and this being the game–and that's partly me–but I think we put too much pressure on ourselves about it. We got tight," realized Krievenas after the game.

Santa Barbara's loose subbing and play-calling kept them very relaxed. They had all played in big games before and had been battle-tested. They weren't necessarily fire-proof, but they weren't likely to crumble either.

Their offense didn't seem to have too much trouble with Ring of Fire. They scored the first point after half to take a 10—8 lead.

Ring of Fire turned to a clam zone defense after failing to score downwind. But the Condors had already seen that type of defense from the DoG masters yesterday and didn't have much trouble with it then. They scored to take a three-goal lead, and then came up with a zone of their own.

Working upwind Ring worked 15 passes and seemed to be able to handle the defense. But savvy and quick Los Angeles veteran Brent Russell saw the next throw coming and got in position to make the diving block. He did, then went the length of the field to score the point from Greg "Hollywood" Husak.

That fired-up the Condors. Ring had to get one of those spurts soon before it was too late. But the Condors would never let them close the gap.

Ring scored, only to be answered by a huck off the pull from tall handler James Studarus to Taro Ramberg for a score.

It was starting to dim for Ring. But they found one more moment of inspiration. Going upwind at 10—13, they found themselves in desperate need of a score. Brent Shannon had been playing superb all weekend and had the disc facing an amoeba Condor defense. The stall count got high and Shannon was forced to throw a prayer to the endzone. It was answered by 19 year old Ray Parrish who came down with the disc amid a crowd of defenders.

Ring felt that this could be the spark that ignited the Fire. Score the downwinder and they were within one.

But the Condors didn't see it that way. Instead they sent Husak deep against Parrish and sent an upwind huck his way to try to even the score. Husak responded, easily rising up to snag the disc and record the score. It was a downer for North Carolina and Santa Barbara kept their scoring pace intact.

Ring fought back with upwind hucks from Mike Soo to Bryce Tennant to Stick in the endzone to close within two again, 12—14. Husak, evidently displeased with Ring's emotional upwind score, let off a little steam and emulated his brother who plays Quarterback for Stanford. He gave Chris Hinkle a big forearm shiver on the way back down the field, revealing the not-so-pretty side of the pretty boys.

Ring, and Hinkle, took it in stride. They were too busy celebrating the goal to take it personally. But they are also nice guys. Had Husak done that against, say, New York, and there would have been a brawl.

The Condors effectively made up for the bad spirit by dropping a disc on the goalline on the next point, allowing Ring to score to close within one.

But it was too late. The Condors had already made up their mind to win the game and they did not let up, even against a frenzied Ring defense playing tighter than ever. The Condors offense, behind Studarus, Dugan, Crews, Jacob Sider and Jason Seidler was just too good.

The Condors sealed the game when Chris Gavigan came up with a huge grab off a mac'd disc to give Santa Barbara a 16—13 lead in a game to 17. Ring had no more left to give and finally fell after SB ended their late 3-goal run with a Dugan to Seidler score to win 17—13.

"I felt like we were in control the whole way," commented Crews afterwards.

"We never got a spurt, we needed to get a spurt it seemed. Every time we got it, it was a one-for-one point and they got up," mused Kreivenas, "Kinda wish it wasn't so windy too–we just don't get any wind where we are. We didn't train to come out here and play in the wind."

The Condors were cool, calm and collected. They huddled after the game discussed the upcoming re-match with DoG, and headed home to enjoy the feeling of being one of the best teams in the country.

"There's nothing special about them, they've just been in the pinch more often than other team out here," explained Andy Crews, "Half of why they win is that they count on a little bit of a choke from the other team because they rarely play against teams that have been under as much pressure as they have."

It was going to be a good game on Sunday.

SUNDAY FINALS

8:45 AM Sunday morning found the fields empty save the uniformed Condors warming up with stretches, drills and jogs around the field.

DoG was hanging out at the pavillon, leisurely donning cleats and sun block. Corky was getting a massage, Mooney was chatting with a few friends, and Jordan Haskell and Dick Brown were playing koosh-ball .

"When are the buses going to arrive with the fans?" asked Mooney to no one in particular.

The full Condors squad jogged cooly by the kooshballers. That was an entertaining juxtaposition in itself.

Both teams were comfortable in their roles. DoG playing the confident we-don't-need-to-warm-up veterans; the Condors calm and focused and ready to play a good game of Ultimate.

Evryone was ready at 9:30. The game started off tentative as the teams were measuring each other to see if a repeat of Friday would be in the cards.

DoG received going downwind and moved the disc accurately behind Parinella and John Bar Axon. They scored and the game was on.

The Condors responded, then put in an upwinder after several Boston turnovers. Boston came back with an upwinder of their own, then forced a drop with their zone defense and scored again for a 3—2 lead.

Unfazed, Santa Barbara moved patiently through another 1-2-2-2 DoG zone to return the favor.

The teams were jockeying for position, searching for the proper scoring pace of the game. It is no understatement to say that Death or Glory's strategic planners are the absolute masters of the rhythm and emotional play of Ultimate. They were measuring the flow of the Condors, trying to gage when they could make their break to open the game.

But the Condors kept up their cool facade. They too were playing for the end of the game, not for the point or the half.

Santa Barbara won the first-quarter groove and scored three points on three possesions to take a 6—4 lead.

That was all it took for DoG to find an opening.

DoG doubled SB's offensive surge and scored six straight times when they touched the disc. Upwind hucks, downwind puts, solid handling and no turnovers. Add a few defensive blocks and you've got a typical DoG scoring onslaught. This one ended at half, the 6—2 run giving Boston a 10—8 lead to start the second period.

They can make it look so easy. Mixing up offenses and defenses at will, finding just the right moment to make a defensive block or simply moving the disc patiently and effectively through tight defenses: somehow it all looks the same, but different.

Roughly, it works like this: the first two-three possesions in a game are important, but should be played loosely to give the opposing team that slightly warm feeling of being ahead. You can do down by a few points, but shouldn't by more than three or more.

Towards the middle or end of the first half, depending on the opposing team, DoG will go on a dedicated run, looking to make big defensive plays (after finding out from the first 5 or 6 points where the opportunities will be) and 100% handling of the disc on offense. No turnovers. If the run takes them to half, great, if not, put up a few called hucks (Parinella especially has an allmost perfect fake stutter-step that will get him open in the endzone) and finish half either tied or down one.

If the opposing team gaks at any time in the game, take immediate advantage and start building a run. If they play solid, the above strategy will get you to half in good shape.

A key for DoG is to start the second half big. Scoring the first point after making a defensive stop seems to be a favorite tactic. Mapping out the passing rhythm of the other team during the first half gives them a clue where to look for the defensive block.

If the opposing team chokes during the beginning second-half surge, take advantage immediately and try to get in 4-6 points, then ease up and take chances for 2-3 points. If not, settle for three, regroup and go for another run. Remember that the score of the game doesn't matter. It's the pacing.

And always save a run for the end of the game. Imagine it stretching out two more points. In other words, picture going on a 4-point surge even when 2 points will win the game. And don't worry about what the opponent is doing. Play your game. Let your subtle rhythm control the game subliminally. After all, it looks like any normal Ultimate game. But it's highly structured underneath.

So, back to the game. I'll tell you how the Condors' strategy works next year.

Condors received the disc going downwind and gakked on the tenth throw in the zone, speedy Brian Cameros getting the block for Boston. DoG worked upwind and scored.

The next point was not so easy. The Condors worked a ton of passes upwind through a DoG zone before throwing the disc away. But Boston was too eager to score downwind and the turnovers came for both teams. Finally big man Paul Greff came up catching a throw from Santa Barbara and felt free to put the disc up to John Bar Axon for another DoG score, 12—8.

The Condor sidelines were a little dismayed and shaken, "We have to score upwind! We've done it before!"

But that was going to be it for throwaways for a long while on the Condors part. UCSB teammates Studarus and Husak finally connected to end the long scoring drought and start a surge for Santa Barbara.

Death or Glory may have looked for the Condors to choke a little at this point. They should have known better. Without displaying any more emotion than necessary, SB cooly worked themselves back into the game on defense and offense.

Death or Glory responded with a patient offense against the Condor zone and scored, Greff to Cameros, 13—9 DoG. SB worked through a DoG clam and scored Crews to Dugan. Boston scored without a turnover, Mooney to Jeremy Seeger, 14—10, cap looming.

Where Boston can get in trouble is by playing just a step removed from solid Ultimate. To get their surges they must play a step higher than solid Ultimate. But they can't stay at that level for the whole game, so they dip down and hope the opponent will give away at least one goal.

While Boston rested up, the Condors struck. They scored easily downwind after a bad DoG pull. Then a silly turnover DoG going downwind gave the disc back to the Condors. With a big sweeping backhand Studarus sent an upwind, crossfield score to Crews.

The Condors weren't at all scared of Boston's late-game scoring edge and wind-advantage. That's part of the reason they were able to make big upwind plays without thinking about the consequences. They were 100% in the game at a time when Death or Glory was playing at 95%.

Boston was now facing the wind and their advantage down to two. An announcement was made over the loudspeaker–cap in ten minutes. It was going to be a tight race to the finish line.

Death or Glory moved the disc smartly, then suddenly tried to force one up the line to Seeger. The disc went by him and Dugan made an easy block. Husak found the disc near the endzone and threw the gift point to Brent Russell. The Condors were elated, down 13—14, and no gaks forthcoming.

But DoG still had a few more gaks of their own to get out the system.

Eric Zaslow got stuck on the sideline going downwind with nobody cutting to the disc. Parinella was forced to make a long comeback run for a dump pass along the sideline. Zaz flipped it out to him but J.D. Lobue got to the disc with a layout bid at the same time Parinella touched it. The disc bounced high in the air and floated. Parinella positioned himself to get it when it came back down, but so did Zaz coming back for the garbage. Both players and a Condor went up in the air, nipped the disc, and all four objects came crashing back to earth, Zaz on top of Parinella and nobody else even close.

Studarus picked up the disc and unleashed a huge upwind huck to a wide open Shep Frankel who had left early for the endzone in anticipation of a fast break. Frankel caught the disc leaping over the goalline and suddenly the game was tied in a most exciting fashion.

Credit Parinella's spirit for letting the play stand. He could have made a bad, but acceptable, foul call when he got clobbered after trying to catch the airbounced disc, or he could have called travel on Studarus, an admitted traveler even by his own teammates. But Jim said nothing and walked slowly back to a huddle. Boston had called timeout.

Mooney pulled his shaken troops together, "I pulled them in and everybody was starting to talk–and I said 'No, this is MY timeout, this is MY huddle.' I just said 'There is no doubt in my mind that we will win.'"

The horn sounded on the next point, just before the pull. It would be a game to 17, now tied at 14—14.

The pressue was definitely on Boston to score. Could they face their nerves and the wind?

Four passes and halfway up the field Paul Greff sent a huge backhand as far as it would go. Jeremy Seeger had made a break and Greff thought he could hit him. It was a gutsy throw.

"You gotta pull the stops out some times when it just ain't working to go the short game. I've got ultimate confidence that Jeremy's going to come down with it." explained Greff afterwards.

"They were overplaying everything short, the whole game," revealed Seeger, "I was a little nervous about what was going to happen to it [the disc], but I got right where I needed to be position-wise."

Seeger went up against Husak and came down with the disc in the endzone. 15—14, DoG.

But the game wasn't over yet. Offensive handlers Studarus, Crews and Jason Seidler were chosen to play in the upwind zone O when Boston came with another clam.

Personally, I don't know why Death or Glory came with the zone. I thought it was a bad decision. They were giving the Condors an opportunity to work the disc.

The handling crew proved effective. Smart throws and good popper cuts kept DoG off guard and unable to predict the next throw. Plus they couldn't risk poaching with the game on the line.

After 30+ passes Santa Barbara faked a cutter in and swung the disc to the side, three feet from the goal. Two endzone cutters split the defender leaving Taro Ramberg wide-open. No scoober was necessary, but a little inside-out forehand thrown sharp was just the trick. Unfortunately the Condor did not put enough zip on the disc. It started to rise before getting to Ramberg, then leaped over his head into a crossfield gust 20 feet off the ground. Everybody froze.

Except for Paul Greff and a lone Condor, who were back deep in the middle of the endzone. Greff came charging up to the high disc while the Condor player had no choice but to go to where it would be coming down. But Greff leaped up and barely got a finger on it, sending the disc off its path and safely, for DoG, towards the ground.

That was the backbreaker. The Condors had one in the basket, but it was not to be. Instead Death or Glory worked downfield patiently before putting the onus on Bob Lobel to make a tough catch. He did, and put the disc to Cameros for the score, 16—14.

The Condors had scored on five straight possessions before that last should-have-been. They didn't give up now. Working downwind against another Boston zone, Dugan connected with Lobue and the Condors were within one at 15—16.

Pressure back on DoG. But they've been there. Santa Barbara's defense looked a little nervy. It was a huge point. It looked like SB was playing some sort of junk, looking to confuse DoG and cause a turnover. It almost worked.

On a high count Greff, with nowhere to throw, was forced to look for a dump. But the dump cut, Mooney, snuck inwards a little bit, making Greff throw some sort of shovel-pass up high. Mooney rose upwards and leaped five feet from the line, caught the disc, arched his toes, stretched his feet like a triple-jumper, and landed in.

Mooney fell on his back clutching the disc and the team piled on top. The game was over.

"I think the turning point was our turnover up here for the goal. The one that floated," commented Condor Captain Steve Dugan after the game.

"They just have this immense mentaility when its on the table they are not going to turn it. Thats their mentaility. And that's what makes them five time Nationals Champs," credited James Studarus.

Paul Greff, nicknamed The Greatest Player in The Game, or TGPITG, in the late 80's by the New York dynasty was officially player of the tournament. No doubt about it. He made countless defensive blocks against WSL in the semis and the Condors in the finals. He played every defensive point for DoG on Sunday and threw five of the last six goals for the team, including the huge upwinder to Jeremy Seeger.

This was Greff's last season. He is a soft-spoken man who always wears a game face when playing. He is built like a Rugby player and looks like your uncle, and may just be The Greatest Player in The Game.

I asked him about his nickname.

"I heard that all those years. It's quite an honor, to come from New York, it feels nice."

And all those D blocks?

"It's partially [the DoG defensive strategy] and partially just totally psyching up. I just work myself into frenzy before every game."

Added Greff, "This is my last tournament so I left everything out there. I probably haven't got that many D blocks in 10 years."

Was this the best one?

"By far. By far. I've got a 9 year old, 6 year old and 4 year old. Wife, family, getting in shape-–it's too much to go through again. It is my last one– I feel like I'm kinda part of it now [the DoG Dynasty; Greff joined in 96]"

But it may not be an end to Death or Glory. They still want to beat New York New York, and feel they can do so by winning six straight and retiring. You'll see them next year. With or without TGPITG.

This was written for the UPA Newsletter.

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