Since I had missed the first game against Red, I was skeptical as to their glowing record. After last night, count me a believer. Red has quite the match up quandary. Millhouse has assembled a team in his likeness, namely squirrly Asian handler. Red doesn’t rely on their deep game but rather uses it when the right opportunity arises. Rather, it’s handler driven. Of course, that would be no issue to guard if you only had 3 solid handlers. However, it seems as if Red has 10 handlers on the team who all like to dish, dump and generally squirrel around with the disc. This keeps the defense on edge and allows cutters to get easy openside cuts. Even without Hammie and Ratchet, Red’s handler core of Millhouse, Scott Mahr, Albert Ng, Brian Luper, and Cookie kept methodically moving the disc side to side, up and down. It may not have been exciting ultimate, but it was darn effective.

Meanwhile, on Green, we started with savage and then the UCLA car showed up with 3 subs. However, with Red cycling in athletes, even 3 subs weren’t enough. We kept it close in the first half but started to tire in the second half. I give total credit to my team for fighting hard even in midst of fatigue and tip my hat to Red. Matt Mihm had a sick layout catch for a score to keep us within 15-11 but Red scored the next two to end it.

With Hammie and a possibly healthy Stone at the tournament, Red’s going to be a force. They’re like the Lakers at the moment and hopefully that means that everyone’s gunning for them.

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The LA beach Ultimate league is starting soon and this year
we’re stating a youth league. We’re also looking to get new adult
players involved. So we’re having a learning day. If you can help
teach ultimate (real basics - you don’t need to be a club level player
to help) we would really appreciate it, and we’ll compensate you for your time.
We will also be having pickup games starting around 2:30/3pm.

If you can help out, please email Goat at LABeachUltiamte@gmail.com

Ultimate Frisbee beach leagues starting for youths (ages 11-18) and
adults (all ages welcome), this fall on the Santa Monica Beach.
What: Come to our “Learn to Play Day”
When: Sunday, August 1st from 1:30-3:00 p.m. (pickup games to follow)
Where: On the beach, in Santa Monica (search google maps for (ashland
ave and venice beach”) - it’s a little south of where the beach
league is

For more information, find The LAW on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=113427745344329&ref=ts

by James Renfroe

In what could have been one of the greatest ultimate frisbee games to grace the Balboa fields since Chad’s game on Monday, two Men’s league giants faced off in what proved to be a true clash of titans. Red and Purple, both ranked number one going into tonight’s match, came out with something to prove. Red started on O and made it look so easy moving the disc as they marched down the field with quick give and goes taking the first point. Purple wasn’t quite sure what hit them as they walked back across the field to prepare for their own turn on offense. Purple received the pull and marched the disc right back down the field scoring with their own kind of ease. Even after these first two points there was a noticeable difference in pace. Red attacked with grace and speed while Purple moved the disc around inching their way down the field. The two teams traded points making the score 2-2. This next point was perhaps the pivotal point of the first half. After what seemed like 20 minutes of both teams moving the disc from end zone to end zone, both teams having either crazy D’s or crazy turnovers, both teams working exhaustedly to score the point, Red finally puts it in and takes the 3-2 lead.

From here, Red opened Purple up like a redneck’s blouse at Mardi Gras. They went on a 6-1 tear that left Purple wondering what the hell had just happened. Brian Chen, Scott Mahr and Hammie moved the disc with fluidity, speed and grace that I personally had not seen in a summer league game in some time. They also got a little help from their friends with some sick D’s and snags from Ratchet. Having taken half and the score now 9-3 Purple spent that time wondering what could possibly be done to just make the game respectable and I’m sure Red basically said just keep doing what we’re doing.

The second half was a totally different game. After Purple turned their first point over, Red took advantage of the opportunity and made the score 10-3.  I guess it was at this point that Purple’s pride got involved and it was at this point that the game started to shift into Purple’s direction. Purple shifted their entire game play, switching to a Zone D and a Ho stack, and oh the difference it made. Purple managed to go on a 13-6 tear taking the game to 16-16. Along the way there were some missed opportunities by Red and Purple finally figured out a way to take advantage of those chances and turn them into points. Purple’s handlers settled in and started making smart throws. There were a couple of layout grabs saving some of the less accurate throws. And the zone D, though far from perfect, was enough to keep Red from moving the disc the way they wanted to, at the speed they wanted to.

So now the score is 16-16. Red has the disc and manages to find and take advantage of the holes in Purple’s zone. They swing their way down the field and punch it in for a 17-16 lead. Now it’s Purple’s turn. Purple gets the disc, somehow Truckstop ends up with the disc on Purple’s goal line. James cuts deep and Truckstop goes for it. James manages to track it down, dumps it to Todd who then throws it cross field to Sleepy for the point. Or do they. A travel is called on Truckstop and the disc is brought back. I think this may be the second most important point of the game, if it’s possible to even choose a second most important point that is. Purple sends it back to Truckstop but the wind is out of their sails. They work the disc down the field and then turn the disc near their end zone. Red quickly takes advantage and the game. 18-16 final.

I’ve played this game for over a decade (I know for some that’s a short time and for others maybe that seems like forever) and I’ve never played on or against a team I’m more proud of. Purple showed a lot of heart and strength even turning this into a game. They could have tucked their tails and given up but they found a way to fight back and make it a game. On this night, Red proved to be the better team. I’m really proud of the way they played. Their game play and poise under pressure was inspiring. When a team makes a comeback the way that Purple did, it’s very easy for a team to give in and let the game slip away. I’ve been on a lot of teams where this has happened. But that’s not what they did. They played smart and hard until the end and they earned this win. Congratulations to both of these teams and thank you for making me proud to play this sport called Ultimate.

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U2’s 1987 anti-war song off the Joshua Tree album is also an anti-American song. The repeated lyrics toward the end “outside is America” is a reference to the villagers of El Salvador living a tranquil life in their homes, in stark contrast to the Civil War waging all around them, with U.S. soldiers intervening. Bono saw this on a visit there in 1980 and no doubt felt comparisons to the plight of his own Irish homeland. Oppressive government, freedom fighters, terrorism, it’s all there. Add the fact that in the case of El Salvador, America goes and backs the “oppressive government”, and that just ticks everyone off. When they perform the song live, there’s always videos behind them with graphic images of war and carnage. C’mon hon, let’s bring the kids to the U2 concert!!!

Castle GRAYskull

In 1982, Mattel created the Masters of the Universe line of toys, and the main character was a fully-muscled wavy blonde-haired dude called He-Man, looking a lot like an L.A. surfer on roids. So popular was he that people often refer to anything Masters of the Universe-related as He-Man. (An example of synechdoche for those word geeks out there.) It’s not so easy being a warrior hero with model looks though. He’s actually tasked with protecting a mystical powersource that …. you know…. if it was in the wrong hands…. I mean, all sorts of bad stuff would happen…. cats and dogs living together, that sort of thing. So He-Man keeps the thing locked up in a fortress with a menacing skull on the front, and it’s called, you guessed it, the above title. The bad guy, Skelator, has got a boner for that powersource, and he will just not give it a rest.

Dexys MIDNIGHT Runners

Sometimes all you need is one hit. Just one. And then MTV will play it over and over again, and everyone will know it. And you can tour for the next 20 years, and at your concerts people will go because they know that ONE song, and they sit around and wait for it, and finally it comes, and they all stand up and sing along, and for five brief minutes, the audience is pumped and cheering, and all is right with the world. And then you go back to playing your other songs, and people are already checking their cell phones and texting. This British pop band knows all about that, because in 1982 they wrote “Come On Eileen” which is like one of the best songs from the 80’s ever. Although according to multiple sources, they had another hit called “Geno”, but I watched it on Youtube, and I’ve never heard of it, and neither have you. So it doesn’t count.

FOREST Moon of Endor

The third film in the Star Wars trilogy (and I’m talking the good one, not the stupid Jar Jar Binks recent crap) came out in 1983. After rescuing Han Solo from carbonite, Princess Leia gets captured and has to wear this kick-ass metal bikini, where she looks smokin’ hot and gives every teenage boy at the time wet dreams. Mmmmmmm. Anyway, then some other stuff happens, and they all wind up on this “forest moon” with a bunch of Ewoks, cause George Lucas was starting to go senile. And ultimately good triumphs over evil, blah blah blah, and in the last scene Han Solo’s like “I heart you Leia, but you’re all up in Luke’s force”. And she’s like “ew, that’s my bro” and he’s all “WTF” and then they make-out.

Garfield ORANGE

Okay, technically the Garfield comic was born in 1978. But honestly, there’s like nothing orange from the 80’s. It really came down to two things that had been around forever. The Orange Bowl added Fed Ex in 1989, and the County Register newspaper added the word Orange in 1985. Yeah, that’s all I could find. I was almost like, screw it, I’m calling a team Orange Pokey Clyde after the orange ghost from Pac-Man. That’s how desperate I got. But I ultimately settled on the famous cartoon cat who loves lasagna and hates Mondays, and spawned two motion pictures made by Twentieth Century Fox (allowing me a shameless plug). For those who don’t know about it, you have to check out the website http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/ for pure surreal brilliance.

GREEN Slime

You Can’t Do That on Television began airing in the US in 1981and pretty much made Nickelodeon a success. It was easily the highest rated show, and the signature gag was kids dropping buckets of green slime on unsuspecting victims, usually regular cast members (especially mainstay Christine “Moose” McGlade for those who really remember the show). But of course, every guest host could pretty much count on getting slimed at least once during an episode. 30 years later, Nickelodeon still uses the green slime reference in many of their logos and shows. The “Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards” logo, for example, always contains some green slime in it. Now, if you’re really savvy, you remember what phrase someone would say that caused them to get slimed. Do you know?

Jerry BROWN

California’s governor during the early 80’s also ran for president (unsuccessfully) in 1980, ran for Senate (unsuccessfuly) 1982 and is now trying to re-run for California governor this November when Arnold’s term ends. Can he pull the hat trick? I call blind ding. (Oh shoot, I just looked it up and he’s leading in on-line polls. I suck at that game.) On the plus side, during his governorship he placed more women and minorities in high government positions than any previous executive, and he also legalized acupuncture. Yes, that’s right. The ability to put a needle in your eyebrow to make your elbow pain go away, you can thank Jerry for that.

Joan Jett and the BLACKhearts

Did you see the film that came out a couple months ago called “The Runaways” about Joan Jett’s teenage band? Well, this was her next phase. The lesbian rocker tried a solo career, but 23 record labels rejected her album. So she and a friend said screw that, we’re making our own label, and Blackheart records was born. Playing off that name, she put out an ad for musicians, and got three unknown guys to become the Blackhearts. Their first album produced the hit “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll” in 1982. Here’s a little known fact. Joan Jett for a time lived in Rockville Centre, New York, which is my home town and I lived mere blocks from her. Her house was enormous and literally bordered a golf course that excluded blacks, jews and gays. That meant if an errant golf ball struck her house, she was not allowed to walk on the course and return it. Food for thought.

Pretty in PINK

John Hughes left one indelible legacy: the teenage angst film. Because as we all know, nothing is more important than anything that happens to a teen. And in the 1986 film starring bratpack veterans Molly Ringwald and Andrew McCarthy, angst is the word. The basic plot runs kind of like a modern Romeo & Juliet, minus the overly-dramatic suicides. A pair of star-crossed lovers, one rich, one poor, are kept apart by their different social circles. And since it’s a John Hughes film, there’s always the archetype “best friend who secretly crushes on the lead”. Although forces conspire to keep our loverbirds apart, ultimately love conquers all, and they finally make out in the end. This is what makes teen films so great. It ends happily-ever-after at prom. You don’t have to see how next year he gets into Princeton and moves away, and she’s stuck at home in a community college, and he tries to stay faithful, but college girls like to party…

RED M&Ms

This is a spectacular case of consumer panic leading to stupid rash decisions. In the early 70’s some Russian scientists said red dye #2 causes cancer. Although no deaths could be proved, the FDA bans the dye just to be safe. Okay, that seems reasonable enough. But then public panic took it a step further. Suddenly people freaked out big time over this red dye thing, and now they wanted everything red banned. They petitioned Mars candy company to pull red M&M’s out of their bags. And the company relented in 1976. The ban lasted 11 years, when in 1987 the red M&M was finally re-introduced, and the first brave souls confidently downed the yummy red chocolate nuggets. Here’s the catch though. M&M’s never used red dye #2 in their products. People just assumed if it looks red, it must be bad. This, my friends, was a clear case of candy racism. We should all be ashamed.

ROYAL Wedding

On July 29, 1981, 750 million people tuned in worldwide to watch the marriage of Prince Charles to Lady Diana at St. Paul’s Cathedral. The immense following was due in large part to the seeming fairy-tale story of Diana Spencer, who did have royal bloodlines (illegitimately) but was otherwise an unlikely choice for the Prince to marry, since she became the first commoner to marry an heir to the throne in over 400 years. During the ceremony she screwed up his name, calling him by his father’s name. Woops. And he forgot to kiss her at the end. Just slipped his mind, I guess. Interestingly, Prince Charles was previously linked to Diana’s older sister Sarah. Normally it’s impossible to pull off the sister switch, although many men have tried. It’s good to be the future king. That’s all I’m saying.

Solid GOLD

Just about the cheeziest show in the history of television. Solid Gold used to do a countdown of the top ten songs for the week, and the Solid Gold dancers would dance them out. Except that none of the dance routines had anything to do with the songs, and the only thing you could figure kept this show on the air was that it was probably the most skin you could see on TV at the time. In fact, despite this show lasting nearly every year of the 80’s, I could not find it mentioned on any list of the best shows of the decade. And believe me, I searched. Here’s the most interesting fact I found. Dancer Cooley Jackson taught Michael Jackson the moonwalk. No relation however. Cooley Jackson is black. Ooh, too soon?

The Color PURPLE

Steven Spielberg, known for his previous forrays into adventure and science fiction, took a surprising turn in directing this 1985 drama about a black woman in 1930’s Georgia, based on the book written three years earlier. The film addressed racism, sexism, lesbianism, family dysfunction and abuse. You, know, a comedy! It’s been called the most racist depiction of black men since Birth of a Nation, and one black novelist labeled the film a Nazi conspiracy. But it was the 4th highest grossing film of 1985, and its 11 Oscar nominations were tied for most that year (although it was shut out, tying the record for most noms without a win). The “color purple” originally meant something bad, but then later stood for something good. Just like “USC Women’s Ultimate”.

WHITEsnake

This is our first spin-off of a previous team name. Ooh, intrigued, huh? Well I bet you didn’t know that the English band Whitesnake was founded by a member of the 70’s band Deep Purple (which was a Men’s League team last year)? Neither did I until I read it on Wikipedia. The title of the band came from the album White Snake, which was founder David Coverdale’s first solo attempt. The musicians that performed on that album just became the band. And eventually they were one of the signature “hair bands” of the 80’s. Their power ballads “Here I Go Again” and “Is This Love” both had videos featuring Tawny Kitaen, who would later become David Coverdale’s wife. She was pretty hot, but a little kooky. She once kicked the shit out of her ex-boyfriend, a major league pitcher. Girl power!

BLACK Monday

October 19, 1987. The Minnesota Twins were up 2-0 in the middle of the most epic World Series ever. England had just suffered their worst storm in nearly 300 years. And people in the U.S. were still talking about the rescue of Baby Jessica who fell down a well. And then, out of nowhere the stock market crashed. First in Hong Kong, and then everywhere. The largest single day drop in history, worse than the Great Depression. Worse than the one we just had. I mean, to this day, noone really knows why. Lots of speculation. Nothing concrete. The prevailing theory has to do with computer programs that rapidly escalated falling prices. Got me, I don’t know anything about finance. You could tell me a drop in rum and coke prices caused the crash, and that would sound pretty reasonable to me.

BLUE Velvet

I’m just gonna say it. David Lynch is a whack job. He comes up with the craziest shit, and his 1986 thriller about a man who finds a severed ear is like par for the course. To sum up a David Lynch film is like ripping up a dollar bill. It doesn’t make any sense. (Oh! Get it? Get it?) Critics weren’t big fans of this film either when it came out, but shortly after it hit the video shelves, it became a cult classic. Isabella Rosselini played her first dramatic role, and she has some pretty sexy scenes. I will give this to David Lynch. I don’t understand his stuff, but he sure knows how to get you hot and bothered. But then again, to be fair, that’s easy with me. Who am I kidding?

Gang GREEN

A little bit of controversy around this name because many New Yorkers have been using the term Gang Green to refer to the Jets ever since the 70’s. But in the late 80’s, this term also applied to the defensive unit for the Philadelphia Eagles. That defense propelled them to two playoff appearances in the late 80’s and a couple more in the early 90’s. Although that’s pretty much it. No Super Bowl appearances. The defense never led the league in any category. And only Reggie White attained any real fame. I guess I could’ve made a team called Reggie White instead, the sack specialist who later became a preacher. Who then got into trouble for rattling off a bunch of stereotypes about several ethnic groups, and saying homosexality is a choice. Hmmm, you know, maybe Gang Green was the better choice afterall.

ICE Cube

Born O’Shea Jackson, the rapper known as Ice Cube became a successful solo artist and movie star, but he first gained his fame as a member of the group N.W.A., formed with Dr. Dre and Eazy-E. The A in NWA stood for Attitude, and they did not lack that particular attribute. When you write a song called “Fuck the Police”, you’re not really holding back, are you? But it was an odd song for Ice Cube to write, considering that although he did grow up in South Central, it turns out his upbringing wasn’t gang-related and he has no criminal record. I mean, c’mon, even Rob Severson’s been arrested. (I pay attention to “Never Have I Ever”).

PURPLE Rain

This 1984 title could just as easily refer to the motion picture, the soundtrack album for the motion picture, or the main-title song from the soundtrack album for the motion picture. A little excessive, but then, so was Prince. Put together as a vehicle for Prince, the movie was an autobiographical account of Prince’s life growing up in Minneapolis and how he became a musician. Kind of what “8 Mile” was for Eminem, but with a lot more lipstick and eye shadow. The movie won an Oscar for best score and the album has been called the greatest soundtrack album of all time. Prince kind of jumped the shark though after that album. Although he did have a couple later hits, none reached #1. His movie career instantly fizzled and he stopped making videos. Then he became a Jehovah’s Witness. Insert funny comment here.

Simply RED

This British group used to be a punk rock band called The Frantic Elevators, but changed their name to reflect their evolving musical style. The name comes from lead singer Mick Hucknall’s nickname Red, which is - shockingly enough - because he has red hair. Their biggest hit was “Holding Back the Years” written in 1986 and their fame was mid-to-low through most of the 80’s. I think the most interesting thing about this band though is that they are apparently ending their final tour at the time I wrote this, and after this tour, they will be split up. So this is literally your last chance to see this band live before they are finished forever. Do I hear any takers? *Cricket.* *Cricket.*

WHITE Zombie

The story of White Zombie is really the story of Rob Zombie, who was born Robert Cummings and made his Hollywood start as a production assistant on Pee Wee’s Playhouse, but later edited porn magazines, so he’s very well rounded. He began using the stage name Rob Zombie (which he legally changed to in 1996) and together with his girlfriend and a couple other buddies formed the heavy metal group White Zombie. Technically they gained most of their fame in the 90’s, but they were a huge underground cult favorite through the late 80’s, and made their mark with a surrealist style in songs such as “Scum Kill”, “Acid Flesh” and “Murderworld”. Yes, this was not your grandma’s hard rock.

YELLOWbeard

For fans of Monty Python, the sad end came in 1983 with the release of “The Meaning of Life”. It was the last piece of wholly original material from the British group. But the founding members had already been creating solo projects, and “Yellowbeard” which came out months after “The Meaning of Life”, was the 2nd film (and sadly the last) written by Graham Chapman, who died of cancer in 1989, officially ending any hope of a Python reunion. But his film completely captured their usual silly sense of humor, about a pirate imprisoned for tax evasion who escapes to track down his buried treasure. Python veterans John Cleese and Eric Idle joined a star studded cast that also featured Cheech and Chong. Cleese, in fact, said he did the film completely out of loyalty to his old Cambridge classmate, declaring the film “one of the six worst films made in the history of the world.” With friends like that…..

Looking over at the other field at Balboa, I think Pink had more players than White, Red, and Black combined last night. In the Red versus Black game, Red had 1 sub and Black had 2 subs. Fortunately the subs were the right genders so that each team could still go 4-3 and 3-4. Red jumped out to a 6-2 lead mostly on big hucks from Chad to Bacon. But Black would take a timeout to regroup and answer with a 5 point rally and be one point shy of half before forcing Red to take a timeout of their own. Red finally broke their slump and tied it up at 7s. Finally allowed to set up a defense, Red showed their zone for the point to take half and Jake Kuiper caught a callahan to take half 8-7 for Red (about the time the other game was over on the other field).
Starting the second half, Black countered with a zone of their own. Both teams with hardly any subs and they were running zone! Unheard of! Both of these teams really wanted this game! After trading a few points, it looked like Black was succumbing to the fatigue both teams felt and Red went on a run to hold a commanding 13-8 lead. But Black dug deep, found their ninth wind, and with a couple timely big hucks by Ivan Seto against the zone and Black found themselves down 14-13! Red was now the ones staggering and dazed and they seemed to be playing for the lights to go out at this point. Red slowly worked it up the field inches at a time and were feet from the endzone when Chad turfed it trying to reverse the field on a big swing back to Ellen Lin. Black had an opportunity to tie with the light-clock ticking, but Chad got it back with hand block. Ellen Lin, Chuck Aramaki, and Chad inched it back up the field to the same spot. But this time the handlers found Bacon popping at the goal line and she was able to toss it across for the win.
Just as the two exhausted teams finished congratulating themselves on such an exciting game, the field went dark. Truly one of the most epic summer league games I’ve ever been a part of: mystery, intrigue, and outstanding play from all 17 players involved for all 28 gut-wrenching points. Sure there we silly turnovers caused by fatigue sprinkled throughout the game, but every single person was needed and contributed in a big way. If there was a LAOUT Classic Channel, this one would’ve made and instant classic because it had a little of everything. Well, except subs.

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The undefeated Purple Rain took on Gang Green last night in a highly anticipated match up.  However, that match up didn’t materialize as Purple only fielded 9 men with 1 getting injured midway through the game.  Meanwhile, Green had an astounding 15 people show up.

At the start of the game, Purple was firing on all cylinders.  They were getting the under and the deep.  Meanwhile, Green, perhaps adjusting to finally having most of its roster present, had a few miscues which Purple capitalized on.

James, Todd and Soren were taking care of the handling on Purple and held possession of the disc and made smart decisions.  However, Green managed to keep the game close and at halftime it was 9-7 purple.

Unfortunately, there are two halves in summer league and Green’s depth coupled with Purple’s lack thereof began to show.  While Green could continually sub in it’s athletes to get d’s, Purple’s main guns had to stay in point after point.  Eventually, Purple began wearing down.  The cuts became less crisp, the throws a little out of reach and the defense not as tight.

Green started the half on a 3-0 run and regained the lead.  For the next few points the teams traded but eventually, Green pulled away for the 17-12 victory.  Props to all of purple for running hard and playing well.  Looking forward to a full strength match up.

GANG GREEN vs. PURPLE RAIN
by James Renfroe

The key to last night’s game was numbers numbers numbers.  Green had them, Purple didn’t.

Purple started strong getting two quick points off of fast moving big plays.  Green got two points right back.  Purple returned with two more points.  We traded points and then Purple went on a run getting the score to 8-5.  Green worked it back to 8-7 and Purple stopped the bleeding and took the half.

The second half of the game was drastically different than the first.  I contribute this to a couple of things.  Green has an extremely athletic, smart team.  They can run and as we learned last night, when they have numbers, they can run for a long long time.  They also didn’t seem to make a lot of poor decisions.  They threw to open guys and played a solid game of ultimate.  And with Matt Mihm and Jeff Chai’s ability to break basically any mark it leaves a lot of the field at their disposal.

On the other side of the disc, Purple played with nearly savage numbers last night.  And it seems that by the time they hit the second half the gas tanks were running on empty.  As fatigue began to set in the disc started getting to be just a little too far away and we started making a lot of mental errors and poor decisions.

Green’s adjustments and Purple’s exhaustion had Purple seeing green for the second half.  As made evident by one of the Purple players excusing himself from the game to vomit.

Anyway, Jeff did a great job of getting his team together and it payed off.  James couldn’t rally the troops and make the plays we needed to make and as a result there are no more undefeated teams in Men’s league.

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we won a tight game against purple. 

before the game, i knew that we were going to have a maximum of 3 women in attendance.  purple has been known for having 9 women at every game.  uh oh.  time to get ready to play 6 on 7. 

sure enough, when game time arrived, we had brocc, peso and lexy roy.  we broke open a few fortune cookies, read some confucius adages about quality being preferable to quantity and talked about some funky zones to run. 

the combination of confucius and funky zones helped us get off to a fast start as we got a couple of breaks early.  purple tied it up at 5s, but we got another break and took half 8-6.  purple took a little bit to settle into a zone offense, and once they got their confidence on offense, it was a lot tougher to manufacture turnovers.  spike, professor, smeagol, criqet and powski all did a great job of handling the disc and demonstrated a ton of patience.

we received to start the second half and scored to open up a three point margin.  purple scored the next two to close within one, but we held serve and got another break to go up 11-8.  at that point, our pal confucius reminded us that we had timeouts and that our ladies had played every single point.  boom.  TO.  a little water, a little rest and another break.  suddenly, it’s 12-8 and things are looking good for the midnight runners. 

purple pu-pu-pu-power cannot be denied.  with an endless fountain of love, grit and persistence stemming from smeagol and professor’s recent engagement, they stormed back with a three point run to make it a one point game.  yikes.  nobody had scored double digits on us to that point, so this would be a great test for our resolve. 

we scored the next O point, and then came the longest point ever.  or maybe just this game.  spectre and lexy were doing an amazing job of marking while purple was more than happy to dump and swing to infinity and beyond.  after both teams had turned it over three times each, purple called a time out with the disc in the red zone.  after a dump and swing, the continuation pass sailed just wide of the intended target who was open.  just as nobody beats vitas gerulaitis 17 times in a row, midnight never turns it over more than 4 times in a point.  at least not on this night (despite my personal efforts to prove that wrong).  joe forbes was on the receiving end of a huck from machina that just beat professor (who previously in the point had the play of the game with a big layout D on a huck to spectre in the end zone… awesome play by both players). 

up 14-11, midnight closed things out when lexy roy got a tremendous runthrough D on a reset pass.  i might have set a personal record for turnovers in this game, but i finally connected with a scoober to jas to close the game 15-11. 

purple celebrated the postgame with some gelatinous concoctions and a game of butt slapping.  good times indeed.

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The theme of the night at the wonderful Venice fields was runs.  Runs to the bathroom, runs to put more marker discs out, runs through the mud pit and ironically, runs of scoring.  With a skeleton crew of women (three), Forest opened up with a 3-1 run, using some tricky zone and taking advantage of Simon Margolis’ aggressive poaching.

Pink was not to go silently into that good night and went on a 5 point run to take the lead 6-3.  With their heads hung low, Forest took a timely time out to regroup, and while wondering how to slow down Pink’s clockwork offense, out of the dark side of the field an object approacheth…as it finally reached the working floodlight it was none other than Katie Killebrew-Forest’s fourth woman and the preemptive MVP of the night (she DID win regionals, don’t forget).  Seeing those pearly white teeth and freckly cheeks lit a spark in Forest Moon, and they scored 5 unanswered points to take half 8-6 with some huge hucks from Katie and some great grabs my Mike Margala and Mark Dalmacio.

With Pink reeling, captain Jessica Felleman must have seen Braveheart recently, because after the inspirational speech she gave at halftime Pink played as if their freedom was on the line, and they quickly scored 2 to tie it with a monster huck from Michelle Andrews to Simon streaking from the wing.

Forest was not quite ready to lay down however, and answered back plus more with some Jedi awareness by Rob Armstrong, bringing the score to 12-10 Forest.  As the theme of the night indicates, it was then Pink’s turn to go on their run, and run they did - getting 3 ‘run’ through D’s in consecutive points.  At 14-13 Pink, Forest had a costly turn and a tricky inside-out forehand floats out of reach for Jessica, but Lauren Silverman runs it down and keeps Pink unbeaten at 4-0.

RED M&Ms vs. JERRY BROWN
by Chad Woodard

It was a beautiful night under the lights on the perfectly manicured pitch in Reseda (read with sarcasm).  We’ll there must’ve been no Boston teams on the TV Monday night because the whole Uhl family was there - Keegan, Martha, and Buzz.  Red took advantage of early turnovers and started out 3-0 before Brown patiently worked it in.  Red took half 8-3 and it had the feel of a laugher.

Red started on offense the second half and Brown adjusted their zone to a 1-3 wall with the big guy doing most of the chasing.  (At least that’s what I think it was because Red turned it over on their 1st or 2nd throw on the next two points before the zone was even set - now that’s intimidation).  Three quick points later and it was 8-6.  Red finally settled down and figured out the zone. It would stay close to the end until red rounded it out to take it 15-10.

Plays of note: Red was short on guys and Brown was short on women.  The fatigue led to several late poach Ds for both teams.  Red really spread the love and it seemed nearly every player caught or threw a goal.  MA threw about 10 hammers - 1 nearly half the field length against the zone.  Play of the game: Keegan had a monster pull that looked like it had the potential to land across the 101 but ran out of spin and came back to land deep in the end zone.  Everyone was in such awe watching it float that the offense wasn’t near it to pick it up and the zone wasn’t even close to setting up yet.

WHITESNAKE vs. ROYAL WEDDING
by Andy Bandit

This was one of the best games to be involved in.  There’s nothing better than a back-and-forth Inser/Mahut-type match with multiple lead changes, and both teams having their backs to the wall.  They always say it comes down to who wants it more.  But sometimes, I honestly think it just comes down to pure ridiculous luck.  Something both teams definitely got the benefit of down the wire.

My memory of games I play in is admittedly terrible when it comes to who scored what point when, but I do remember the running score.  Royal jumped out immediately 2-0, and held that margin to 4-2 when White went on a 4-point run to take the 6-4 advantage.  Royal closed the gap to 6-5 but two more White scores gave the largest lead of the night, White taking half 8-5.

White was feeling pretty good at half-time (so good that Drea actually played a couple points in the 2nd half!) , and I think we believed we’d keep rolling up the score, (from co-captain Remy’s mantra of one point at a time) but those good feelings didn’t last when Royal methodically pulled out a 4-1 run to tie it back up at 9-9.  And so it went from that point.  10-10.  11-11.  12-12.  13-13.  Noone gave an inch in this game.

Then came two lucky points.  The first helped out White when an errant throw was macked twice in the air and I was lucky enough to be in the right spot to pull it down, and we managed to score to take game point 14-13.  But Lady Luck goes both ways.  (Which is pretty hot.)  White had our first chance to end it when we got the disc back, but a turn-over gave Royal the disc deep in their own territory.  Royal was undaunted and moved it sure-handedly up the field until an overthrow to Alex Korb was D’d by Matt Hennessy… right back into Korb’s hands, and they capitalized on the good fortune to tie at 14’s.  Overtime.

A White drop produced a Royal score, and now they had it game-point 15-14.  And when White turned it over around mid-field, I thought that might be it.  But White’s D was relentless.  Alex David, generously listed at 5′8″, had a sick run-through layout block to help give white a 15-15 tie.

Something happened that I honestly can’t remember that gave us the disc back and White re-captured the lead again 16-15.  And literally right as another Royal throw away gave White the disc with a chance to finish it, the lights made it a moot point and the marathon contest ended with Whitesnake taking it by a nose.  Very fortuitous, cause who knows what might’ve happened in that crazy game.

Royal was a formidable opponent.  With a combination of Korb’s ability to outjump much taller players, the crafty veterans Carl Edwards and Mike Bell both running rings around us, unstoppable handler play from Enway Hsu and Beth Lopour, and Poppin’s steady stream of incredible catches (hmmm, I wonder who told me not to pick her?) Royal is a damn good team.  And I know they were missing a couple of their strong guys.

From the White team, a huge shout out to my co-captain Remy who played like freakin’ Athena, Greek goddess of war (and the parthenogenic daughter of Zeus) out there.  Layout sideline catches, sick break-marks for scores, and she caught everything, no matter how bad the throws were to her.  Inspiring, especially from someone nursing a foot injury.

YELLOWBEARD vs. WHITE ZOMBIE
a short note from Ben Cohen

White played really hard with only 6 players, Yellow decided to make it a game and only fielded 6 even though they had a team of 14.  The game was a pretty exciting one with Yellow taking the half at 9-5, but by midway through the second half White had made it even at 10.  Yellow broke away with superior numbers to win it 17-14.  But it was not without a true fight from white.  Can not wait to face them again during the tourney.

NEXT RECAP

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Cal Poly Pomona.  I just booked it, so things like how the schedule will work, what times games start, and directions to the field will come shortly.  But one thing is clear.  It WILL be in Pomona.  AND we get the use of the pool, so that’s kind of awesome.

The party will be at a sports bar near the fields.  I’m still finalizing details for that, but will let you know when it’s all sorted out.