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All text copyright 1999 Tony
Leonardo and the Ultimate Players Assoication.
Photos: copyright 1999 Chuck Figur, Margo Hasselman and Keith Borsheim.
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U.C. Santa Barbara came to this tournament to dominant. They returned several key starters from last year’s championship and had the attitude, reputation, and training to work all other teams into the ground. On Friday they defeated all comers identically, 15–5, including a beatdown of Santa Cruz who were not mentally prepared to tangle with the Tide.
Brown opened with a resounding 15–4 win over Cornell. They were riding a groundswell of support for Callahan nominee (and eventual winner) Fortunat Mueller, who promised to bring the team to the promised land.
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North Carolina State gave up twelve points to a feisty Oberlin team in the second round of the day. Game watcher Ken Dobyns, a recent transfer to the Triangle, commented, "they have a tendency to play down to their competition." Oberlin is not a candy-ass team, but third-seeded Jinx, who have prepared for this tournament since this time last year, should have handed them their shorts.
Carleton came to the show with a front line of six-foot-fivers trained to catch the disc high in the air above opponents’ heads. The three-point basketball strategy of Carleton impressed many teams unaccustomed to seeing such a tall lineup be so damned athletic. Never before has the Carleton machine been so flexible and so willing to send the disc long. But they would have to go through a difficult schedule to get to game-time on Sunday.
Colorado has had a steady but unlucky program for several years. Boulder is a lively Ultimate community and C.U. benefits from a wealth of experienced graduate students, but the lack of strong local competition forces the team to travel to distant lands for crucial game experiences. They lost a three-way tie at last year’s Nationals and were switched into Santa Barbara’s region in the offseason. Colorado brought Nationals home for 1999, hoping a groundswell of friendly fans would bring the team to the Finals.
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Stanford lost several starters from last year’s Finals team. They are relatively young and envision 1999 as a rebuilding year. Pollsters did not expect them to be in contention for the title this year. But Scott Johnston and Dan Eisenberg made sure the youngsters got in some good competition at the highest levels. Any team looking past Stanford would find themselves on the losing end.
The final pool play games, pitting one versus two seeds, were staggered starting at 4:00. Brown faced Michigan in a rematch of the Yale Cup finals, a 16–14 victory for the then number one team in the country. Brown won this round again, 15–10.
N.C. State matched up against Stanford, a game promised to be a "barnburner" in the sepctator’s guide. N.C. State took half 8–6, playing with a "smooth offense and a shaky defense" according to a Jinx player. But Stanford was playing a good, solid game, with deep looks to Scott Johnston, smart handling, and nothing to lose. N.C. State, for their part, played without fear, putting the disc up frequently in their run and gun offense.
The teams traded points all game, with neither team strong enough to deliver the knockout blow. N.C. State maintained a one or two-point advantage without letting Stanford tie the game. Despite the closeness, Jinx never looked back and won 15–13 to earn a bye into quarters to start Saturday.
Carleton’s deep game benefitted from clear skies and little wind as they took an 8–5 lead into halftime. But Colorado opened the second stanza with two straight points and a couple of fortunate breaks, rallying the large crowd and closing within one at 7–8. After getting back a turnover, Carleton scored to take away some of the Mama Bird’s momentum. They then enacted a four-man trapping cup zone defense after the pull.
Carleton switched to a three-man-and-a-clam zone, got the turnover, and sent it deep again. A little in-the-air contact between sophomore superstar Alex Nord and a Colorado defender was not called and the score was 12–9, CUT.
The next point gave the fans a glimpse at the future of Ultimate. CUT’s freshman sensation Sam O’Brien, reading a Colorado swing pass, came charging to a disc that was thrown behind a receiver. He got to the disc and the body of the Colorado player at the same time. A foul was called. Normally this type of call would never be resolved by the players since the contact between O’Brien, the disc, and the player was simultaneous. But venerable Observer Ken Dobyns made the call when requested: no foul.
Surprisingly, although booed on the sidelines, neither Colorado nor Carleton disputed the call after the game. Driver, however, knew what the result was going to be, saying "the observers we know, especially in that game, weren’t going to let fouls be called—they like physical play," but added, "I thought it was a good bid. I thought they had equal chance of getting it."
Colorado scored one more point before more CUT hucks came raining down to big men Nord, Josh "Kaiser" Wilhelm, and Thomas Sebby. The last one of the game belonged to Nord who deservedly recorded the game-winner, 15–10.
