Sarasota, FL -- OLD SAG started out the first day of Nationals lost and late for the first game. How typical for Philly frisbee veterans. After touring Long Boat Key for one-half an hour and seeing the Gulf water on either side of the road we realized that we were no where near the fields. With the clock ticking down to game time, we got stuck on a draw bridge to let a sailboat pass. We used the delay to get our team picture. Back on the road, we arrived at the fields minutes past ten to see Old & In the Way running laps & drills with an army of guys 6'5" or better. This team from Boulder, CO was last year's Nationals Champs and the reigning World Champs. It was not a good game to be late for. We conserved our energy and played a loose game and worked on our game in the windy conditions. We went down 15-2.
So now warmed up and ready for our second round we took on Alabama. They went out to a few point lead like 3-0? But then Old Sag got back in the game and went up on the Crimson Tide. After some disputed calls 'bama took the half when their 6' 7" (Shawn Bradley frame) guy was able to make a catch over a skying Dave Bender who applied the Stamp On nudge to the big guy while going up for the catch in the endzone. The big guy cried foul and wouldn't let up even though we never contested. SAG just said quit crying and we played on.
Sometime in this game Dave Boscher was marking the thrower when the 'bama guy elbowed Dave in the cheek with his left elbow while he was sending a flick with his right. Bosch ended up getting a few stitches and the 'bama guy called a foul on Bosch. What's up with that?
SAG was primed for a comeback and pulled to within one at 11-10 when the cap was on. We eventually lost 13-11. Our play was a lot better and we all felt that we should have won the game. The offense was starting to come together in the windy conditions at the Polo Fields.
The third round game was against Chicago (Chris Kelly's team from last year). By now our jet lag and excitement at being at Nationals was finally under control. We also had our fan base for this game: Mr. Brose (Jim's Dad), Mr. Kelly & his wife PD, Kenny & Lisa (Sauce's friends). We wanted to win this one for the fans. Our offense was on and we took the half 8-4. We won the game by a few like 15-12. The late run by Chi-town turned out to hurt us later on, but we all had met Mr. Kelly and we were psyched to check out the private party at his crib.
Before leaving the fields we drank some Sierra Nevada to loosen up the sore muscles. We were ready to cruise in our convertible when Sauce let out his trademark "Buuarrrraaaa..." The reason for his mating call was that a Lady Godiva rode up to SAG mounted on this huge black horse and was trotting along with a second huge brown horse. She was wearing those tight tan riding pants with brown boots, and a tight white top that highlighted her flat but very tan stomach. Her long dark her was tied up in the back. Sauce, Sven, & Schoettle quickly got their rap going and we learned her name was Erika. We questioned her about Polo--our new favorite sport. Her horses were named Mercedes and Cadillac. Her other horses were named Porsche, Bentley, & Harley. As the other Ultimate players rode by they honked their horns and gave us thumbs up. It must be good to be a Sugar Daddy; maybe those Polo guys at the Edge aren't so bad after all?
The next day our first game was against Pro State from NY. They had an army of 30 something guys, which helps on the second day of a tournament. While we were getting ready to play and were late as usual Pickleman yelled out: "Hey do ya want us to wait a little longer so the rest of your guys can get here on time." We all had a good laugh as we quietly got psyched to play.
We really came together in this game and may have peaked out during this game? This game was by far our best game at Nationals. We received the pull going up wind against NY. SAG displayed some awesome handling skills during this point as we worked the disc upfield with short quick cuts and passes. Putting in the goal was a key momentum setter. NY with all their guys couldn't get into a rhythm and I think they went down 3-0 and 4-1. Great offensive work by Steve Wherry, Sven, Stampy, Schoettle, & Viner carried OLD SAG early. The NY squad was not happy and we all agreed that when we had the disc NY was giving us a very quick stall count and fouling us when marking. We eventually took the half at 8-4.
The second half started with NY getting a run to close the gap we had built up in the first half. Mike Adlis made a great bid by laying out to deflect a pass intended for the legendary Corky. The disc fluttered in the air and Corky pulled it in for the goal. The momentum had changed in favor of NY. The game was capped and SAG had the lead 11-10 and we would have the wind if the score was tied. NY and SAG traded points with both teams scoring with the wind. With the score tied at 12-12 we would have the wind at our backs. The last point ended quickly with NY getting SAG to turn the disc over in our own end of the field. They quickly picked it up and put it in for the score and the game. Although the game was over and NY was relieved to have survived quite a scare, we felt that we played our best game and left everything on the field. NY went onto the quarters having only lost to Old and In the Way. NY finished fourth overall losing to Colorado again in the consolation game.
After that we played San Francisco and needed a win to get into the quarters. Having been so close to winning and now trying get up again was tough. We started out flat with SF going up 3-0. We called time and slowly started to get back into the game scoring a few points. But by now we were not fresh enough to run with Old & Crabby. They were a little deeper on the bench and seemed to be a step quicker than us. On a another day the game could have been different. We eventually went down 15-8.
On Saturday our first game was against Boston's Wreckage. We felt we should win this game because it may only be a few year window before some of the DOG guys start playing with Wreckage. We took the half 8-7 and were sparked by some great layout catches by Dave Boscher and Jimmy Viner. We went on to win 15-11.
Our final game at Nationals was against Black Lung. We got out to an early lead 2-0 and maybe 3-1, but Lung came back and took the half 8-7. We were down to our last half of Ultimate at Nationals and we wanted to finish with a win. Somehow the game turned on us and we went down 13-10. We could sense that Lung was feeling like they had the victory. We were all down and not really feeling anything. We called our final time out; we had lost the MOJO. In a very inspirational moment Ken Yanoviak rolled in a cooler and started tapping the rhythm of the beat to the chant that had been so inspiring to the Peppers in their comeback the day before: "Dunt Dunt DA Da da.....HEY!" We got it going slowly and quietly and then gradually started getting louder and louder. We could start to feel the MOJO coming back. It was time for One Last Ditch Shot At Glory.
We came out so pumped that we got right back into the game. We closed it to 13-12 and then gave up one point to be down 14-12. But that didn't matter, because we all wanted GLORY and tied the game up at 14-14. We clearly had the MOJO back and we made the D and went up 15-14. We pulled and Lung still rattled from the SAG attack turned the disc over quickly and SAG put the disc in for game point. It was an awesome comeback from death to a One Last Ditch Shot At Glory. Somewhere in this game were hot layout catches by Jim Viner and Dave Boscher scoring on a skying grab when the game was on the line. There was no way we could have won this game without Schoettle who played hurt and played amazing on the offensive end.
--Mike Adlis