The cast of characters, yes, characters:
Back: Josh, Zach, Dunny, Blake, Jesse, Nyet, Elliot
Middle: T.J., Amanda, Craig
Front: Ian, Alli, Dana, Becky, Neil, Zach, Zan
We were "Bogart," and what we lacked in ability (we lost all four games on Saturday, though in our defense, at least three of them were close) we made up for in reminiscent, reunion-style fun. We also managed to revamp our offense for the second day, play a little better and run off 3 wins to make it to the C pool semis. So, um, yay us? But what the hell were we doing anyways?
Co-ed Beach Ultimate: 5 on 5, 3 guys and 2 gals on the "field" for each side. I say "field" not just it was comprised of sand, but because it was a whopping 25 yards long by 20 yards wide with 10 yard endzones (if that). The area was so small that you could easily make any throw from any point on the field to any point on the field. The sand was nice and soft = easy on the joints, but so thick that it was VERY HARD to run through and made quick direction changes near impossible. So my ability to throw deep and cut quickly were both nullified big time - in other words, everything that makes me above average in normal circumstances was negated. Super.
No, it's not all that bad - once you figure out how to take choppy steps, you still get very tired, but you can move a little bit. And breaking the mark was at a premium, so I still made a little bit of a contribution there. Truth be told, in a normal frisbee tournament, you like to have 19-21 guys for having 7 guys on the field at a time. We had 11 guys for 3 on the field at a time - so our ratio of near 4:1 meant there was a lot of time off between points (and there weren't that many points / minutes of playing time to begin with, since games were to 11 and the field was so small). We collectively took it easy and didn't even think of running our "best team" out there; as it should have been, this tournament was just about playing a little bit with everyone on the team (mixing up lines) and catching up on the sidelines. We did a great job of that. And just to get it out of the way, I played just fine - good throws, moved well and played respectable defense given a groin pull I had suffered earlier in the week at pickup. Yes, I'm old, I know. I also had a layout catch for a goal (which raised all kids of questions about what constitutes up or down in beach ultimate - I essentially laid out through a sand bank, getting my hand between the disc and the surface of the beach, but essentially creating that space myself. That doesn't come up often on grass), and I managed to deliver a right hook to a guy while trying to pivot for a breakmark backhand, one of the more violent shots I've delivered on an Ultimate field. Sorry, homes.
Having noted that we weren't exactly an Ultimate powerhouse, there were definitely times where I went out on a line - one notable one was Josh, Zach, Zan, Amanda and I on Saturday; there were others with Jesse, Elliot and TJ and another with Blake and Roga - where things just old-days clicked. We played plinko with the disc, made great cuts, knew exactly where everyone was going and there was nothing the D could do to stop us. That first one I mentioned was a sight to behold; we had been bogged down with a crappy O for the majority of the day, and all of a sudden Zach, Josh and I put together a melodic progression. Very schwank, and just gives you one of those nice "perfectibility of Ultimate" kinds of feelings. I brag, I brag. But 'twas poetic.
The team name, as mentioned, was Bogart, and though this could have led to all kinds of "Humphrey" cheers, we went a route with team cheers that was sometimes goofy ("Blagojevich" somehow got translated to "Bogartevich") and sometimes sublime. One things Tufts people do - not like this is original, it's just something they do - is "free cheer." Instead of just saying "1,2,3, Team!" or "Defense," everyone just comes up and starts saying / chanting / beatboxinng whatever comes to mind. Starts soft, gets progressively louder, gets cacophonic, someone signals and everyone yells "BOGART!" together. Noisy and annoying to outsiders, I'm sure, but when pulled off, it's borderline art.
Case 1: The Flaming Lips Medley. Someone starts the circle with a low sort of droning sound. It sounds like a rumbling "YAOWOYAOWOYA..." so Elliot stats singing "YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA-YA" from the FLips "The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song (With All Your Power)" from At War With the Mystics. Josh chimes in with the high falsetto part from that same song. There's no third part, so the majority of people start singing along with one of the two of them. I add "I know a girl who...reminds me of Cher... she's always changing... the color of her hair... but she don't use nothing... you buy at the store... she likes her hair... to be real orange" and the people who knew what I was singing ("She Don't Use Jelly," ftr, the FLips first hit) all chime in "SHE USES TANGERINES!!! TANGERINES!!!" Then a lot of screaming and fake guitaring, and someone gives us the one-two-three-hand signal and it's "BOGART!" And off we go. Probably sounds epically stupid in print (sounds in print?) (in print?), but felt pretty transcendent at the time.
Case 2: Talking Bogarts. Same start, whole team doing random stuff, but someone starts beatboxing and it sounds a whole lot to me like the chunky guitar part at the beginning of Stop Making Sense. So I yell "Psycho Killer" - and exactly on beat, Graig / Roga cal-and-responses "Qu'est-ce que c'est ?" Pretty soon we've got the whole circle doing it, and ditto, Bogart!
Fun times. Stupid, and you probably don't care to read it, but those little moments of spontaneous art make things just a little great.
This is dragging on, so suffice it: just a great weekend with the Epo. Remember: Blake's head nod then throw for the score; sideline BH huck to Josh, FH huck to Josh, layout catch on the throw from Dunny, score on the Z-J-Nyet point. So good. Of course, the best of times were just chilling on the sideline - I met Josh's and Elliott's SLFs Nicole and Briar, respectively, and just got in a lot of good chilling / catching up time, both at the beach and at the house the dudes rented on Saturday and Sunday night. So, a ton of good disc, but primarily a ton of good this:
That's Nicole & Josh, Ian, some unknown person and Jesse down on the end. Top Quality Weekend.
No comments:
Post a Comment