Musings
-------

From: parinell@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (James C Parinella)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.disc
Subject: Re: More NE Regional Musings

In article <CxvJHA.98G@cunews.carleton.ca> Jeff Pollak
<jpollak@intrinsix.com> writes:  
>
>Jim Gobes asked me to post this>>>>
>

Of course I must respond (in T-Man mode, of course).

>Observation:
>
>Based on the scores of the games alone, it would seem that
> the two NE player magnets (NY/Bos) have seriously stratified
> the talent pool of Ultimate. 

Sure, we're good athletes, but the talent is "stratified"
because 
1)  We train extremely hard.
2)  We work on our individual games.
3)  We play a smart game.  To illustrate, on several occasions
I would cut deep from first in the stack and run past 5
stationary defenders, who were probably thinking, "That's not
my man" rather than "I should prevent the easy long goal by
helping deep".  It makes a difference. 

Additionally, we have TWO players on our team this year who
played with someone else last year, and one of them moved here
from Seattle.  We have 19 players, 7 fewer than are on
Cornell's roster.  We had open practices all summer, some of
which Jim Gobes attended.  We allow the Masters' team to
practice with us.  I don't think we're destroying NE Ultimate,
as Jim seems to imply. 

>
>Proposal:
>
> What if we gave these GODs a berth (NE anyway) to Nationals
> without making them go through the trouble of
> sectionals/regionals? The benefits: 

Fine.  Let's look at our Regionals.  The number of teams was
increased from 16 (which leads nicely to brackets instead of
pools) to 20, I suppose to increase participation.  But it
wasn't 20, it was 19 that were supposed to attend.  Then UVm,
one of the bottom 4 seeds, doesn't show up for the second year
in a row and leaves 18.  Maybe 5 of those have a chance to
make Nationals, which is the primary reason for this
tournament.  Our team plays 5 games without giving up more
than 4 goals (we had played two of these teams the week before
at Sectionals).  Cajones plays 6 and gives up even fewer
goals.  Does anybody gain anything by this?  In a 16 team
tournament, we would have played 2 or 3 games before having a
reasonable matchup.  Other teams would have been spared our
condescension, and there would be fewer chances for injuries.
This is the Nationals series, remember.  It would be easy
enough to set up additional games for those eliminated in two
games.  And if the goal is to provide a lot of games for
teams, why were only 8 teams playing on Sunday?  

>
>1) Mortals like us would not have to deal with the
>   condescension that emanates from many of these titans.
>   Quote: "Oh, we're playing some butt team from the boston
>   area."  Nor would we have to deal with players who piss 1
>   foot from the sidelines 

We piss near our sideline, too.
> and who haven't cheered another team since they left college.

We didn't cheer when we were in college, either.
>
>2) The GODs could come out on Saturday to play for seed in a
>   showcase game which everyone could watch.
>
>3) The pools would be fairer by virtue of a more even distribution.
>
>4) No one would wonder if we needed refs in the sport (except
>   for the showcase game and Nationals).

Just for the record, we didn't need observers in the Ego
final, and the biggest argument of the day was between Cornell
and Noreaster. 
>
>5) The rest of us would just have a lot more fun playing for
>   the last spot without them.
>
> I like many of these former mortals, these titans of
> Ultimate. But let us not think that they are not
> contaminated by association. Ultimate power corrupts
> ultimately. The sport lives on, not through them but through
> the rest of us who continue to cheer, respect the feelings
> of others, and do not give up the sport just because we will
> never climb Mt. Olympus. 

Again, this was a tournament to help determine the National
champion.  And for a team that forms the cornerstone of
Ultimate, you guys seemed kind of uptight and not enjoying
yourselves so much that game. 

>
>Jim Gobes - Mortal who wears Asbestos Suit (Ready for Flame)
>

Jim, I apologize for our team crowding your field during your
game to advance to Sunday.  But we like to enjoy ourselves
just like everybody else.  Just because we have massive egos
doesn't mean we can't goof around.   

Jim "Back to PC Watchdog After This" Parinella