That other disc sport
Posted by heykb
That other disc sport
Posted by: heykb (131.249.80.---)
Date: April 30, 2009 12:04PM
Last weekend, I took my wife, my son, and a fellow Cornellian (who occasionally lurks here) up to Princeton for the Ultimate Frisbee collegiate regional tournament. Cornell (team name = "Buds"
was seeded 2nd of the 16 teams attending. All the teams had to qualify in their sections, so none of the teams would be pushovers. While the teams are absolutely representing their schools, the team names are usually not related to the official mascots. RPI's team name is "Trudge", the Swarthmore women were the "warmothers" (nice anagram!), Buffalo goes by "green eggs and ham", and Edinboro is "Haggis." It was fun just seeing all the names.
The Buds were expected to do well and they did. We missed the first two games (victories over Vassar and Buffalo) on Saturday morning but saw games 3 and 4 in the afternoon. Cornell dominated Edinboro 15-7, helped quite a bit by the deep roster. In Ultimate, 7 people per side are on the field at all times, and there is no substitution except after goals or time-outs. Cornell had no trouble rotating 15 or so players, while Edinboro's 10 players were pretty wrung out.
That win got the Buds into the semi-finals where they met Bucknell, upset victors over Maryland in a tough match. Bucknell had split two previous games with Cornell this season, so Cornell went in with plenty of knowledge about their opponent. As in many sports, one star can make the team very good and thus it was with Bucknell. The Buds shut down their star, and once again used their depth to run Bucknell ragged. At the end, it was Cornell 15 - Bucknell 4 and into the finals on Sunday morning.
As expected, Cornell would face Pitt, the #1 seed for the regional championship and a berth in the national tournament. The loser would have to play the winner of the loser's bracket to get the second (and last) spot in the nationals.
We weren't around on Sunday afternoon when the Cornell-Pitt game was played, but here is what the captain of the Buds sent out regarding that contest:
"Finals: Cornell:15 Pitt:8
This game was the focus of our entire season. Pitt had ended our season two years in a row and everyone on our team was determined to not let that happen again. We didn't want to leave ANYTHING to chance, so despite the heat everyone from our team got to the fields at least 2 hours before game time and did individual warm-ups along with whatever else they needed to do in order to take it to Pitt. Pitt, on the other hand, showed up 45 minutes beforehand and had a pretty loose warm-up. A few minutes before game time we brought it in, but not much needed to be said in the huddle to get everyone ready to go for this game; everyone on our team was on the same page about what needed to be done.
We started the game on offense and made the point quick, with a huck out of our spread offense that we hadn't let Pitt see earlier. On our first defensive point, we put out a line of fiery players who were hungry for a D. We were able to keep the pressure on Pitt and eventually forced a throw away. We then quickly converted it to a goal for our first break of the game! This was the first of a string of breaks that would put us up 8-1 at half. We were doing our best not to let the Pitt players get easy resets with their handlers and we were playing good team defense downfield. Coming out of the second half, Pitt started throwing a poachy half zone, half man defense that was giving our O-line some trouble. They were able to earn back several breaks, but our d-line continued to play stellar defense, earning our breaks back and helping us maintain our lead. In the end, Pitt did a good job regrouping in the second half, but it was too little too late and the Buds went on to win the Metro East Region!"
The Cornell women (the Roses) played very well and finished in the middle of the pack of the women's tournament. They had just barely qualified out of sectionals, so finishing tied for 5th was a great result.
The nationals are in Columbus, OH over Memorial Day weekend. If you are in the area, I recommend checking it out. Ultimate is a fine spectator sport and Cornell has an excellent team. I was a founding member of the Buds in 1973 and I can tell you the 2009 edition has excellent athletes and a topnotch offense. These guys can play. They are ranked in the top 10 in the country and it's apparent why. They are likely to make some noise at nationals.
was seeded 2nd of the 16 teams attending. All the teams had to qualify in their sections, so none of the teams would be pushovers. While the teams are absolutely representing their schools, the team names are usually not related to the official mascots. RPI's team name is "Trudge", the Swarthmore women were the "warmothers" (nice anagram!), Buffalo goes by "green eggs and ham", and Edinboro is "Haggis." It was fun just seeing all the names.
The Buds were expected to do well and they did. We missed the first two games (victories over Vassar and Buffalo) on Saturday morning but saw games 3 and 4 in the afternoon. Cornell dominated Edinboro 15-7, helped quite a bit by the deep roster. In Ultimate, 7 people per side are on the field at all times, and there is no substitution except after goals or time-outs. Cornell had no trouble rotating 15 or so players, while Edinboro's 10 players were pretty wrung out.
That win got the Buds into the semi-finals where they met Bucknell, upset victors over Maryland in a tough match. Bucknell had split two previous games with Cornell this season, so Cornell went in with plenty of knowledge about their opponent. As in many sports, one star can make the team very good and thus it was with Bucknell. The Buds shut down their star, and once again used their depth to run Bucknell ragged. At the end, it was Cornell 15 - Bucknell 4 and into the finals on Sunday morning.
As expected, Cornell would face Pitt, the #1 seed for the regional championship and a berth in the national tournament. The loser would have to play the winner of the loser's bracket to get the second (and last) spot in the nationals.
We weren't around on Sunday afternoon when the Cornell-Pitt game was played, but here is what the captain of the Buds sent out regarding that contest:
"Finals: Cornell:15 Pitt:8
This game was the focus of our entire season. Pitt had ended our season two years in a row and everyone on our team was determined to not let that happen again. We didn't want to leave ANYTHING to chance, so despite the heat everyone from our team got to the fields at least 2 hours before game time and did individual warm-ups along with whatever else they needed to do in order to take it to Pitt. Pitt, on the other hand, showed up 45 minutes beforehand and had a pretty loose warm-up. A few minutes before game time we brought it in, but not much needed to be said in the huddle to get everyone ready to go for this game; everyone on our team was on the same page about what needed to be done.
We started the game on offense and made the point quick, with a huck out of our spread offense that we hadn't let Pitt see earlier. On our first defensive point, we put out a line of fiery players who were hungry for a D. We were able to keep the pressure on Pitt and eventually forced a throw away. We then quickly converted it to a goal for our first break of the game! This was the first of a string of breaks that would put us up 8-1 at half. We were doing our best not to let the Pitt players get easy resets with their handlers and we were playing good team defense downfield. Coming out of the second half, Pitt started throwing a poachy half zone, half man defense that was giving our O-line some trouble. They were able to earn back several breaks, but our d-line continued to play stellar defense, earning our breaks back and helping us maintain our lead. In the end, Pitt did a good job regrouping in the second half, but it was too little too late and the Buds went on to win the Metro East Region!"
The Cornell women (the Roses) played very well and finished in the middle of the pack of the women's tournament. They had just barely qualified out of sectionals, so finishing tied for 5th was a great result.
The nationals are in Columbus, OH over Memorial Day weekend. If you are in the area, I recommend checking it out. Ultimate is a fine spectator sport and Cornell has an excellent team. I was a founding member of the Buds in 1973 and I can tell you the 2009 edition has excellent athletes and a topnotch offense. These guys can play. They are ranked in the top 10 in the country and it's apparent why. They are likely to make some noise at nationals.
Re: That other disc sport
Posted by: Beeeej (Moderator)
Date: April 30, 2009 05:00PM
heykb
The Cornell women (the Roses) played very well and finished in the middle of the pack of the women's tournament. They had just barely qualified out of sectionals, so finishing tied for 5th was a great result.
Are they no longer called the "Red, Red Roses"?
Thanks for the update, that's great news. I was a member of the "Shake" (Cornell's B-team) for about eleven and a half minutes way back when.
___________________________
Beeeej, Esq.
"Cornell isn't an organization. It's a loose affiliation of independent fiefdoms united by a common hockey team."
- Steve Worona
Beeeej, Esq.
"Cornell isn't an organization. It's a loose affiliation of independent fiefdoms united by a common hockey team."
- Steve Worona
Re: That other disc sport
Posted by: ugarte (---.dyn.optonline.net)
Date: April 30, 2009 08:45PM
And then you lost your jump?Beeeej
I was a member of the "Shake" (Cornell's B-team) for about eleven and a half minutes way back when.
___________________________
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