Men’s
Ultimate Frisbee Battles Opponents, Snow
The
Oberlin men’s ultimate frisbee’s B-team posted the best
result for the spring on the men’s side when they beat the
University of Illinois at Chicago’s B team 9-0 in the first
game of Hope College’s Dope Cabbage tournament, Saturday, March
2.
Being seeded last in a five-team pool had advantages for the Horsecalves
as they got a rare first round bye and were able to snooze until
9 a.m. Eight inches of fresh snow greeted the well-rested ’Calves
as they piled on all the layers they owned and headed out to the
fields.
After singing their traditional warm-up hymn, “Amazing Grace,
my hands are cold…” the game got under way. Several well-placed
hucks to first-years Wilson “the Abominable Snowman” Skinner
and Ben “Icicle” Warrington later and the B team had pulled
out its first win of the season. The second game would not prove
nearly as easy. Angry at being a perennial doormat for Oberlin’s
full squad, the Case Western Reserve Fighting Gobies took out their
aggression on the B team and took half 7-0. A rousing halftime speech
by sophomore co-captain Noah “Lightning Boy” Hoskins-Forsythe
inspired the ’Calves to fight back for their first score. Despite
the icy weather, the Horsecalves lost their cool and were soundly
beaten, 13-1. “The snow made it really hard for our cup to
run when we threw zone D,” sophomore Brendan “Sergei Fedorov’s
Sex Slave” Curran said. “Yeah, and the penguins kept getting
in my way,” sophomore Eben “Checking Line” Pariser
added.
The next game wasn’t much better. Facing Hope College, seeded
second in their pool, the ’Calves allowed the orange-clad hometown
favorites to open up another 7-0 halftime lead. Injured A-teamer
and self-designated coach Mike “Roger Moore” Hamm called
for more use of the new “HoZo” offense at halftime. Oberlin
gave up a quick score and then patiently worked the disk up the
field, called time out on the goal line and punched it in to Warrington.
A layout D by first-year Braden “Mr. Everything” Paynter
followed by a fast break score made it 8-2, and though the Horsecalves
managed to flow well up the field again it was all they would get
and the final stood at 13-2.
Next
the ‘Calves faced fellow Ohioans Bowling Green. Though their
opponents featured three decent handlers and several good athletes,
Oberlin found themselves down only 7-5 at halftime. “It doesn’t
hurt!” yelled Hoskins-Forsythe as he threw himself backwards
into the snow. “Lay out in any position, land on your heads,
just lay out!” Fired up by their captain’s cheers the
’Calves rallied back for a 9-8 lead. With weak marks that got
broken like a frozen snotsicle, the ’Calves were unable to
press their advantage and let Bowling Green tie it at nine and then
take the lead 10-9. A forehand huck from Robin “Little Gun”
Walker to Paynter got intercepted in the endzone. A Bowling Green
punt on stall nine after great handler D by junior co-captain Dan
“Toto” Reeves went out of bounds. Paynter got better position
in the endzone, this time on a backhand huck, and the game was tied
at 10. Oberlin would get no more, though they would get close several
times, and they lost a winnable game 13-10. “It’s as cold
as a witch’s tit, let’s get out of here,” proclaimed
first-year Steve “The Iceman Cometh” Kleinman. The ’Calves
retired to the Day’s Inn to shower, attempt to thaw and dry
their clothes and watch Cool Runnings.
The
next day, with snow still falling, Oberlin hurried to the fields
eager to lose more toes to frostbite. By this time a foot and a
half of snow graced the fields, the bottom eight inches being chunks
of ice left over from the previous day’s fields. Only six men’s
teams showed up, so they were simply paired up for one game before
the long drive home. Since their opponents were Earlham, with a
few people from University of Chicago thrown in to give them enough
players to go savage, the ‘Cows put on their Quaker line; but
the Quakers across the field, their faces painted in Braveheart
designs, didn’t seem to appreciate it. Oberlin scored first
on a downwind huck and then surrendered two quick fast-break points.
The ’Calves couldn’t match Earlham’s intensity, athleticism
or throws as they gave up numerous layout scores. Good long play
by Skinner, Warrington and Kleinman and handler work by first-years
Keith “Fuzzy” Apfelbaum and Gabe “Steven Segal”
McCormick led to five scores but in the end the ‘Cows lost
in a capped game 12-5. After a quick game of “Splat” led
by Earlham, the ’Calves piled into the cars for the smelly
ride through a blizzard and back to warm Oberlin.
Sophomore
Robin Walker is a member of the men’s ultimate frisbee team.
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