CCC Pictures

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No Wisconsequences 2008

The sun rose on the magnUM 2008 fall season with a trip to the Milwaukee polo grounds in Wisconsin. With rosters not yet finalized and the squad altered from a variety of absences, the weekend brought plenty of chances for a young squad to grow and shine.

Pool play started at 830 Saturday against Luther College. Perhaps focused on the really sweet lasagna and brownies from Friday night instead of playing good Ultimate, magnUM quickly found itself broken twice and in a 1-3 hole. magnUM battled back before Luther took half at 7-8. When, Gordon hit Jeeves with a goalline around, the rally was on, 11-10. Bandit made the next sweet play, pulling a disc down in a crowd for a 12-11 lead. The lead would grow on the way to a 15-13 win.

Up next was Wisconsin X, and magnUM again fell victim to a slow start. Sloppy marking, amusing contested fouls by the guy in the maroon shirt and more than a few acceptable break marks saw magnUM at the wrong end of a 4-8 halftime score. magnUM showed good D intensity in the second half. When Ben DeLand reverted to killing 150% of the time with a nice layout D and then Fumo hit beaker to cut the game to 9-11, magnUM smelled a comeback. Unfortunately, the only smell was from the horse stalls at the polo grounds, and riding a couple of timely tipped discs the multi-colored hodags won 15-11.

Having finished the power pool with a respectable 1-1 mark, magnUM played a crossover against Minnesota-Duluth. magnUM started strong with a Fumo to Steinbock combination resulting in a 3-1 lead. The ‘northern lights’ hung tough, using a TO for oxygen before Gordon repeated his goalline prowess hitting Bandit to take half, 7-6. The second half featured a pair of amusing highlights. Tim Lee made his mark layout not once, not twice, but three times for a throw that wasn’t there. And Derek Towster proved beyond a doubt that you can’t pushoff right when moving your arm left. The actual second half score can be attributed to a variety of factors, but whatever your preference, magnUM lost on universe point 14-13.

A night of credit card roulette (congrats John Abela!), in-van techno dancing and conference 1 talks gave way to Sunday play. Fired up from that call from the waitress, Derek Towster had two sweet layout plays to open the game against Birdhouse. Unfortunately for DTow, magnUM was still sleepy and sloppy on the disc and lost the first point. magnUM would surge back and took half when Jeff Pape found Fumo, 7-5. The second half featured strong control, pulling away to an easy 13-8 win.

How you can have a rematch this quickly in a tournament with 44 teams is beyond me, but magnUM again faced Luther, plus two vastly stronger opponents when working in concert: the wind and a sudden lack of confidence on the disc. In the debacle that followed, a Callahan was given up, zone D was dissected, and swilly hucks were repeatedly caught in a game that could only be described as ouch.

Up next was Winona State. Winona rode the huck all day long and the game was tight through 9-9. But when Derek Moen scored to make it 10-9 and Ollie landed a huck to make it 11-9, Winona had no response on the way to a 13-10 final.

magnUM then played a short game to 9 against Wisconsin Y. A close first half saw magnUM up 5-4 at intermission. Ben DeLand jumped magnUM into kill mode with a score to make it 6-4. After a couple points Ollie hit AK with a sick blade for a break and an 8-5 lead. magnUM closed the weekend strong with a great final D-line; Jeff Pape nearly hit Ben DeLand on a sweet huck but the glory went to Jeeves hitting Robbie Steinbock for the winner.

The consequences from the weekend were many. The rookies got lots of playing time and tournament experience. Returners saw what needed to get better. The injured guys felt the virtues of hot chocolate on a cold morning. And everyone was longing for the chance to improve their game…up next is CCC in three weeks.

2008-2009 Rosters Announced

Congratulations to everyone who made it onto one of the two teams! Here are the rosters:

magnUM
Alex Fegert
Alex Kaulins
Andrew Dunn
Ben DeLand
Casey Smith
Craig Sanford
Dave Fumo
Derek Moen
Derek Towster
Derrick Wolbert
Dominic Conti
Gordon Siegfriedt
Jeff Pape
Jeff Siddiqui
Jesse Brauner
Kevin Yien
Matt Marcum
Ollie Honderd
Patrick Collins
Robbie Steinbock
Seth Collins
Timmy Lee
Tom Haynes
Will Neff

Extended tryout
Adam van Staveren
Brandon Beeler
John Abela
Zak Kemmer
Zach Lemis

Reserve
Aaron Nelson
Andrew Copp
Brian Yost
Chris Li
Chris Vandervoort
Craig Tenbusschen
Eric Haywood
Jason Lunau
John Truesdell
Jon Stein
Josh Gilly
Josh Leskar
Kyle Kissoff
Matt Miller
Michael Glotter
Mike DeRubeis
Mike Kuntz
Mike Schultz
Ryan Axon
Spencer Jolly
Steve Kilpatrick
Vesh Rajasekaran
VJ Tocco
Zubin Shetty

The coaching staff has high expectations for all Michigan Ultimate players. We expect a high level of commitment, effort, and improvement from each player throughout the remainder of the season. You have all done great making it this far, and we look forward to seeing the merits of your continued hard work. Once again, congratulations!

What does "Natty Mich" mean?

After the 2006-2007 season, we lost a lot of players. This made it a little tough to find a rhythm in the early fall. However, by the end of the fall, our offensive was starting to really flow, almost as if we’d been playing together for years. It was put best by freshman Ollie Honderd: we were playing like Natural Michigan.

From then on, anytime things weren’t going so smoothly for us, we would remember what it was like to be Natural Michigan. Soon, we were “Natty Mich” all the time, and tearing through defenses across the country.

In the weeks before Nationals, captain Ryan Purcell, along with Matt Marcum and Ollie Honderd, cooked up a huge surprise for the rest of the team. An artist in his spare time, Ollie came up with an amazing sketch of the Boulder mountain backdrop made up of all of our names. Of course, these new black jerseys said “Natty Mich” on the back, as they were a very special, one-time thing, made just for this group of guys.

So you're thinking about trying out for magnUM…

The summer before I first tried out, I was really pumped about the idea of playing for magnUM. I had seen the videos and understood the tradition, but I really had no idea what to expect at tryouts. So, I figured I’d make a blog post to help all of the new people out.

What to expect at tryouts:

Tryouts will consist of two main elements:

• Data Collection:
  We will take some time during the first couple of tryouts for four main tests:
  
  • Timed mile
    
  • Timed 40-yard dash
    
  • Timed shuttle run
    
  • Measurement of leaping ability
  We encourage you to work out this summer and prepare for these tests. This will give you a head start on the rest of the guys trying out.

• On-Field Evaluation
  Of course we don’t just care about numbers. We want to see what you can do on the field as well. The main things we look for on the field are throwing ability, field awareness, and the ability and willingness to learn. We realize that many of you have never played ultimate before (at least not at a high level), and our coaches and returners are very good at teaching the game. I would like to emphasize that no experience is necessary.

What to bring to tryouts

• Cleats*
  
• Running Shoes
  
• Plenty of Water
  
• Disc
  
• White shirt
  
• Dark shirt

*Cleats are not required, but you will be at a big disadvantage without them.

How to give yourself the best chance to make the team

The best way to be noticed is to work hard all the time. We’re looking for unselfish players who will play good defense and not turn the disc over.
Keep this in mind this summer. What are the things you can do to make yourself that type of player?

• Be in shape. Even if you’re the best player, games are long, and if your opponent is in better shape, he will take advantage of you.
  
• Throw. Get out with a friend and learn how to throw. We will do this as well, but any head start you can get is great.
  
• Play ultimate. Get out and find a pickup game, a summer league, or maybe even a club team. This link will help you find a place to play.

If you’ve made it this far in my post, you should probably go ahead and read our new About page and FAQ section. They’re full of useful information.

Gordon Siegfriedt
magnUM #18

Regional champions

Ollie Honderd skies Ohio State players (photo credit: Luke Johnson)

Michigan played well this weekend in Hartland, MI – beating Bowling Green (15-9), Miami of Ohio (15-6), and Ohio State (15-12) on Saturday to reach the championship game against Illinois on Sunday. After team awards on Saturday night and a good night’s sleep, they put away Illinois 15-11 to take the Great Lakes Regional title.

See you in Boulder.

"Do work"

Missouri Loves Company, 2007

It was a brisk Saturday morning in Missouri’s capitol city. Four nondescript Dodge minivans pulled into the parking lot, unloading 18 passengers. For the first time the official members of magnUM 2k8 stepped onto the playing field, ready to prove themselves to some of the biggest teams in the country.

Pool play began at 8:30 am with a regional opponent, Illinois. The first half was dominated by Illinois miscues. Whether it was overthrowing their receivers or simply dropping the disc, they gave magnUM plenty of opportunities to cash in on breaks. Athough our D line offense wasn’t running smoothly, we were able to punch 3 breaks in during the first half to take it 6-3. After half Illinois decided to step up, while magnUM failed to respond. At one point Ill reeled off 4 straight breaks, and in the short game to 11 Michigan did not have time to regain composure, and lost 11-9

The excitement of playing last year’s second best team definitely got all of magnUM up and firing for the next game. Colorado started on O, working the disc down the field before a big layout D by Dave Fumo. With the first opportunity to break, magnUM worked it into the red zone before turning, which Colorado quickly turned around full field to convert the first point of the game. At the end of the half, with a tied score via the start of a mamabird run Armand Conti played handler defense perfectly, bidding on a forced dump pass in the endzone for the Callahan to take half 6-5.

Riled up from that display, magnUM D upped the intensity to a new level for the second half and did work, and ripping off 3 straight breaks after an O line score to start it off to make it 9-5. The D line played a much improved version of offense during this time after getting the disc on Mamabird miscues and great D’s by Ollie and Scurry. As it is so often said, this is a game of runs and momentum changes, and Colorado finally pulled it together and got back on track. Unforced errors by our O line gave a few of those hard earned breaks back to a Colorado team that was not going down easily. Breaking back to bring the score to 10s, Colorado stepped up and snatched the victory on Universe point, winning 11-10.

After that loss, magnUM tried to regain focus going into a game against the 4 seeded Kansas. However, both lines came out flat against a solid Kansas squad, allowing an easy first point and then giving up 2 breaks. Down 3-0, magnUM finally seemed to get past the last game and realize that they had a chance for redemption if they could just do work on D. with the O got back on track, both magnUM lines began experimenting with different zone looks to utilize the increasing winds. While MagnUM worked out a few kinks the teams traded points to a 4-6 halftime score. In the 2nd half the improved zone started to take its toll on Kansas. Forced throws through the ever improving cup allowed for 3 straight breaks by the boys in blue, and gave magnUM its first lead of the game in a soft cap at 8-7. With a chance to take it right there, they allowed Kansas only its second point since halftime to tie the game at eights. With the hard cap now on the O managed to show some resolve and find the promised land for a 9-8 victory

After an inspiring second half, MagnUM moved into Carlton with a full head of steam and plenty to prove. However, tough defense caused several magnUM O misfires. Carleton took a 3-1 lead and showed why they are the team to beat this year. Not to be outdone, the Blue D stepped up once again and showed the same fire that had kept them in the last two games. After a CUT turn, Ollie ripped a backhand huck to the side of the endzone where PC went up with two Carleton defenders and grabbed the disc for the first break. Then magnUM came back with a D by Will Neff, one of his 15 on the weekend. He then proceeded to find David Adams for the score to reclaim the lead 4-3 and get magnUM back on track. Both squads regained some composure, trading point to 5-5, before Carleton snatched an all important break before half.

Receiving to start the second half, the boys from the land o’ lakes showed a quick strike attack to put an easy one on the board. Both teams showed why they were considered top level competition over the next several points, playing a collected style of play that lead to trading of points the rest of the game. Beaker had some great grabs for goals to keep Carleton respecting the deep look while opening up the under game on O. Although we lost 11-9, magnUM walked away from this game knowing we could go toe to toe with any team in the country.

Sunday morning rolled around with a game against the number 5 seed from power pool A, Indiana. PC ruled the skies early, grabbing 2 huge D’s, and magnUM started off with a break. An Indiana score followed by 2 more from Michigan put the score at 3-1. magnUM decided to give them a taste of their own regional medicine began throwing zone both ways. Indiana couldn’t get the disc around the cup and was continually pressed to the trap side, often dangerously close to the back of their own endzone. This great cup work was complemented by wings and short deep that continually found men to cover and threats to squash, and a deep deep that ate up everything when Indiana was foolish enough to feed. magnUM took half 7-3, and knowing to keep the pedal to the metal after yesterday’s close ones, continued to ratchet down in the second half. A bored offense watched the D Bear down in the second half, taking the game 13-4.

Wisconsin seemed relaxed and confident as magnUM walked over to meet their quarterfinals opponent. After the captains agreed to get observers in order to get the younger guys experience working with them, play started with magnUM receiving going down wind. Wisco came down in a quick zone look to get the matchups and get us out of our play, but that was easily handled, as it would be all game. However, botched connections allowed a first point break for the Hodag’s. Both O lines found their own and worked the score methodically to 3-4. Then, after a Hodag turn, the D line offense showcased what yesterday had taught them and worked it in to grab magnUM’s first break of the day. Notable first half performances included PC, who went up in a pile after a swilly huck and grabbed the disc amongst 3 Hodags. That was followed by Dom coming down with a tumbling grab of his own and holding on through the roll just short of the goal line. After a few swings by the handlers, he bailed out Craig Sanford by finding the space for a hammer and toeing for the goal.
Half time came with the Hodags up a break, but magnUM confident in one another and as a team that this game was still up for grabs. Coming fired up for D after the half, magnUM got a D from Fumo and pressured the Hodag O line into several misfires. This was capped off by a huge grab upwind by David Adams from a Will Neff huck, and magnUM realized that momentum was up for grabs. Even with having turned the disc and having to go upwind, the Hodags showcased a steely resolve and worked it back up field and into the endzone for a goal to get back on track and take the lead 8-7. With time running out before the caps, magnUM O had a chance of its own to march up the field and tie once again. However, consecutive bad throws gave the Hodag a short field to work with and they converted to go up 10-7. 2 points later with the score at 10-8, a blare from the cap horn signaled that the last point wouldn’t matter. The hodags took the point and the game with a final score of 11-8

Even with the loss, magnUM was encouraged by its performance on the field. Recognizing that a few unforced errors caused several breaks and missed break opportunities, the team knew that it had stepped up against a premier team and hadn’t even begun to find its peak yet. The loss sent magnUM over to play a Minnesota team in a four team battle for fifth place.

With the weekend beginning to wear on the troops, and the effort exerted in the last round, the D seemed to come out a little flat for the first few points against Grey Duck. However, the offense continued its solid flow and simply worked it up in the wind and did its job. After a couple points, the defense found its legs once again and did work against a solid Duck O line. The zone D once again stepped up and got a turn from the cup and turned that into a rapid fire break on a PC to Alex Kaulins. The offenses for both teams continued to convert, taking the game to 4-4. After several long points and solid D by the ducks, magnUM found themselves needing to break to take half. The downfield D came down off the pull and gave up nothing, causing an upwind dump pass attempt by the Duck Handlers. The wind caught it and it popped, to where Scott Curry then proceeded to jump up and grab it for the Callahan goal to take half.

Knowing from Saturday experience that they needed to keep the pressure on, the D line pulled out a few breaks after half. The final point came with an intense D line. After getting the turn Ben Deland managed his 2nd assist of the weekend, ending the game with an 11-8 victory for Michigan.

The 5th place game was slated as a game of magnUM vs. Wisconsin Whitewater. However due to WW injuries, the captains decided that magnUM would claim the win and instead a quick game to seven would happen that would involve the rookies and second year players from each squad slugging it out. It was a fun game all around with the young guns prevailing in the end on some solid play that showed how far along this group had already come. Proud of the weekend’s result and the intensity shown all weekend, magnUM returns to the blustery north to prepare for a trip to Chattanooga and another tournament against some of the country’s best at Classic City Classic.

Belated tournament news

So not exactly the most current news, but magnUM sent two teams to Fall Brawl in Columbus, OH for the weekend of October 20. Both teams played well, and one came home with the title of Fall Brawl Champs 2007.

Also, the magnUM dev team took 5th place at Bowling Green November 3rd and 4th.

Stay tuned for a detailed write up of magnUM’s past weekend at Missouri Loves Company.

Glory Days

magnUM rostering continued this past weekend in Naperville, IL as the boys in blue sent a squad rich in rookies with a sprinkle of returners on top. The date was Glory Days and magnUM was ready to make some plays.

Rising early Saturday morning, bowls of rice crispies and bagels consumed, magnUM made its way to the Polo Grounds and began competition against RHIT (Round House In Theface(I think(Not really(Rose Hulman IT)))). Tree City’s finest started out in typical magnUM fashion, giving up three uninspiring goals to an inferior team before waking up and realizing the game had begun. Refocused, magnUM answered with 4 straight and eventually took half 7-4. The second half brought more of the same as magnUM rolled to an easy 12-7 victory.

Next up came the game that everybody was waiting for, magnUM vs. UW-Milwaukee Blackcats. I know, I know, who the hell are the Blackcats? Well, apparently magnUM was wondering the same thing on there way to a 12-11 universe point loss. Upon deeper inspection, though, magnUM and Blackcats were easily the most athletic team in the pool and in the end, the veteran Blackcats were able to take advantage of some boarderline (at best) foul calls and two straight possessions in which magnUM turned the disc over on the goal line. Despite magnUM’s defensive intensity and overall athleticism, its lack of poise around the end zone allowed UW-Milwaukee to hang around and steal a victory … for now.

After a third round bye magnUM refocused against a severely over matched Southern Illinois team. The game was never really close and magnUM coasted to a 12-6 victory.

Game four of Saturday matched magnUM up against Kalamazoo College, a team that took Blackcats to the brink just a game earlier. Completely focused on getting a decisive win to secure action in the championship bracket on Sunday MagnUM shot out of the gates for a quick 3-0 lead. The improved K-College Ultimate Buzz tried to show some life but were repelled each time by the inspiring play of magnUM hopefuls Seth (Bushbaby) Buschbaum and Hammerin’ Hank Tyler. Seth’s sky D’s and Hank’s steady handling helped magnUM take half at 7-4. Hard set on ending the game as quickly as possible, magnUM continued to roll through the second half en route to a decisive 13-6 victory, displaying the best ultimate that the team had played to date.

Next on slate was free food and picking a rookie to play in the rookie all-star game. Not surprisingly magnUM picked the Bushbaby to play in the spectacle of heckling. Amidst plates of lasagna, bottles of Vitamin Water, and hundreds of terrible hammers the game was finished to the crowds satisfaction. Seth patrolled the skies but to our disappointment would not implement the dump-huck strategy. On to a night filled with the lady up on the moon and police encounters at McDonalds.

Sunday morning saw magnUM seeded tenth and matched against a potent Miami (OH) team. You may remember that Miami came into Ann Arbor just two weeks ago and walked away with the BAMF crown so revenge was fresh in the minds of the Ann Arbor boys. Although magnUM showed a flurry of emotion and an inspiring 3-0 run to take half 7-6, Miami once again proved a little too wily for such a young squad and won 10-7. Frustration and disappointment leaked from magnUM.

Lessons were learned quickly though because a rematch date with UW-Milwaukee came next. I (Matt Marcum) needed to do very little inspiring to get the team up for the rematch. Rants from Dave Fumo, Tom Haynes and Pat Collins rallied the troops to a controlling style of ultimate for the entire game. Although it was close in score, magnUM’s swagger returned and on game point all players stepped up. First there was the Lively sideline helping to urge the pulling D-line to their marks, then there was the tight D that forced a turnover with their backs against the goal line, and finally there was the timely sky by rookie Kyle Kissoff just outside of the end zone. The disc was swung around the field and finally ended up in Gordon Sigfriedt’s hands as the Blackcats frantically dove in for an intentional foul. Tempers heated, fire flowed through veins, UW-M’s #22 made threats, but in the end it was ‘Ole Steady #13 Dave Fumo beating his man on the block to seal the deal, 11-9 Michigan.

The third game of the day saw magnUM roll against a split squad Illinois team. I could talk about a dominating game, or I could talk about Ben Deland’s amazing layout goal to take half. I’ll chose the latter. Gordon Sigfriedt, while being momentarily possessed by the ghost of Dave Collins, saw some space for the hammer to rookie Brian Yost in the end zone. Yost, however, decided that he would cut the opposite direction because he knew that Gordon was incapable of throwing any form of a catchable hammer. Ben Deland thought otherwise. He quickly shifted direction and laid out for what can only be described as a falling lawn dart. In the unconventional, half freestyle swim stroke, half bear claw, half crazy attempted catch, somehow Ben came up with a face of Dirt and the disc in his hand. All I can say is, best catch I have seen in person… ever. And so went magnUM vs. Illinois.

Finally, in the 9/10 game magnUM matched up against the tournament directors, Sensei Ultimate Network. At this point Michigan was playing sans Dave Fumo, sans Pat Collins, sans Craig Sandford, and sans Alex Fegert. That math equals 3 returners and 17 rookies. The game stayed close for the first half but quickly the gap widened as magnUM fell. There were some highlights, though, as Doug Sharp also seemed momentarily possessed by Dave Collins (like Gordon) and did his best Mike Gundy impersonation after a defender called foul after being skied. As Dave Fumo said it best, the foul cited by the defender was the “I just got completely owned by a rookie and need to save face to my teammates” foul. Seriously though, it was one of the worst calls ever followed by one of the better on field blow ups ever.

All in all the tournament was a success. Although a better finish would have been desirable, playing time went all around and valuable experience was gained. Every rookie leveled up their defensive attributes and most leveled up their play making abilities. Die were cast, cups were flipped, and stomachs were filled upon arrival in Ann Arbor as a great weekend came to an end at 913 Vaughn.

Australian Mixed Ultimate Championships

I recently played in Mixed Nationals down here and had some thoughts to share. First of all, they know how to do tournaments right. Three days, two big parties, breakfast, lunch, and dinner each day, a disc for every player, and a bunch of other stuff made for an awesome weekend. I haven’t played much mixed ultimate in the US so it’s tough to compare the level of play here and there, but there are definitely a top tier of players that would excel on elite clubs in the states. One thing that really stuck out to me was how much of a difference having lots of game experience with your teammates makes. First, a little context. Down here, the mixed and open/women’s seasons are offset so you can play both. The ultimate culture here is very social, and even though people play hard, the mixed season is more or less just that, social. This means that many teams are just groups of old friends who don’t necessarily play club together. The teams that finished 1-6 at nationals, however, had a core nucleus of male and female players that play club together and (in most cases) have for several years. This was particularly evident in the finals. There is a set of twins, Matt and Anthony Dowle, that play on the Australian Men’s National Team. Both about 6’4”, with all the throws so obviously they are great players. The thing is, when they are on the field together it’s so awesome to watch because they ALWAYS know what the other is going to do. They’ll throw passes to a space before the other has even cut that way, they just KNOW where to put the disc and KNOW that the other will cut to that spot. It’s incredible how just two players can slice up a zone because they are on not just the same page, but the same word on the same line on that page. Obviously as brothers they’ve played together a lot, and we can’t necessarily get that much experience together in one season on magnUM, but that doesn’t mean we can’t try. Having that sort of connection with another player (or hopefully all your teammates) is something that you should aim to have by the end of the season. Watching your teammates tendencies every chance you get (in games, practice, when you’re on the sidelines, just throwing around, etc) will make the team better and make that one or two point difference in big games at regionals and nationals. Think about it a bit. What can you do to learn more about your teammates’ games? I’m thinking getting to as many practices, tournaments, and other magnUM events as possible is a good place to start (and yes, that is hypocritical coming from the guy in the southern hemisphere – sue me).