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Show The Salt Lake Tribune C5 Monday, May8, 2000 Final Prep Standings Softball af SBSeagar Players Say Frisbee Is the Ultimate Sport SPORTS 3 Annual Salt Lake City tourney popular among enthusiasts devoteestravelall over North America to play in tournaments in searchof the perfect moment:a full-extension layout catch, a coast-to-coast hammer coming to rest ina teammate’s hands after a graceful parabolic flight, or that most glorious play, the horizontal block,better known as “ho D.” Butat Salt Lake City’s annual your-face attitudes and cheating that is rampantin the refereed sports they grewupplaying, according to Joey Gray, the executive directorof the Ultimate Players Association (UPA). Within the sport, the debate over referees has raged for 30 years. Theis‘sueis not resolved, but at the highest levels of competition, the rules nowal- low for on-field “observers” to decide disputed calls. As the sport becomes more competitive and spectator orient- Daweena tournament, whatultimate players really rememberare the party ed, officiating may becomenecessary, someplayerssay. exploded or whenthepolice came to people whocan controlthe out-of- mishaps, such as whenthe barbecue of 500 Frisbee-chuckersto play the hard-running field sport that grew up on college campusesin the 1970s as a counterto traditional team sports. Thirty-one teams — 17 men’s and 14 women’s squads — with names such as Bloody Marys, Aurora Borealis, Wait- controlplayers,” says Boston's Jim Parinella, the sport's mostprolific writer on strategy and a memberof the six-time national championship team Death or Glory. “But I’m worried it’s a slippery slope and oncewehavereferees, people are goingto try getting awaywith stuff. That will be the trick for ultimate, to get big without losing its special flavor.” Thefirst gameof ultimateis be- verge onfields at Riverside and Rose ing For Good O and Stinky Pete — con- lieved to have been a 1968 contest of “Frisbee football” between two parks, where they can be seen chasing 175-gram plastic discs. bunchesof New Jersey high school kids led by Joel Silver, who became a For those who don’t know a hammer from a scoober, hereare the rules: Ultimateis played on a 120-by-40-yardfield, with 70 yards separating the two goal lines. The end zonesare 25 yards deep. Eachteam fields seven players. The offensive team’s objective is to advance the disc down thefieldvia a series of complete passes. Players cannot run with thedisc, but the disc holder can establisha pivotfoot,as in basketball. Butunlike in basketball, screening in this non-contact sport is forbidden. A session occurs whenthedischits the ground,is intercepted or is caught out of bounds. Thelackofrefereesis the mostdistinctive aspect of the sport, which claimsupto 200,000 participants world- Hollywood action-film producer, Theprincipal tools in a player's ar- senal of throwsare the backhand and the forehand,released in an endless variety of artful ways. The idea is to makeit easy for teammatesto catch the disc and hardfor their defenders to blockit. Ahammer,incidentally, is a throw wherethediscis released upside-down and overthe thrower’s head. A shortscoober uses a cross-body release that ideally sails over the defender’s shoulder. Anothervariantis the blade, a side-arm release in whichthediscrethrowsare designed to “break the mark,”thatis, put the disc on the side of the field the defenseis not protect- ing. The Daweena tournament beganin 1987 when Lou Pisacane,the godfather of Salt LakeCity ultimate, organized a six-team eventat the University of agree ona call, the disc goes back to the thrower. This concept, enshrined ina codeofethicscalled “TheSpirit of The namewasborrowed fromtelevision weatherman Mark Eubank, who is fond of using the Ute wordin his forecasts to describe the last snowfalls the Game,”obliges participants to compete within the rules and makecalls in of the season. These storms always seemed to strike during the tourna- ment, whichis held the first weekend Theresultinglevel of trust among opponents draws manyathletes who na”to the tournamentandthe name up in force with dogs and ou edSeana : though the sportw has begunto pene- caving in, with wiring andinsulation hanging down. A teammate had the keys to the building andit seemed no one would care about a night of squatting. moved oSanrancy “Taccone championsat No.1 singles. Boys Dominate Prep Tennis nephew,Jonah Nelson, became the first Utahn to win four singlestitles at No. 1. A Utah State signee, Jonah Nelson is regarded as the best player the Cowboyshave had. He is the first playerto sign with a major schoolsince Colby Burr played for Skyline GB = @ retarted Peete ee lice did pour out the kegs, which had It'sexploding here,” saysGray,a_former Seattle player. “Every time Ido Om taj lS) 5 7 46 6 = = beenlawfully purchased and tapped. a public presentation, the kids start eens s Pisacane said. 2 In the early 1990s, Daweenablos- noddinglike they already know what Tm talking about.” : F —Giearie Meanwhile, the sport is takinga devastatingtoll on thekneesofits cope Viern Schneider.Toattract top teams, organizers developed the Saturday party into a well-catered, hard-rockingaffair Now with30 to 35 teams, starringsome olderplayers. ' Pisacane’s fiancee, Corinne Bacon, Salt LakeCity’s most accomplished ultimate player,retired at the age of 33 cree ir" _unier Canoe: and currently called SLiC, to be com- for many powerful Bay Area teams, in- fey petitive with West Coast teams. Ultimate players are an educated bunch,according to UPA’s demographic studies, which showthat 43 cluding Felix, the 1994 national champion, and nowcoaches Sweet. “I wouldn't give anyof it back, any of the yearsof pain,” Bacon says. yaa. Murray years before Pisacane’s team, formerly known as Cold Fusion and Cutthroat Colorado State severalyears ago. Unlike many tennis players, yyy because of the other sports,” his coach said. “But he is always good at the end. I’d love to see him play his uncle; that would be a great WoL Ome Mtoe iy e eae Pet GB 9 5 62 elcome 3 cet 5 7 9 37 epee a Region 5 © eee 13 7851 ie wet pa oe 6 4 ON Se tomer Weber ro fp 93 mm 4 ed ee Region 9 J O 3 ‘oom Huncane caiee § 46 ite wae4 8 40 10 5 8 WoL Pct GB tte Wasatch eet Judge Memorial tes ar oes 5 5 sO 5 £8 ee 1 9 10 9 The summer programs draw between 120 and 140 children, al though overall participation is dogest opponent by 15 points and captured four of the individualawards. their courts when the school plunked downtrailers on six of them to accommodate Grants: mostly at the junior college level. ville’s growing enrollment. Don Nelson (1966), Glade Gambel (1967) and Randy Winmill (1970) “We don't have a lot of recreationalfacilities here in Grants ville,” Nelson said. “Butthe courts Pi Pee A Extensive et) ie : 7 n oa Pe F CeCe CRC CE ar . gensen and Chad Cox — successfully defended theirtitles. The No. 1 doubles duo of harder to produce top teams. down slightly. Last year, the Cowboyslost half A Crary) ye errs James Armstrong and Dustin Barton also won closing andit is getting harder and state Data Goeh See : someone took it for a three year test drive. I Manti, 1994 — The Templars captured tory Saturdaytied the record of six Grantsville’s oo a ie > 7 § 2 Vee es 48 OS swept the individual awards, winning the school'sfirst state teamttle. Wi Grantsville, 1973 —_Grantsville won all titles in a row,set in 1971-76. among GB 2 i 7 WGrantsville, 1966 — The Cowboys the last six titles outright and shared the 1996 crown with Rowland Hall. The 2000 Cowboys’ vic- are Pct = s Grate elon Von Ogpat first of three titles and went onto win six of the next seven. a statetitle. Alta, 1995 — The Hawks beat their have earned college scholarships, WoL. 6 2 rg 1 9 ON A! A performance so amazing, Mi Highland, 1963 — The Rams won the Closest competitor by 10 points, and claimed three individualtitles. W Dixie, 1999 — The Flyers beat their players 95 $3 212 Acool 18, Utah high school tennis teamsof the cen- Despite the winning streak, Nelson insists the gap between Grantsville and its opponents is Grantsville 2 ie = nee 1.3 a “amnion 1 398, = “aetie aoe Denese ; Certified Pre-Owned ——an DO—— match.” Fifteen with one of the most accurate forehandsin the business. She has played es nae their second straightstate title, as all three singles players — Scott Dyreng, Kris Jor- ville has always stressed the team over individual success, so the Cowboys haven't produced that manysingles champions. yao 5 Pct 96 0 2 oO 1 Lm ee “It’s been mentally hard,financially hard,” says Bacon, a gifted thrower Nelson has been successful with- According to Nelson, Grants- _jrmors Jaen ome ven orem University of Utah. It took nearly 10 choosing to participate in basketball andfootball. “Sometimeshegetsa slow start The Cowboys have won five of pionships. he moved from NewYorkto attend out playing the sport year-round, just have the job of maintaining whatwasstarted so long ago.” time, leadingto herfifth knee surgery. Theinjury occurred last Octoberin the waning momentsofthe last gameat the Northwesterncoed regional cham- Salt LakeCity in the early 1980s after son and thegirls coach since 1977, really isn’t a tennis community; I after severing an ACLfor the third the Intermountain region’s largestulti. mate tournamentoutside a Fourth of July eventin Boulder, Colo. Pisacanehelped launchultimate in was named Williams’ successor. Hestill coaches both programs. “T’ve just tried to keep the pro- - L not somed into a major tournamentunder the leadershipof Pisacane and Fred the individualtitles en routeto thestate title. This team was part of the six-title winning streak. gram to the level coach Williams left it,” said Nelson, who has won 13 statetitles with the boys. “This — Genes Ony (Through May 6 Games) ee highschool athletic pro: ams. ‘ . Best of the Century Jack Nelson won four singles titles in a row, starting in 1970. His Don Nelson, Johnny Nelson's Se.0M,linabasea E No!ewaeanctel thanks in part g heme pesca s in May, so Pisacaneattached “Dawee- Grantsville downafter the 1981 championship. 36-year-old salesman whorecently percent ofits 11,000-membershiphasat least some grad-school experience and morethan half have attended college. Thesepeople areattracted to the .com opportunities and other job prospects in the Bay Area and Seattle, where the sport is flourishing. Upto 25 nations are represented at world championships and the sport makesits inaugural appearance in the World Gamesnext summerin Japan. Despite steady growthsincethat first ; A S Forthatfirst year, Pisacane staged a party ina dilapidated warehouse on * Highland Drive.Thefalse ceiling was of the world’s bestplayers, Daweena is mainsvertical in flight. These fancy which can be especially difficult when sidelines are not drawn on the grass @ Continued from C-1 stuck. “Tt turned out the building was good faith. Pet GB 76 1 z Rick Egan/TheSalt Lake Tribune onecalled thepolice,”said Pisacane, a wide. Players call fouls, traveling violations and picks and makethelinecalls, and haveto be estimated bylining up end-zonecones. If opponents cannot Box Eder oe owned by the LDS Church and some- range variantof the hammer, the goal is scored when a team completes a passin the end zone. A change ofpos- a7 a 1 7 3 ee mo" 7 08310 10 Ultimate Frisbee provides a lot of fast action on thefield, like this recent contest between teamsfrom Salt Lake City (dark) and Albuquerque. “T’m generally for having officials, clear the beer out of a LDS Churchowned building. The14th edition of Daweena kicked off this past weekend with the arrival a Moutan View Jordan Hirst Orem Boghion Timpanogos 8 UltimateFrisbee is a sport whose # have become burned outonthe in- BY BRIAN MAFFLY ‘THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE PA Or) Er Eats) Er : ‘ A WGrantsville, 1999 — Jonah Nelson. ETT Brady Paulich, Bridger Paulich and doubles teams of Alan Mouritsen and Kelly Mondragon and Jon Brown and Craig Salazar swept the individualtitles as Grantsville rolled to a fifth straighttitle. 3 A ’ ey Clr eure) are used every day fromthebeginning of March until the endof October. Tennis is still a fun thing for people to do here.” J Ce LL Ree a BMW Pei Whetherit's 2 or3 yearsold, a Certified Pre-Owned BMW performs as reliably as it did when it was new: betterthanvirtually anything else on the road. There's evenaffordable financing and lease rates available from BMW Financial Services. Visit our website at www.bmwusa.com or comein and take a Certified Pre-Owned BMW Ioratestdrive. A very, very longtestdrive. ATE JoeDiMaggio: The Hero’s Life “In the middle ofit all, Joe was wound tighter than ever—ulcerated, coffee-jangled, sleepless and lonely. DiMaggio hadmillions of fans, thousands ofacquaintances, hundreds of pals—and notonefriend in whom he could confide.” Richard Ben Cramer He wasoneof the greatest sports heroes ever, with a 56-game hitting streak that electrified the nation. Joe DiMaggio knew what’ the hero's life cost, but he also knew whatit was worth. See the story of this uniquely American figure on The American Experience. 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