Nationals - Sunday

Revolver - USA Ultimate Club Championships - Day 4 (Sunday, October 30, 2011)

When we rolled up to the fields this morning we found Ironside already warming up in the cross-field breeze. The crowd was small today but it didn't reduce the intensity of this finals rematch. In the last four years both Revolver and Ironside have played in three finals. We didn't have any extra special strategies for this game besides being smart and quick with the disc. Tactically we had several specific notes and match-up assignments for their O-line regulars like Peter Prial, Matt Rebholz, and George Stubbs. After introductions and handshakes with our opponents, we won the flip and elected to start going downwind, while Ironside opted to pull first.

Game 8 - 9:00a v. Ironside (Boston, MA) - Final
We received first and scored quickly. Then we pulled going upwind and they centered the disc to Matt Rebholz, so Jon Levy promptly point blocked his forehand with a two-handed layout that allowed a quick break goal from Mark Sherwood back to Levy. He told us later, "As I dove across I had no idea if it was going to work or not." We earned our next break after Mark Sherwood stalled George Stubbs after a deep goal had been called back on a pick, resulting in a 4-1 lead. We then traded for a while as Revolver's O-line took care of business, including a nice two-pass point on a huck from Bart Watson to a streaking Devon Anderson and later an exciting sky grab by Cassidy Rasmussen. Up 7-5, Boston lofted a poor pull to provide us good field position. Bart picked up and sent a long forehand for Robbie Cahill, but Stubbs caught up and slapped the disc for the block... but it popped right toward Robbie, who bobbled it several times before securing an 8-5 halftime lead.

We pulled upwind to start the second half but Ironside turned it over. Mac Taylor bombed a forehand to create a footrace between two of the fastest guys on the field: Sherwood and Stubbs. Sherwood just beat his man for the superb layout snag and a crucial third break. At 9-6 there was a long tough point when Ironside pulled downwind and brought out their zone defense, forcing an early turnover as Bart shot a forehand across that sailed high over the intended receiver. They couldn't convert the break, though, as they launched a high-stall bailout hammer turnover. Our offense worked it up the field but suffered another turnover on our own hammer that fluttered too much, though Boston gave it right back on a short toss during their fast break. Josh Wiseman dished a short pass to Joel Schlachet between three defenders and a 10-6 lead. Our D-line finally got the downwind break and 12-7 lead after Ashlin Joye knocked down a huck that Rebholz almost snared on the way down. Boston struck with their only break of the game when a nice pull trapped Nick Schlag on the sideline. The pressure was high and the backwards bail pass jumped up for a turnover, as the observers overturned foul calls by both the thrower and intended receiver. This closed the gap to 12-9, though we extended the lead again on patient zone offense to 13-9. On the next point Stubbs made another spectacular play by saving a floaty short pass above a pack of hungry defenders, but Rebholz and Sam Kanner collided heads in a rather bloody mess. After the injury timeout, Tom James hand-blocked a scoober attempt and Revolver worked the disc along the downwind sideline to a series of wide-open cutters, ending in a commanding 14-9 lead from Nick Chapman to Russell Wynne. After Boston scored on the next point on a shot from Peter Prial to Colin Mahoney, the Revolver O-line sealed a 15-10 victory from Josh Wiseman to Adam "Chicken" Simon, who played for the Boston squad that we defeated in the finals last year by the same score.

Rebholz won the Farricker Award (we nominated Beau Kittredge this year) and Chain Lightning won the team spirit award. We re-collected the trophy, some gold medals, and a berth to WUGC in Japan next July! We stuck around to watch the Mixed and Women's division championship games with beer, stories, snacks, and some friendly heckling. Blackbird defeated Polar Bears in an all-Bay Area final filled with many of our friends. In the afternoon game, Fury won their sixteenth consecutive title over Riot. (Okay, actually just their sixth.)

We stopped for dinner and NFL-viewing on the way back to the beach house, then kept the party rolling with pool noodles, drinks, pool noodle drinks, the beach, and a pinata. For now, it's off to the Daiquiri Deck to celebrate!

Nationals - Saturday

Revolver - USA Ultimate Club Championships - Day 3 (Saturday, October 29, 2011)

A drizzle greeted us at the fields and decided to stick around for a while. We hadn't played as well as we'd liked over the first two days of the tournament, so today's bracket games would test whether we really deserved to advance to our third consecutive final at Nationals. We woke up glad to see that the St. Louis Cardinals had won the World Series, since Revolver's baseball fans had rallied around Bart Watson's fandom, a native of St. Louis. We did not overlook the fact that the Cardinals had ended the playoff runs of both the Philadelphia and Texas baseball teams. First up today for Revolver: Philly, possibly followed by Texas.

Game 6 - 9:30a v. Southpaw (Philadelphia, PA) - Quarterfinal
The defensive intensity was clearly high as we forced seven breaks on only four turnovers by the D-line's O (or D's O, as we call it). Attesting to the physicality of this wet morning game, the observers TMF'd (team misconduct foul) both teams simultaneously early on. The O-line only turned over the disc once this game, but reacquired possession, taking care of their end with special efficiency and no breaks against. Pulling at 7-3, Jonathan Hester poached for a layout block on an upline dump pass. Sam Kanner lofted a bendy around backhand to Taylor Cascino, wide open for the break into half and 8-3 lead. Later, captain Martin Cochran notably dove for a two-handed goal and then slid a good ten yards in the slick grass. We wrapped up the game 15-7 and advanced to semis.

The rain ceased toward the end of the quarterfinal and the clouds wandered off for warm sunlight as our long bye loomed. Some of the team headed to watch the Wheelchair v. Beyondors semifinal in the Masters division, as we have a lot of former teammates and friends on both squads. The rest of the team drove to Applebee's for air conditioning, ice cold water, and some appetizers.

Game 7 - 2:15p v. Doublewide (Austin, TX) - Semifinal
In this rematch of last year's semifinal, Doublewide would need no extra motivation to avenge their defeat. Not much had changed from our scouting report: their offense revolves around the tandem of Florida transplants Brodie Smith and Kurt Gibson. They have some tall, fast downfield cutters in Jake Anderson and Kevin Richardson, plus stalwart handler David "Salad" Melancon, but Smith and Gibson make themselves the focal points. We assigned the lanky Mac Taylor and handler-defender specialist Taylor Cascino to hector Brodie and nominated Mark Sherwood and Ashlin Joye to make life difficult for Gibson.

The first point featured Austin's best O-line and one of Revolver's best D-lines, combining with a healthy dose of overexcitement that brought on a total of 11 turnovers on tough, tight throws against aggressive, physical defense by both squads. Eventually Tom James whipped an inside-out forehand that Martin Cochran snagged between two fingers for the layout goal (he said, "I have no idea how I caught that.") We piled on with cleaner play and blocks from Russell Wynne and Nick Chapman to break twice more and race to a 3-0 lead, then a 5-1 lead on our fourth break. At this point the Doublewide O-line settled down for a while. Kurt Gibson tallied one of his three point-blocks this game against our handler Adam "Chicken" Simon for Doublewide's first break back, to close the gap to 7-5. Out of halftime Doublewide sent out a tall zone in the breezy conditions and we dropped a short dish pass to allow them to close to 8-6. That would be as close as the Texans would get, though, as the teams traded for a while before Revolver grabbed a pair of upwind/downwind breaks and a 14-9 lead, including a shared goal as Cochran and Zach Travis grabbed a hanging disc over a Doublewide defender at the same time (Zach claims, "I caught it and Martin tried to steal it from me!"). Beau Kittredge showed that he can throw too as he distributed four assists. Revolver received going downwind up 14-10 and sent the disc to Robbie Cahill on the forehand sideline; meanwhile, Josh Wiseman was isolated as a cutter, backed by Doublewide by ten yards, but he double-faked and zoomed to the back corner for the game-winning goal.

Excited to return to the title game for our third straight season, we guzzled Endurox, Metabolol, and chocolate milk to recover quickly during the team stretch circle. Some folks visited Kristin at Sunni Bunni for smoothies, some headed back to the beach house for first crack at ice baths, and Coach Dutchy stuck around to meet about pre-game logistics for tomorrow's game. Team dinner with family and friends at a new-to-us Italian restaurant, since our favorite Marie's Italian Kitchen has sadly closed up shop. It'll be an early night because we play Ironside in the morning round, which begins at 9:00a here in Florida (if you'd like to watch the action, click on links for Live Streaming at the USA Ultimate Facebook page). We'll try to defend our title and reclaim the trophy for another sunset on the warm white beaches of Siesta Key.

Oh, and Ashlin somehow convinced the entire team to allow him to carve speed lines into hair or beards. The guy's persuasive... and annoyingly persistent.

Nationals - Friday

Revolver - USA Ultimate Club Championships - Day 2 (Friday, October 28, 2011)

Rain sprinkled on and off throughout the day, but the air remained warm and low on wind (not like what we're used to in Northern California). We set up two big tents over the Insta-bench and three coolers of food, drinks, and ice, and set to work.

Game 4 - 9:30a v. Machine (Chicago, IL) - Power Pool E
Machine pulled to start but Robbie Cahill turned it over on a deep throw. Machine's D-line took the opportunity to work the disc all the way back to our endzone before we forced a high-stall throw that hung up for Beau Kittredge to outjump the pack and swat it down. Shortly thereafter Cassidy Rasmussen sent a beautiful backhand huck to a wide-open Josh Wiseman for the goal. We traded a break each early on and then earned two toward the end of the half for an 8-5 lead. At 9-6 Revolver's D-line went on a run with five straight break points, which included a forced stall by Jon Levy's mark. Final score: 15-7.

Game 5 - 12:15p v. Ring of Fire (Raleigh, NC) - Power Pool E
The winner of this game would take the top seed into the quarterfinal bracket. Noticeably, super-athlete Ken Porter of Ring took the day off (torn rotator cuff from their Thursday game against Furious George). One of our main goals was to limit Brett Matzuka's effectiveness as a many-tooled handler by forcing him away from the disc, which we generally accomplished, though he's too good and fast to be shut down all the time. Ashlin Joye fired up our team early with a huck handblock, yielding the first break and a 3-1 lead. It didn't take long for Ring to get that back, though, tying the score at 4-4. A few more breaks resulted in an 8-6 halftime lead. Ring evened the score at 9-9 with yet another break to keep the game close, but at 10-10 Ring pulled out of bounds, allowing a one-throw goal from Bart Watson to Robbie Cahill. On the ensuing point Patrick Baylis leaped to knock away a deep hammer shot in the endzone; thankfully, the observer overturned the intended receiver's foul call on the play. A long slog back the other way exhibited the D-line's capacity for patience, including two more observer-overturned calls by Ring. We finished with yet another late-game run to win 15-11. Taylor Pope displayed impressive pulls and forehand hucks, leading to a couple of important breaks for Ring's D-line.

After catching the last several entertaining points in the Ironside-Doublewide match, most of the team headed back to the beach house as the sprinkle fledged into a rain. We've got barbeque for dinner, over which we'll prepare to meet Southpaw in a quarterfinal tomorrow morning. Until then, board games and World Series game 7 will keep our attention, at least until we turn in around the 7th or 8th inning.

Nationals - Thursday

Revolver - USA Ultimate Club Championships - Day 1 (Thursday, October 27, 2011)

Breakfast: eggs and ground turkey.

Game 1 - 9:30a v. GOAT (Toronto) - Pool A
The D-line didn't really get going for most of this game, but we led by a couple of points for most of the game until GOAT tied it up at 10-10, then 11-11 before we rattled off the last four points to win 15-11. Jon Levy notched two blocks in the last three points.

Game 2 - 12:15p v. Condors (Santa Barbara, CA) - Pool A
After lunching on honey-baked ham sandwiches we rushed out to an 8-3 halftime lead against the Condors, when Zach Travis rose above the fray to grab a floaty deep shot from Ashlin Joye. Out of half Tyler Bacon tossed a flick huck that forced Mark "The Arbiter" Elbogan into an impressive extension layout catch for the Condors. The second half was a little sloppier, including several drops, but we managed a 15-8 victory.

Game 3 - 3:00p v. Johnny Bravo (Boulder, CO) - Pool A
Johnny Bravo had just lost to GOAT, so they needed to beat us to have a chance of advancing to the upper power pools. They were ready to do just that as they ran up a 2-0 lead off a Joshua "Richter" Ackley layout comeback block, after which he crawled the couple of steps to the disc and tossed it to Jake Juszak for the break. We scrabbled back with a break to tie the score at 5-5, then got another to take a 7-6 lead after Sam Kanner called a timeout and hucked to Martin Cochran on the set play. We took an 8-7 halftime lead but Bravo broke immediately to level the score at 8-8, after which we traded to 11-11. The final score of 15-12 happened after Russell Wynne swallowed up an endzone pass by Bravo, after which we worked the disc back the other way and finished with a short pass from Nick Chapman to Jonathan Hester.

Tomorrow we will play in power pools against Machine and Ring of Fire. Tonight we take ice baths, dine on Italian cuisine, and check out game 6 of the World Series.

Follow Revolver at Nationals!

Revolver has assembled on Siesta Key in Florida. Team dinner for tonight, prepared by Jon Levy and Ryo Kawaoka, featured steak, vermicelli with homemade tomato sauce and parmesan, and baked sweet potato slices. Ashlin Joye has spent most of his energy trying to convince everyone to add "speed lines" to their recent haircuts using Nick Schlag's beard trimmer, with surprising success. The team is loose and looking forward to stepping onto the mist-covered fields in the morning.

We'll post critical updates to Twitter and daily recaps here on the team website. Scores for the entire open division of the tournament will be posted to Score Reporter. Some of Revolver's games might be streamed live online, but we're not exactly sure how or where -- supposedly there will be details at USA Ultimate's Facebook page. There's a link on the left to "Live Streaming" that might work.

Mark Sherwood 2011

Name:
Mark Sherwood
Photo: cleaning up after Taylor Cascino's D in 2010 Nationals semifinal against Doublewide.

Nicknames:
Helios

Jersey #
14

Height:
5'11"

Date of birth:
14 April 1985

Place of birth:
Scarsdale, NY -- home to the legends Fortunate and Mattias Mueller, although I didn't know it at the time

Current city of residence:
San Francisco, CA

Occupation:
Engineer at Mission Motors. It is true that Jit recruited me, but I am now his boss. Nonetheless, Nancy Sun (captain of Fury) is more respected at our company than both me and Jit combined.

College team(s):
Stanford Bloodthirsty (2004-2008)

Former teams:
Revolver (2006-present)

Accolades:
4th in Callahan voting (2008)
World Champion, Club Worlds (2010)
National Champion, Club Nationals (2010)
Revolver **** Lifetime Achievement Award (2008), passing the torch to Cassidy
Revolver Defensive MVP (2009-2010)

How I came to join Revolver:
The Revolver Farm System: five years on Stanford, five visits to Kaimana, one year as a practice player on Kaos, and a low but respectable “top 5” Callahan nomination.

Funniest moment or joke on Revolver:
1. Chappie’s Pigeon Story in Prague 2010, “Kwrwrwrwrwrwrwrwrw, rwrwrwrwrwr”
2. Cassidy’s 21st Birthday in Davis, and our run home in Sarasota 2009
3. Boo’s tirade, Sunday night of Nationals 2010 (Most Belligerent award recipient that year).
4. The moment during warm-ups of Regionals 2010 that Schlag helped me realize what I needed to do, which had completely eluded me up until that point. What a rare epiphany.
5. Any number of ice bath sessions.

Favorite game or tournament moment on Revolver:
1. Our first Regionals (NW Regionals 2006), when Handler and Payne’s vision started its journey toward building something special. We won it the right way, on double-game point over Rhino, with the right attitude, positive spirit, and our core values intact. This was a pivotal moment, because it was the first elimination tournament where we faced a lot of adversity, including very different team attitudes from Justice League and Furious George, cold wind, and a downpour. The culture has built on that foundation ever since.
2. Bart and Taylor have talked about various semis games. But I’ve had some early scarring experiences in semis (College 2004-2008), so I’ll stick to finals games. Club Nationals 2009. Revolver lost this final, but I finally broke the curse of Stanford.

Favorite game or tournament moment outside of Revolver:
Without Revolver, I only have one other team to choose from (Stanford). I’ll take Kaimana in my Freshman year. After a fall tryout and a couple of tournaments playing competitive college Ultimate, Kaimana introduced me to the “other side of Ultimate.” I learned that Ultimate has deep roots, is based on mutual respect and positive reinforcement, and maintains lifelong (if incestuous) community. I now know that in naked points, girls are not excluded, and very swirly hucks tend to go up that rub bodies up against each other under the disc. Mondo’s naked body parading around the field reinforced the “lifelong” aspect -- even in 2005 he had some years beneath him. It has been Kaimana that has inspired my transition from a competitive, zero-sum-game, self-righteous athlete to a positive, gleeful, more respectful Frisbee player. (I admit that this transition is still on-going, just ask Danny Karlinsky. He has been witness as an opponent and teammate since Santa Barbara Invite 2004.) (Or maybe don’t ask Danny.)

Favorite Ultimate player(s) in formative years:
1. On Stanford/Revolver: Nick Handler, Danny Cox, Zack Wyatt, and Robbie Cahill as players; Mike Payne and Daryl Nounnan as emotional fathers; Chris McManus and Chris Ashbrook as workout visionaries (DISCIPLINE); Jit Bhattacharya for his INTENSITY and HUMILITY. All of these players are incredibly selfless, which is a testament to the sport.
2. Opponents: Timmy Gehret for his game and his attitude (which was all the more commendable given that he started his career on some notorious Florida teams); Kevin Cissna and Gabe Saunkeah for their fast-paced give-and-go style.
3. I should also give a shout out to Coach Spurrier’s invention of the Fun N’ Gun offense for Florida (the Washington Redskins went 12-20 in the two years that Spurrier introduced it, but no matter…)

What makes ___ so dangerous?
I am only useful and differentiated as a player on the goal line, where I can throw an I/O flick that is more around than Robbie's two-handed backhand.

Theme song:
Snoop Schlag-eee-Schlaaaaaah-aaagggggg

Pre-game ritual:
1. A lot of touching, hugging, and other forms of slightly inappropriate physical contact. This is a general ritual, not just pre-game.
2. Anything that allows me to take my shirt off. Which means that I can't practice laying out until just before the game, where I'll do a little ground contact practice (it can look like the worm).

What I like to eat on Saturday night of a tournament:
Same as always: mangoes (with skin) and Dried Mango Slitties, things with eggplant, and avocado. I try to hold off on ice cream since it makes the Sunday night Dairy Queen run that much sweeter.

If I didn't play Ultimate, my main pastime outside of work would be:
Haven't I made it clear enough to you all that Ultimate is just a side pastime of my quiver of activities? Surfing with Handler, tennis with Robbie, soccer with Tyler, squash with TJ, skiing…

Favorite sports team outside of Ultimate:
Oakland Raiders, screw the haters

In terms of Kanners, how tan are you?
0.99 -- I'll let you have this one Kanner. I should add, though, that I always wear sunscreen, and I've seen you let it slide sometimes.

Something unknown about me:
I run barefoot, I stand at my desk, and I always hated pre-game stretching. I’ve been relentlessly telling everyone I know to do these things too, but the world is only partially catching on.

Nick Schlag 2011

Name:
Nick Schlag
*Photo by Cory Barlow: catching a goal thrown by Brian Garcia during the final of 2010 Nationals against Ironside.

Nickname:
Schlag

Jersey #
20

Height:
5'10"

Date of birth:
27 April 1986

Place of birth:
Seattle, WA

Current city of residence:
San Francisco, CA

Occupation:
Energy Consultant at E3

College team(s):
Stanford Bloodthirsty (2006-2009)

Former teams:
Revolver (2009-present)

Accolades:
Member of Beard Team USA (2007-present)
Stanford Disc Golf Champion, Team and Individual (2008)
Recipient of several E-mmys, including (but not limited to) Best Alias E-mail (2010)

How I came to join Revolver:
It was a bleary Saturday morning in May 2009. I'm sitting on a couch watching Jurassic Park III while four college teammates (including former/current roommate/teammate Tom James) prepare to leave for tryouts. After an injury-plagued college season, I had decided not to play club for the season. At the last minute, I changed my mind and hopped into the car. Somehow it worked out.

Funniest moment or joke on Revolver:
1. At Friday team dinner during ECC 2011, Chapman ordered the hearty-sounding "Ploughman's Platter" with expectations of a massive smorgasbord of meats and sausages but instead received a meager appetizer-sized spread of cold cuts and cheeses. The look of sheer disappointment on his face had most of us laughing until we couldn't breathe.
2. Beau, after learning the rules of icing, icing Wiseman on the beach in Sarasota by kicking a bottle at him barefoot, saying, "Hey, Iceman, you want to play soccer?"
3. Levy's dropped pull during our O/D scrimmage at Cal States, which came after a season's worth of heckling me and Joel for every pull we let hit the ground.

Favorite game or tournament moment on Revolver:
Winning Club Nationals in 2010.

Favorite game or tournament moment outside of Revolver:
Winning Northwest college Regionals in 2009 on double-game point against Cal (sorry, Joel).

Favorite Ultimate player(s) in formative years:
1. Robbie Cahill, a fifth year during my rookie year on Stanford, for his on-field leadership and intensity and his humility as a baller.
2. Will Chen, who also played Stanford that year, for his smarts and his endless dedication to improving his throws.

Favorite tournament:
Club Nationals

What makes ___ so dangerous?
Fear the beard.

Theme song:
Not sure that I have a choice here (see Cassidy's funniest moments).

Pre-game ritual:
1. Throws with my wingman.
2. Tons of hydration.

What I like to eat on Saturday night of a tournament:
Anything not fried.

If I didn't play Ultimate, my main pastime outside of work would be:
Camping/hiking/mountains.

Favorite sports team outside of Ultimate:
D-Broncs/D-Nugs

In terms of Kanners, how tan are you?
0--everyone else's responses imply way too much precision in the measurement of tanness.

Something unknown about me:
I never break my New Year's Resolutions.

Mac Taylor 2010

Name:
MacFEARson Taylor
Photo by Cory Barlow: pulling during quarterfinals of Nationals 2010 against Truck Stop.

Nicknames:
The Human Monument, Beef Hammer

Jersey #
40

Height:
6'3"

Date of birth:
24 December 1985

Place of birth:
Phoenix, AZ

Current city of residence:
San Francisco, CA

Occupation:
Math and Science teacher at Fusion Academy

College team(s):
Colorado Mamabird (2005-2009)

Former teams:
Johnny Bravo (2007-2008)
Revolver (2009-present)

Accolades:
Callahan runner-up 2009
Never lost a game of Sectionals, Regionals, or pool-play Nationals (college or club)
Level 30 Warrior Wizard

How I came to join Revolver:
Pay to play.

Funniest moment on Revolver:
1. Playing Settlers of Catan at the strip club in Prague until closing time, then leaving it there.
2. The beach in Sarasota after winning Nationals in 2010: the icings, the mac-line, jackpot in the ocean, the sunset...

Favorite game or tournament moment on Revolver:
Coming back against Sockeye in semifinals this year at Regionals. Probably my favorite moment because it's the last big win we've had. I don't have a good memory for the games I've played.

Favorite game or tournament moment outside of Revolver:
1. My whole college career.
2. Playing Muckamuck with the old and new Colorado boys at Potlatch this year.

Favorite Ultimate player(s) in formative years:
Catt Wilson - coach of Colorado my first four years - taught my everything I know about fundamental Ultimate. Also taught me not to be soft.

Favorite tournament:
In college - Centex always brought the best teams and competition.
In club - nothing compares to Nationals.
For fun - only been once, but Kaimana was pretty sweet.

What makes ___ so dangerous?
I'm pretty pretty pretty lanky.

Theme song:
Toni Basil - Hey Mickey

What I like to eat on Saturday night of a tournament:
Doesn't matter as long as it's full of fat and carbs and there's enough of it for leftovers.

If I didn't play Ultimate, my main pastime outside of work would be:
Couch sittin', movie watchin', beer drinkin'.

In terms of Kanners, how tan are you?
1.0 - I am Kanner's equal.

Championships schedule released

The seeds have been finalized, the pools have been decided, and the schedule has been published on the tournament website. Revolver will begin its title defense as the top seed in Pool A and encounter a tough slate next Thursday:
GOAT (Toronto)
Johnny Bravo (Boulder)
Condors (Santa Barbara)

One more early morning practice this weekend to get reacquainted with the eastern time zone and then we'll be high in the skies over Florida.

Jonathan Levy 2011

Name:
Jonathan Levy
*Photo by Margo Hasselman: power pool versus Sockeye in Prague at [Worlds] WUCC 2010, with thunderclouds fast approaching.

Nicknames:
Levy

Jersey #:
4

Height:
6' 1.75"

Date of birth:
9 June 1984

Place of birth:
Philadelphia, PA

Current city of residence:
San Francisco, CA

Occupation:
Doctoral student in Neuroscience at UC San Francisco

College team(s):
Stanford-B (2003)
Stanford (2004-2006)

Former teams:
The Oaks (2005)
Revolver (2006 - present)

Accolades:
I went to school with Robbie Cahill.

How I came to join Revolver:
I wanted to keep playing Ultimate with my Stanford teammates after college. A bunch of us tried out for Revolver at Cal States 2006. I was really excited about the team, and during Saturday morning warmups I eagerly laid out for an errant disc, landing awkwardly on my right (throwing) hand. I heard a pop, it hurt a lot, and was very swollen. I was way too annoyed at myself and embarrassed to tell anyone, so I taped it up (to cut down on the swelling) and played lefty for the day. I got it looked at that night -- broken 3rd metacarpal, out 8 weeks. I made the team despite the fact I was clearly pretty dumb.

Funniest moment or joke on Revolver:
Nationals 2008 -- after we lost in the quarterfinals we had dinner at a small, family-friendly Italian place in Sarasota. As a large group, we were inevitably a bit louder than the other patrons would have preferred. To diffuse the situation, Chuck brought out his fiddle. He proceeded to walk over to each of the other tables, ask for their favorite song, and bang it out on the fiddle. The entire team would sing along, and he would move on to the next table. People either loved this or pretended to love it. After Chuck was done, Daryl tried to make things right by buying dinner for the entire restaurant.

Favorite game or tournament moment on Revolver:
1. Colorado Cup 2006 -- My first full-length club tournament, coming off a broken hand (See Cal States story above). We brought about 16 guys and somehow pushed our way into finals, where we got absolutely crushed by a more experienced and talented Bravo team. Martin Cochran (then of Bravo) got an in-cut D on Robbie during that game and yelled "NOT TODAY!" as he swatted the disc away. I generally had no idea what was going on and loved every minute of it.
2. Worlds 2010 -- Brian Garcia was unstoppable, Prague was amazing, and I got to watch Andrew Fleming do one of the most ridiculous things ever. (At no point did I think he had any shot at catching that disc).

Favorite game or tournament moment outside of Revolver:
1. College NW Regionals 2005 finals -- Stanford vs. UBC. I knew I would draw Morgan Hibbert as my defensive assignment. I had guarded him before and he generally had done whatever he wanted. I was determined this time to make his life miserable. It was wet and rainy, and we spent two hours battling, taking turns getting layout D's, point-blocks, and deep goals. When the game ended, I was completely exhausted and could barely shake his hand. Stanford eked out a win and the regional title.
2. Kaimana Klassik 2005 -- Stanford vs. Voltron. Voltron was loaded with top-tier club players, including Chase and Nord. I was happy just to have the opportunity to play against them. It was the first time I'd played against the best atheletes in ultimate. Plus, after we lost we got to watch Volton in the finals against a very talented Nada Mooger team.

Favorite Ultimate player(s) in formative years:
1. Brandon Hyde -- One of the team leaders at Stanford. He was hurt my entire rookie season but still made it to essentially every team event. Seeing him rehab for the entire year and watching it pay off as he returned for Regionals and Nationals was inspiring.
2. Nick Handler/James Herbert -- The captains my rookie year at Stanford. They taught me an incredible amount about Ultimate. Both of them are fantastic players and leaders.
3. Jack Kuecker/Ben Dean -- The other guys in my sophomore rookie class. During games, we generally spent a lot of time huddled together on the sideline trying to stay warm.

Favorite tournament:
Nationals. The emotions I feel during the moment of pure silence on the morning of the first day before the national anthem starts coming in over the tinny speakers are absolutely indescribable. Everything -- a mix of pride, determination, desire, nervousness, and pure joy -- comes rushing out. The emotional attachment and incomparable level of play make it my favorite tournament.

What makes ___ so dangerous?
I'm much quicker than I look.

Theme song:
I love music.

Pre-game ritual:
I start by wishing I could skip to the part of the day when I'm already warm. I struggle through plyos and by the time I make my first deep cut during warmups, I feel like my legs are ok. I grab someone to do some marking drills with me before the game starts, and I'm ready to go.

What I like to eat on Saturday night of a tournament:
What's good.

If I didn't play Ultimate, my main pastime outside of work would be:
That's a great question.

Favorite sports team outside of Ultimate:
Philles and Eagles.

In terms of Kanners, how tan are you?
Kanner is 0.5 Levys.

Something unknown about me:
I really hate distance running. I've never run more than 2 miles.

Sam Kanner 2011

Name:
Sam Kanner
*Photo by Cory Barlow: Nationals 2010 power pool versus Chain Lightning.

Nicknames:
Kanner

Jersey #
32

Height:
6'0"

Date of birth:
7 January 1988

Place of birth:
Worcester, MA

Current city of residence:
Oakland, CA

Occupation:
Graduate student at UC Berkeley in Mechanical Engineering/Ocean Engineering

College team(s):
Carleton CUT (2007-2010)
Cal-Berkeley UgMo (2011)

Former teams:
Blue Collar (2005-2006)
Sub Zero (2007-2008)
Bodhi (2009)
Revolver (2010-present)

Accolades:
2006 world champion, Team USA (Juniors)
2009 Central All-Region
2010 Central All-Region
2010 3rd in Callahan voting
2011 Southwest All-Region

How I came to join Revolver:
I loved/hated playing against a lot of the guys on the team in college. Then I moved to the Bay.

Funniest moment or joke on Revolver:
Having the waitress pick for credit card roulette at Sushi Totoro in Santa Cruz.

Favorite game or tournament moment on Revolver:
Beating Doublewide in semis at Nationals 2010.

Favorite game or tournament moment outside of Revolver:
1. Beating Stanford in semis at Nationals 2010.
2. Losing to Stanford in pool play at Nationals 2007.

Favorite Ultimate player(s) in formative years:
Will Neff -- He was my high school captain and I played against him a lot in college. He's a great guy with a hot sister.

Favorite tournament:
College Nationals

What makes ___ so dangerous?
I have sharp blades instead of bones.

Theme song:
Lil' Wayne - A Milli

Pre-game ritual:
McDonald's. Every time.

What I like to eat on Saturday night of a tournament:
Lots

If I didn't play Ultimate, my main pastime outside of work would be:
Triathlons

Favorite sports team outside of Ultimate:
Boston Celtics

In terms of Kanners, how tan are you?
Exactly 1.0 units.

Alex Ghesquiere 2011

Name:
Alex Ghesquiere
*Photo by Tish Fagin: power pool play versus Johnny Bravo at 2008 Nationals.

Jersey #
24

Height:
6'1"

Date of birth:
6 September 1977

Place of birth:
New Haven, CT

Current city of residence:
San Francisco, CA

Occupation:
Electrical Engineering Manager at Abbott Diabetes Care

College team(s):
Dartmouth (1996-2000)

Former teams:
Blackjack (1999-2000)
DoG (2001-2004)
Jam (2005)
Revolver (2008-2010)

Coaching resumÈ:
Cal-Berkeley (2006-2011)
Zeitgeist (2007)
Revolver (present)

How I came to join Revolver:
Great guys and a great ethic -- seemed like it was the team I always wanted to play for. A teamwork-based mentality and an underdog spirit are a compelling combination.

Funniest moment or joke on Revolver:
Outside of Beau's lifetime achievement award for breaking up Martin and his girlfriend, probably Chuck's impression of Jit's bedroom demeanor. Or better yet, the five huge layout D's Beau got when motivated by making Martin chug a beer for each layout catch block.

Favorite game or tournament moment on Revolver:
The Japan semifinal at Worlds 2010 -- really great opponent, good game plan, and great execution by Revolver to win.

Favorite game or tournament moment outside of Revolver:
1. Club Worlds 2002 in Hawaii was a great experience, despite losing in the final.
2. Winning Lei-Out in 2009 and Kaimana 2010 were personal highlights because those tournaments are so much fun.

Favorite Ultimate player(s) in formative years:
1. Billy Rodriguez for tactics, steady leadership, and experience.
2. Fortunat Mueller for intensity and competitiveness.

Favorite tournament:
Kaimana Klassik

What makes ___ so dangerous?
I drive too fast.

Theme song:
My favorite warm-up songs are:
1. AC/DC - Thunderstruck
2. Rammstein - Ich Will

Pre-game ritual:
As a player: take as much Advil as possible.
As a coach: prepare match-ups for defense, plan the first five points of D schemes, and watch for who's getting hot on my team.

What I like to eat on Saturday night of a tournament:
Beer.

If I didn't play Ultimate, my main pastime outside of work would be:
Coaching Ultimate. Or Settlers of Catan

Favorite sports team outside of Ultimate:
New England Patriots

In terms of Kanners, how tan are you?
0.001

Something unknown about me:
I once layed out over the side of a cliff into a boulder field to catch a disc. That was back when I was indestructible. Yes, there was such a time.

Team gear

Head over to the team gear section of our website to see what's available. We are selling a limited supply of 2011 jerseys and discs to help fund the trip to Florida, where we'll wrap up the season with the USA Ultimate club championships. Revolver thanks you all for your support!

Adam Simon 2011

Name:
Adam Simon
*Photo by ? (from ffindr.com).

Nicknames:
Chicken, A-Si

Jersey #
2

Height:
6'0"

Date of birth:
18 November 1982

Place of birth:
Atlanta, GA

Current city of residence:
San Francisco, CA

Occupation:
Physician Assistant

College team(s):
University of Colorado Mamabird (2002-2006)

Former teams:
Chain Lightning (2000)
Johnny Bravo (2004-2008)
Ironside (2009-2010)

Accolades:
National champion (juniors: 2001)
National champion (college: 2004)
Inaugural CU Mamabird scholarship recipient
Callahan top 5 (2006)
World Games alternate (2009)
World champion beach, Team USA open (2011)

How I came to join Revolver:
Many of my old teammates (Beau, Martin, Mac, Bart) are on the team. Martin encouraged me to make it to a tryout if there was any chance that I might take a job in the Bay Area. I came to tryouts in mid-May between interviews and thankfully played somewhat well.

Funniest moment or joke on Revolver:
Playing Haddaway "What is Love?" on the boombox and having all six guys on the insta-bench immediately start doing the sideways head-bob.

Favorite game or tournament moment on Revolver:
Sam Kanner's "Whooooooooooooo!!!!"

Favorite game or tournament moment outside of Revolver:
Teaching Tyler Grant to shuffle in Italy.

Favorite Ultimate player(s) in formative years:

To watch:

1. Jason Simpson. He had the most explosive and graceful layouts I've ever seen. It was watching him before I had even started playing that got me interested.

2. Steve Dugan and Jeff Cruickshank. Absolute maestros with the disc. The first guys that made me wonder: How do you stop him?

To play alongside:

1. Rebecca Simon: My twin sister. Blazing speed, incredible defensive ability and always an example of the humility that should be brought to the game.

2. Josh Ackley: Competition in general would be a different animal if everyone brought it like Richter.

3. Will Deaver: As a young player, I was fortunate enough to play with someone that did everything well and believed in training and practicing the right way. I was often encouraged to emulate Will because he was such a playmaker and yet so calm with the disc under pressure.

4. Jolian Dahl, Dylan Tunnell and Mac Taylor: It's interesting to help and encourage the progress of developing players knowing that they will be WAY better than you are one day.

To learn from:

1. Michael Baccarini: I had never done anything as fun as Ultimate until I started playing. Credit all to Michael. There is a joy ever-present in the game he teaches and the game that is played at Paideia. I am grateful to have been part of that.

2. Catt Wilson: He taught me to expect more of myself because I was willing to work for it. Catt's teams are blue collar, scrappy teams that fight for every inch, every cut, every point on the field. That is culture that remains with Mamabird, and it's so much fun to follow each year.

Favorite tournament:
Club Worlds 2010 in Prague

What makes ___ so dangerous?
Jumpsoles and foam.

Theme song:
John Williams - Superman theme (The Planet Krypton)

Pre-game ritual:
JT in my ears and approximately 2.5 hours of energy.

What I like to eat on Saturday night of a tournament:
Chocolate milk and Endurox at the fields.

If I didn't play Ultimate, my main pastime outside of work would be:
Music and skiing.

Favorite sports team outside of Ultimate:
Atlanta Braves, Hawks, and Falcons

In terms of Kanners, how tan are you?
0.7 in season, 0.2 during the winter.

Something unknown about me:
I wear a wristband on my left wrist for each gold medal I've won. I like being able to touch them when I get nervous before big games -- to remind myself that I belong.

Northwest Regionals - Sunday

Revolver - Northwest Regionals - Day 2 (Sunday, October 2, 2011)

A light mist greeted us at the fields and we left trails of footprints in the dew as we congregated at the site of our semifinal against Seattle Sockeye. Next door, Rhino, back at full-strength (though still without captain Tad Jensen) warmed up for their semifinal against Furious George, who had come back from a three-point second half deficit to defeat Sockeye on Saturday morning. Unlike past years at Northwest Regionals, a win in the semifinals would not clinch a bid to Nationals, and a loss would guarantee an exhausting road toward the second berth.

Game 5 - 9:00a v. Sockeye (Seattle, WA) - Semifinal
There were plenty of local teams and fans rooting for Seattle this morning in what felt a little like an away game for Revolver, similar to the 2009 final at Nationals against Atlanta's Chain Lightning in Florida. Our O-line had practiced against a big, aggressive four-man cup (posed by our D-line the prior weekend) in preparation for this game, but the pleasant weather prompted Sockeye to withhold their trap zone on all but one point -- it didn't really work as Robbie Cahill and Bart Watson threw several easy hammers to slice through. This game therefore featured a lot of man and transitional junk defense, with Sockeye utilizing frequent switches and extreme angles created by the mark's force. Revolver's defense had trouble slowing down the frequent give-go action between Seattle's handlers that took advantage of the briefest hesitations by the marks or defenders.

Revolver started off strong by scoring on offense and then immediately forcing a break for a 2-0 lead, but things soured a few points later. After scoring on offense to make it 3-2, Sockeye's D-line broke on three consecutive points to take an important early 5-3 lead. We traded out before Sockeye added another emphatic break going into halftime. 5-8 Sockeye.

In the huddle we reminded ourselves that we had known the road would be difficult at times, but that an excellent opportunity lay before us. The Fish' well-coordinated defense had stymied the O-line through confusion, energy, and elimination of space that we had taken for granted most of the season. The offense needed to settle down but the defense would have to win the game by erasing those early breaks.

Out of half the Revolver D-line forced another break, but a few points later Sockeye grabbed it right back to stretch their lead to 11-7. We broke twice in a row on blocks by Sam Kanner and Mac Taylor to close the gap to 11-10. The teams traded again until Sockeye took a 14-12 lead with their O-line. Do or die time... Sockeye's call-and-response "Sock! Eye! Spawn! Die!" cheer had been ringing in our ears all game, but with Sockeye receiving on a 14-13 lead, we heard, "Shattered dreams!" echoing between the sidelines. The hard cap sounded during the ensuing point as Revolver broke to tie the game at 14 each and set up universe point. Sockeye turned over the disc on a deep shot attempt but Mac threw a low backhand to Mark Sherwood that Sockeye's Tim Gehret flew threw for an awesome layout block, regaining them posession about 30 yards away from the victory. A few throws later, our defense stifled the handlers and Nate Castine rifled a shallow inside-out forehand across the field that sailed over the front endzone cone. Back the other direction, Beau Kittredge came down with a bloody mouth (and two chipped front teeth) after an amazing, jostling grab over Matt Rehder on a towering blady backhand. A short throw later the 15-14 comeback was realized, sending Revolver to the finals and Sockeye via the long route to the back door bracket. We had barely escaped against a team that had performed better for most of the game.

We would face a rematch against Rhino, who had taken care of business against Furious George with an efficient 15-9 win in the other semifinal.

Game 6 - 1:30p v. Rhino (Portland, OR) - Final
After the bye round we were surprised when Rhino trotted out their first O-line of the day and, like Saturday, almost none of our pre-determined match-ups materialized. It seemed that Rhino had decided to rest their starters again, but this time in a game-to-go. Still, we were only able to post two breaks in the first half for an 8-5 lead. The D-line managed only four breaks total against a very competent Rhino offense, but our O-line was not broken once. Their stars like Eli Friedman, Seth Wiggins, Timmy Perston, Breeze Strout, Cody Bjorklund, Matt Melius, Dylan Freechild, etc. only played 0-3 points each in the final, but played a great deal and very well in the back door game-to-go against Furious. We are sad to see that we'll have to look forward to matching up with them next season instead of in Sarasota.

When Revolver's O-line completed the 15-10 win we were happy to have qualified for Nationals for the fourth straight year, but knew that we had dodged a bullet. We kibitzed the elimination game between Sockeye and Furious George and witnessed another unfortunate late game collapse by a talented Seattle squad, ending their very successful decade-plus streak of Nationals appearances. In some ways it doesn't seem fair, but when the dust settled on Northwest Regionals only Revolver and Furious George advanced.

Northwest Regionals - Saturday

Revolver - Northwest Regionals - Day 1 (Saturday, October 1, 2011)

Ten teams, including four of the top-ranked teams in North America, fight for two bids to Nationals. The weathermen forecast rain today, but the gray clouds never fell while we played and the wind was negligible until mid-afternoon. The scheduled format was a little unusual, pitting the first and second seeds against each other first. So...

Game 1 - 9:00a v. Rhino (Portland, OR)
A couple of Rhino players were suspended for three games due to roster mishaps from Sectionals and Rhino sat most of their starting line-up almost the entire game. We took half 7-2. Jonathan Hester had a nice double happiness on a deep D and then caught a huck from Mac Taylor out of half. Rhino's Bryson Uhrig-Fox caught an impressive goal over Patrick Baylis that energized his team. Revolver up 12-5, Rhino finally brought out an O-line with some match-ups that we had planned for, so we sent a zone down on the pull. On an unlucky play, Eric Halverson laid out and snared a catch block on an attempt to swing around the cup but Rhino's Grant Cole caught his leg underneath. Nobody heard a pop but Cole's knee was badly injured -- we all hope it's just a sprain. Halverson threw an upline forehand to Nick Chapman for the bittersweet game-winner.

Game 2 - 10:45a v. Dark Star (Eugene, OR)
These guys jumped out to a quick, startling 2-0 lead as Dark Star broke our O-line twice, including a near Callahan. We erased those breaks quickly but then traded out to half for a 7-6 lead. They made unusual throwing choices that we hadn't expected and caught us unaware several times. We barely recognized any of their players but their athleticism kept them in the game for a long time. Once we got a 9-8 lead we scored the rest of the points and won 13-8 after Eric Greenwood accidentally got a D with his head (it's hard to describe...), in what would prove our toughest game of the day.

Game 3 - 12:30p v. Boost Mobile (Bay Area, CA)
Vowing not to fall victim to a slow start like the previous game, the D-line broke on the first four points and took half 7-1. Boost usually connects on their deep game but they weren't today, so we took advantage, partly by pressing them with a zone defense. It turns out that we didn't require much of the O-line this game as Revolver rolled to a 13-3 win.

Game 4 - 4:00p (scheduled) v. Downpour (Seattle, WA)
These guys were young, athletic, and excited but possessed little experience. We opened the subbing and pushed to a 12-0 lead before Downpour finally punched in a goal using one of their two giants. We staved off the rain just long enough to wrap up the 13-1 win.

As the sky began to sprinkle we left the fields, showered quickly at the hotel, then headed north to Bob's Burgers for some college football and team dinner. We'll be resting up tonight in anticipation of a brutal elimination day at Skagit River Park tomorrow, where the weather should be partly cloudy with a high of 62. Somehow we've managed to avoid meeting Sockeye all season, but that all changes as the rivalry renews in a breakfast semifinal. Bagels and lox? Time will tell...