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.
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.
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.
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.
College team(s): University of Greater Metropolitan Oakland (Cal-Berkeley 2000-2004)
Former teams: MoFoPoHo (1998-2000) Oaks (2005) Revolver (2006-present)
Accolades: Is that a new sports drink? I’ve never had one before.
How I came to join Revolver: It was the summer of 2006 and I was pretty disillusioned by open club Ultimate. I had vowed that I’d be at club nationals that year no matter what (even as a spectator) and was trying to start a new Bay Area co-ed team with a core of UC Berkeley men’s and women’s players. Brian Garcia and Nat Kinsky suggested we go to the first practice for “some new Bay Area team.” Let’s just say I had some significant doubts about this team, a mishmash of folks at a variety of skill levels. (Oh, and I didn’t even know that it was tryouts.) But I really enjoyed Nick Handler and Marc Weinberger’s leadership (and encouragement) and did whatever I could to get on McManus’ good side. Managed to show some competency in running a stack offense and the rest, they say, is… Revolver Ultimate.
Funniest moment or joke on Revolver: NC: pigeon poop pillows PB: Baylis oops MT: spirit circle hurling CK: “I heard that Jonathan Bravo guy is really good at Ultimate.”
Favorite game or tournament moment on Revolver: 1. 2008 Nationals – Tom James 5, 7, 10? layout Ds in the second half against Johnny Bravo in power pools and winning. We were down 14-9 or something. Legendary. 2. 2007 Northwest Regionals – Revolver didn’t make it to Nationals, but I achieved every personal goal that I set out that year/tournament.
Favorite game or tournament moment outside of Revolver: 1 Portuguese flag, 1 girl, no clothes.
Favorite Ultimate player(s) in formative years: 1. HH Valdivia – a mentor and friend, motivational as he was always one step/year ahead of where I wanted to be. 2. Dan Hodges – he’s both the angel on the right shoulder and the devil on the left. 3. Chris McManus – showed me my best wasn’t good enough, so I needed to get better.
Favorite tournament: The next one.
What makes ___ so dangerous? I’m like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.
Pre-game ritual: Eggs, #2, shower. Everything else takes care of itself.
What I like to eat on Saturday night of a tournament: Totoro.
If I didn’t play Ultimate, my main pastime outside of work would be: I don’t know how to respond to this.
Favorite sports team outside of Ultimate: Manchester United
In terms of Kanners, how tan are you? Are we talking 2010 Kanners or 2011 Kanners? 42.
Something unknown about me: I never really wanted to play college Ultimate, but I did. I never really wanted to play club Ultimate, but I did. I don’t really want to play masters…
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