2008 State of the Buzzards Address

2007 was a banner year for the Buzzards Point Ultimate Club which experienced a resurrection of sorts. Last winter, as Annette was doing her best to resuscitate our club, she persuaded me to be the co-sponsor. From my perspective, this simply met learning how to use and manage the e-mail distribution list and carrying out the discs when and if we could ever get a game called. At that time, it was a very sporadic occurrence and we found ourselves looking at a lot of 3 on 3 and 2 on 3 games if we wanted to play. So I figured "Sure, no big deal, put my name on the list".

Then something happened in the spring and I’m not even sure what to attribute it to. Apparently an influx of Ultimate players came to HQ and we did a little marketing of the existence (such as it was) of the club and voila’, we started getting games…twice a week…on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Players started bringing their co-workers and telling others and before we knew it there were 8, 10, 12…sometimes a regulation 14 players coming out. We even started playing 3, 4, and a couple times all 5 days during the week. It was Ultimate bedlam!

We survived a scorching summer on the concrete parade field and made it to the eden of fall on the soft grass of the north fields. Here is a list of players who have played at one time or another this past year. They are in no particular order and I’m sure I’m forgetting somebody…you should send me an email and I’ll make a blog correction for you…and also ask when you’re coming back out.

Visor, Annette, Eric, Coach Brackett, Jeff, Boom Boom, JasonC, Mallard, DD, Brady, MattD, Kelly, Travis, Stephen, Lee, Coach, Rodney, Tag, Marianne, Sniper, CAPT K, Phil, Lars, MattM, JasonN, Shadow, Mandolin, Wings aka Tater, Chris, Kevin, Lon, Brook, Scott, Swinny, BrianT, Conrad, & yours truly.

You can not imagine the breadth of wisdom and knowledge I have come across by associating myself with such a renaissance group over this last year. Just a smattering of things I have added to my repertoire of trivia…Chicago weather nuances, how to tell a hernia from a strained groin, a better appreciation for the admission standards of the CGA, home remodeling using antique autos and parenting tips for felonious teenagers, crew, vegetable slicing, dog training, grapes indigenous to upstate NY, Latin, and some interesting undergarment shopping preferences.

Our economic condition is excellent as the Fitness Council supported the purchase of new discs, cones, & pinnies this year. So now we are bedecked in green & gold and can be found flicking around a bright yellow, hot red, patriotic eagle, and glow in the dark discs.

Our corporate knowledge of the sport has grown as we’ve added players this year that actually knew there were rules and we’ve learned about things such as force, mark, stall, stack, and the area of verticality.

We were fortunate enough to lose no regular players to transfer this past summer. But this year we expect to lose at least 4 (that I’m aware of now) of our strong regulars…Frank, JasonN, Travis, & MattC with a couple other possible losses as well. So we may go for another strong spring recruitment. Pass the word, let me know if we can add new names to the distribution list.

Thank you BPUC for making a 2-hour commute to this place have some extra value each day. Looking forward to another great year and adding more Buzzards to the nest.

~ Bill