Ultimate Ranking

Last night, I had a pretty great night of ultimate--my throws were almost all working, my team was moving the disk great on offense and playing excellent defense, and I have had a few defensive plays including one layout (dive) to block a pass to the guy I covered.  I have always been much better on offense than defense and much more so as I have gotten older and slower (I have never been fast, but can be quick).  Last night also reminded me of the Principle of Conservation of Greatness, which refers to the situation of making a great play (great defensive effort or excellent catch) and then throwing the disk away.  Because I did, indeed, throw the disk away after the layout D. 

It got me thinking about the plays that mean the most to me, both in general and the specific ones over the years.  So, I thought I would rank the potential plays by how much joy they give me and then the specific ones.

1. The Greatest.  This is when one jumps out of bounds, catches the disk, and then before landing throws it back to a teammate in bounds.  I have never done it, have seen it successfully executed in person maybe once or twice in my thirty five years or so of playing.  It can be seen on highlight films (this video has some plays that are inbounds jump/catch/throw/land but those are not the Greatest)
2. The Callahan.  This is when a team is backed up near or in their own endzone and then a defender intercepts the pass in the endzone for a score.  Back in the old days, it didn't count as a score, and it definitely didn't have a name.  I have done this a few times, but not recently.  It is very cool when it happens.
3. Laying out successfully on defense to block a pass.  I love to lay out, as I am much better throwing myself horizontally than moving vertically (jumping).  It started out catching the trash--the tipped disks from the competition of taller, jumpier people.  I manage to do this once or twice a season.
4. Laying out successful to catch a pass.  This happens far more often--often once or twice a game.  My favorites are when I am running down a pass in front of me, but I have end up laying out to catch a disk thrown behind me (see below!).  I dive often enough, but I only have one video of such an effort.  
5. Outskying someone.  Rare for me, but it has happened where I outjump someone to catch or block a disk. 
6. Catching the trailing end of a disk as it flies by me.  In the aforementioned video, it is not just special for laying out but for snagging it from behind.  
7. Throwing a particularly snazzy throw for a score.  This usually means one that bends one way (inside out) or another (outside in).  My throws (and seeing the field) have been the best part of my game since close to the beginning.  I have been one of the handlers (the folks who are the point guards/quarterbacks) on my teams since my junior year at Oberlin.  So, I tend to be in a position to make a good throw pretty often, with a nice inside out or arcing pass at least a couple of times a game.  
8. Scoring.  I tend to be the one throwing to the person in the endzone, but I do occasionally score, and it always is chock full of joy.  
9. Being a good decoy--cutting to take my defender out of the play so that someone else can score.

I am sure there are other plays that bring me joy, but these are the ones that come to mind.

In terms of specific moments, here are my favorite plays of my entire ultimate career:

1. I will always remember the, um, penultimate point in Columbus, OH against Ohio State. They were always a better team (they had a far bigger pool of people from which to get players).  We were close to the endzone, and I was cutting to one side of the endzone.  Gabe Brownstein decided to throw a hammer--an upside down pass--that had only recently become known to those playing in Ohio.  It was an awful pass.  I had to stop and dive backwards, catching the disk at the end of my fullest extension.  My team mobbed me, stunned by the play.  And, yes, we went on to win, the one time we beat OSU in my four years at Oberlin.
2. Leaving Montreal.  My teammates and opponents threw me a surprise extra game to send me off.  It was incredibly moving and heaps of fun.  In my ultimate journey, my time in Montreal will always be the most special.  General Admission and Ultimate Angels stand out as my favorite teams of my career, along with the various Obie teams (we changed names almost as often as we changed our shirts).  I have been in Ottawa for nearly eight years, and I still have not come close to feeling as connected to folks in the ultimate scene as I did in Montreal, even though I missed half of the talk (my French ain't great).  I do really enjoy the Grandmaster
   
   Winter League, and I am starting to know the folks in it, and they are starting to know me (which means I get more chances to score as they know to expect me to stay back and handle). 
3. The first time I threw to my kid for a score in a real game.  She subbed for one of my summer league teams in Montreal, sometime around 14 or 15.  I found her open in the endzone and threw it to her, and I was a proud papa when she caught it.
4. My first curvy throw for a score. I remember playing in tournament as a college student and throwing a long bendy pass to our captain, Thomas von Heune (I may be spelling his name wrong), for a score.
5.  Drinking from the cup!  I have been on the winning side of a few tourneys (mostly the end of summer league tournaments), but this one, with the Montreal Grandmasters (over 40 years old), was mighty special.  And taught me an important lesson: my team is not going to win a tournament if I am one of the best players.  Hurts the ego, but there it is. 
6. Mooing for the disk!  Fall league in Montreal all tended to have a costume game around Halloween, and I would dress up as a cow (thanks to a Lubbock team trip to a Fort Collins tourney).  And in, I think, my last Halloween game in Montreal, I had to lay out for a long pass and I moo-ed while I caught it.  Yep, I said mooooooo as I dove to catch the disk.  
7. My first tournament in Texas--a windy day--and our inexperienced Lubbock team was getting crushed in each game.  I remember being elated when I finally connected a scoring pass to one of our women.  She was surprised when I hugged her and picked her up, but I was just thrilled to finally get a point.
8. Throwing a clever, somewhat risky pass to beat a zone defense in Los Alamos in 2000.  Why?  Because one of the opponents, a captain named Chris, complimented me on the pass.  The very best part of ultimate (besides being a sport that I play very well) is the spirit of the game--that competitors (except perhaps at the highest levels) have much respect and camaraderie for/with each other.  A good example was getting amusingly heckled by one of my opponents who joked that my great D didn't count since I threw the disk away.  It was all in good spirit, and this game has heaps and heaps of good spirit.
9. The time another team got upset when two older dudes played with a group of 14-15 year olds (including my kid) to school the C/D (the meh) bracket.  

There are other memories, but these are the one that stick out the most.  My memory tends to be lousy, so I am hoping that I remember some key Ottawa moments that I will be having in the latter days of my career.