Naked Ego?

We don't normally indulge in general Ultimate gossip here at the DojoMojo blog, but when this tragic/funny news item landed in our inbox this morning we couldn't resist sharing.

And that was probably because we instantly felt a sense of trans-global, anti-establishment kinship with Dusty Becker and his obviously very committed Oregon University Ego team-mates (who are apparently a very highly rated US college team) who, like the kenshi, haven't let their athletic ambitions cause them to forget how to live a little... Indeed, it seems that the Ego boys have a relationship with their College's student sports board that's not at all dissimilar to the Dojo's with our own BPL League Director (one day we'll look back and laugh, Stu).

So, Dusty & co, we just wanted to put it out there that we're right with you (assuming you're not countenancing doing these things simultaneously...) when you say: "Speeding, drinking, nudity — they’re not bad things... They’re things a big portion of the community doesn’t think are wrong." The story says that Ego players have had four speeding fines across the whole team in two years!!! Just four. We have no doubt at all that there would be many individual kenshi who've received more drive-by taxes than that over the last two years. And if nudity is "wrong" then surely we should all be reprimanded at birth???

Anyway, only a small insight into this unfortunate situation can be gleaned from the news articles, but this story seems to be a terrible one of moral misunderstandings, disproportionate punishments and a general lack of good humour. We're not sure how the student board can actually stop the Ego team from travelling to play - one assumes the severing of future funding would be the only viable instrument - but it seems obvious that this is a prime example of how the inherent anti-authoritarian nature of Ultimate doesn't always sit well within structures of authority (whether that be the local student board or the local constabulary).

It's easy to get used to the Ultimate players' privilege of each individual (rather than some impersonal figure of authority) making rule calls based on their own, personally accountable assessment of every alleged infraction, and often very difficult to accept that the rest of the world at large can't work that way as well...

Thanks Emma!

Who is Emma? She's the partner of one of the Messy Bug players without whom DojoMojo would have had to forfeit last night's BPL round. And that would have been a tragedy because the game that unfolded turned out to be an absolute classic.

How classic? So classic that some were comparing it to the finale of the recent US Masters golf (just without the plaid pants, massive prize money and huge audience). Looking back, it was a game that unfolded in 5 parts:

Part 1 - Dojo has 4 guys ready to play at 7.29pm, and it looks like the night's going to fizzle out before it's even started. There's only one person at the field not already spoken for - a young lady by the name of Emma who thankfully doesn't even hesitate when invited to join the kenshi quartet on field. The forfeit is narrowly avoided, but 5 players are always going to struggle against 7, and the Bugs score 3 or 4 unanswered goals before late arrivals Piers, Matt and Coopers (who would believe a grown man could take so long to tie his shoelaces?) are ready to play.

Part 2 - The Bugs continue as if they're still playing against 5, relying heavily on loopy hammers and floaty hucks to Mike, and the kenshi take advantage, quickly hauling in the deficit with all 7 players making equally top-shelf contributions. By the time the Bug boys are up to speed the Dojo has taken half and is on a serious roll.

Part 3 - The Dojo roll continues into the second half, and the lead gets out to 13-10 with 15 minutes left to play. With both calves cramped solid, the Sensei calls a breath-catching timeout (against the advice of game momentum mystic Andy McLean) and spends it lecturing the kenshi about how easily the Bugs could score the 5 goals they need to win the game, and how the Dojo has "all night" to roll in the 2 they need with solid completions and no risky hucks. Of course, the following 3 points see the Dojo throw 3 wild throwaways on the second or third pass, and the Bugs, who couldn't have asked for more, return fire with quick completions to Jangles and Mike.

Part 4 - Another Dojo throwaway, Bugs have the disc and work it into the redzone where predictably Jason looks for the hammer to Mike. Only this time it's a bit stray and Stu Austin is also looking to get on the receiving end. Mike leaps and gets just enough of a touch to knock it clear of Stu's grasp. Sometimes you don't need to be Andy McLean to know a change in fortune when you see it...

Part 5 - Knowing they've been let off the hook, the Dojo steadily works in the next score (a flat hammer to a backpeddalling Sensei who makes the catch in a somewhat inelegant fashion that Matt Eastburn later describes as looking like a falling tree). Some good old-fashioned man-on-man defence brings the turn on the next point before the Bugs can get it halfway up the field, and the kenshi don't waste their chance to close the game out with some quick, short passes, scoring in the front centre of the endzone... And just like that it's all over bar the speeches, and Mike Neild delivers one of the classics - dogged and determined in defeat as he is in victory.

So that's it - our best effort at communicating the feeling of the game (from a Dojo perspective) in lieu of any video footage. A&B voting is ready to roll on the right, and sadly there's no game next week due to Nationals in Perth. Good luck to all the Firestorm chaps heading to Perth - we have no doubt you'll do a lot better than your unflattering seeding and give quite a scare to several of the southern teams. More soon!