Orange Wins the League and Playoffs, Duh

5/31 Inwood

After defeating White and Grey, Orange battled a Green team that seemed quite surprised to be in the finals. In fact, Green knocked off the 3rd seed Yellow and upset the 2nd seed Black to get their championship match. At their last meeting with Orange, Green lost handedly, 15-7. However, Green was trying to conjure up the prowess of their mid-season match against Orange where they managed a tie.

Like all the playoff games this weekend, the finals started off slow and even with both teams suffering turns before scoring. While Orange went up by a couple before the end of the first half, Green kept within striking distance and a few times had the chance to tie. After half, the closest Green got was 11-8. Though Orange's Hunt Clark seemed destined to throw the winning goal with his softly fading backhand, his receiver, Collin Rich caught the pass just outside the endzone. Quickly, Elena Skavinskaya made a stop-short cut into the middle and Rich threw the final score, 15-10, the Orange were champions.

To all present, it was perhaps the best day of community ultimate MUD Spring had seen. If you left early or never arrived, you missed some of the greatest heckling and most amazing plays of any MUD season. Our hearts go out to Green captain John Kim who suffered yet another 2nd place finish. Our gratitude goes to all players who made this season another fantastic experience for one another. And especially to Winston Suntaree who makes this sport that we love come true.

Playoff Schedule and Post-Season Party

5/29 Webmaster's Desk

Spring League playoffs are just around the corner, on Sunday May 31st. Games will begin at either 1:30 or 3:00 depending on the seeding of your team; final seedings will be determined by the results of Friday's game. The schedule can be seen here.

The post-season party will be at Dive Bar (732 Amsterdam Ave at 96th Street, +1.212.749.4358) at 8:30 following the finals game. The league will be buying first and possibly second rounds depending on the turn out and some finger food.

Yellow Wins Easy, But Not Easily

5/19 Riverside

In the laziest game of Ultimate, perhaps, MUD has ever seen, Yellow faced off against the second place Black. Both teams have been trading that second place spot, along with Red, behind Orange all season. Black came out with a 3-2-2 zone that forced Yellow to play extremely patiently and make a lot of throws. As teams have surely noticed, zone is a good defense to play at Riverside, regardless of wind, because of the narrow playing field (the cup has a easy time running between handlers). However, Yellow was quite patient and moved the disc flawlessly throughout the first half. Black was also able to work the disc down the field on Yellow's person-defense. Both teams managed great precision with their throws with few turns happened before Yellow took half 8-6. Black switched out of zone for the second half and went on a mini 3-0 run, taking the lead for the first time. Yellow called timeout to discuss just how lazy things had gotten. Yellow's Kevin Collier even claimed he'd been walking and yawning for the previous 2 points. And Kara Donnelly exclaimed that the game seemed more like disc golf than ultimate. They snapped to action and went on a 3-0 run of their own. At 12-10, game to 13 was called and Yellow got the turn and won on a honey pass from Maggie Roush to Mateo Mead. With the win, Yellow moves to second place alone and hopes to be the definitive second seed for the playoffs on the 31st. Stay tuned for how that day will go down.

Black Takes Orange Down

5/15 Riverside

Orange came out as usual on Friday evening: strong. With Orange up 7-2, Black mounted a small comeback and made it 7-6 before Orange took half at 8. The teams traded points until Orange led 11-10 and a darkenss cap was called, game to 12. Orange pulled to Black who worked it up the field to tie the game. On universe point, Orange moved the disc all the way to the endzone then tried to throw over the top of Black's zone. Turnover. The teams exchanged two more turns and Black finally pounded it home to win. Truly a delighful feat, Black managed what none of the other teams have been able to accomplish, even after two tries. Though in week 3 Green had marred Orange's perfect season with a tie, Black now has prevented them from becoming MUD's first undefeated team.

Yellow's Second Coming

5/06 East River

The weather played gracious host as Red and Yellow faced off for the second time this Spring on Wednesday evening. Unlike their first meeting, Yellow took the early lead going up 6-3. Before they could put two more in for half though, Red trampled back to tie it at 6. As if toying with them, Yellow put the next two in and took half. They then made it 9-6 but let Red tie it up again. At this point Yellow captain, Mateo Mead, got a bit nervous. "I just wanted to score and score and be done with it. We really needed the win to break our tie with Red and get back where we belong," Mead said after the game. He got his wish. After 9-9, Yellow pulled away, scoring three-in-a-row. The fading light may have helped as Yellow had an easier time finding each other in the darkness than Red. At 14-11, game was called. Yellow moves ahead of Black to gain second place on point differential. That contest won't be decided until May 16th. However, Yellow has a chance to make some real waves this Sunday against Orange. In an email amongst the captains, Mead predicted Orange's fall on that day. This reporter thinks it more than likely.

Dustbowl Sees Some Tuesday Action

5/05 Dustbowl

Green proved again that the team that has more players tends to win in this league. Despite assurance from Black captain Brandon Touchstone that almost his entire team would be there, less than half of Black's men showed up. Though they were outnumbered almost 2 to 1, they made things tough for Green. With the score tied 10-10, universe point was called at 8:10pm. In near darkness, Green scored the final point. Layout of the day goes to Green's Dan Brauer. Wearing his recently acquired Green jersey, he took a dive into the slush in the middle of the field (up until then, both sides had maintained an unspoken agreement to avoid that area altogether). Not only does Green launch into 3rd place with the win, but they extend their winning streak to five.

Note from Green captain John Kim, "The dustbowl serves as an effective alternative venue when Riverside is closed. We had the entire field to ourselves. And due to the rain, the field was spongy, with no dust."

Rain and Pain Shake Things Up

5/03 Inwood

This past weekend, the Riverside teams (Yellow, Grey, Black and Orange) were rained out. Although they attempted to go uptown and find another suitable playing surface, they were unable to carve out a space amidst several intimidating 9 year-olds with baseball bats.

Inwood, however, saw four wet and wild games. Green opened up with zone against a handler-lacking Blue. This time, unlike last Wednesday and despite all the scoobers, Blue couldn't quite crack Green's zone D. Green jumped to an 8-2 lead at half. In the second half, Green's cup disintegrated but they managed to pull off a 15-7 victory. Blue's Julie Sussman proved to be the toughest player on the field. Green threw to a wide open Brad Paris in the end zone. Sussman came across from the other side of the end zone for the block. Paris, however, took that one step forward before the disc arrived. According to Green's John Kim, "a loud, crunching sound ensued." Yet, rather than impede play, Julie proceeded to crawl off the field on her hands and knees.

Red met Green next. Red was not so fresh off its 15-14 win against White. As if determined to win the Iron Man award, the only 6 Red players to show up played a man down but still defeated White, even if just by one. Red was reduced to five men against Green, who also lost players and was now playing 5/1 with one sub. On top of that, Red's Phil Enoch was playing gimpy. Nevertheless, Red jumped to an 8-7 lead at half. Green was able to maintain discipline against the clammy zone and while they could hardly stop Red's offensive machine, they managed to eke out just enough turnovers to come away with the win, 15-13. Green seems on something of a role, climbing the standings nicely.

White and Blue met in the second slot. These two had played last Sunday and Blue won by two. White, clearly miffed about yet another close loss to a less than savage Red, played determinedly and well. Blue, who had also just lost, wasn't about to let White sneak by. These two teams played a defensive game with many more forced turns than errors. At 14-14, the marathon continued until White managed a tricky score for their second win and seventh game decided by no more than a two-point margin.

What Happened in Week 4

5/01 Riverside, East River and Riverside Again

On Tuesday night, Grey met Orange at Riverside. The first half went the way almost everyone in the league hoped it would: Grey was up 8-6. Orange pulled to start the second half and threw a zone right away. Grey simply could not overcome this tactic and only scored one point in the second half. The final score was 14-9 with Orange's Elena Skavinskaya catching the final score off a nice cut. There was also a minor controversy on a "not-in" call. Although tempers seemed about to flair, the call was resolved amicably and correctly and all unspiritedness was avoided.

The following night, Green and Blue hashed it out on the East River. According to Green captain John Kim, "Blue promptly shredded Green's early attempts at Zone defense and jumped to a 4-2 lead." However, reinforcments soon arrived for Green and after 6 points, Green's men outnumbered Blue's by more than two to one. And as the game proceeded, this would be the difference. The game was tied at 11-11 before Green pulled away, winning 15-11. Before it was over, Kim said, Blue captain and principle showman, Brendan Snodgrass, "managed to throw at least three scoobers, including one completely gratuitous toss to the end zone, just to show that he could." According to Snodgrass, "all such scoobers were completed, except for one." For that failed attempt, he shall never be forgiven.

Thursday evening saw White looking for its second win against Yellow. Yellow, coming off a four-game losing slump was far from in the mood to oblige. With something to prove, Yellow got out to a 3-0 lead and eventually took half 8-4. After half, White rolled on back coming within one at 11-10. Soft cap was called, game to 13. Yellow received and the teams traded the last few points until Yellow's Kevin Collier put a beautiful mid-field huck up to a score for the 13-11 win. With its win, Yellow moves into a definitive 3rd place behind Orange and Black.

Friday's game between Black and Red may be drizzled out. At their last meeting, this past Sunday, Black secured a solid win. Red is surely looking for redemption and a chance to move into a tie with Yellow for 3rd. Alas they'll have to wait.

Sunday Black Climbs the Orange Ladder

4/26 Riverside and Inwood

Note from the editor: Though it helps when Orange's captain buys you a pitcher at that Riverside cafe after the game, it is difficult to be witty and cheerful after you've played his team. Thanks Steve. Here goes...

Orange seems unthreatened in addition to being undefeated. At Riverside this afternoon, Yellow, a former 2nd place holder, struggled against their poachy defense and patient offense. According to Yellow captain Mateo Mead, "the way to beat them is exploit their poaching; dump and swing, and send people deep... we just couldn't get that done." Yellow's Eric Shoemaker did have one of the best catches of Spring, however. With two defenders colliding into him and his outstretched hand, the three men landed and Shoemaker was holding the disc. Mouths dropped open. Despite this and a few other sweet Yellow grabs, Orange won the game 15-8.

Uptown, Black charbroiled Red and then Grey winning the games 15-11 and 15-7, respectively. Red was missing two of their primary handlers and, according to Black's Chris Richardson, "needed to force their best cutters into handling roles, and that canceled their normal speed advantage." Grey may have been tired out from their earlier 14-11 defeat of Green when they lost to Black. Grey captain, Fred Merkel said, "I knew we were in trouble against Black when Victor Lee scored the first point with a ridiculous layout fingertip catch." Black's women were also 5-strong so in every point during both games they could run all-out. Like Kennedy voters they were scoring early and often. With these wins, Black isolates themselves in 2nd place.

On Green's side of the field, after losing to Grey by the aforementioned score, they faced the freshly beaten Red. Without their handlers, Red was no match for Green's zone. So despite Red's Blake Redding's ridiculous layout in the gravel, and Red's Dan Abramoski managing to defy the laws of physics by appearing in at least two different places at the same time, Green quickly dispatched Red, 15-5.

Back at Riverside, White and Blue took the field and without cleats managed to trade point for two hours. Blue was up by one when hard-cap, last point was called at 4:04pm with soccer players waving permits. White turned the disc and Blue put one up the line to Jack Couvilon who grabbed a nice lay-out for the 14-12 win. White remains in last place with three two-point losses and one one-point loss. So far, a heartbreaking season for White.

Red and Blue's Friday Date Night

4/24 Riverside

At Riverside tonight, Blue and Red each brought along two women. These gals played savage but don't you dare call them that to their lovely faces. You might also have observed that they were fast women. But you should probably be careful with that compliment out of context as well. According to Red captain Emily Noton however, "speed was definitely a factor, with Red being much quicker." Despite the small Riverside field, Blue brought their huck game and it didn't work. They would either overthrow the deep cut or underthrow it to the D. Red's happy handlers were on, "but really," again, according to Noton, "it was just a solid team effort by Red with everyone contributing." Red won 15-5 and moves into a 3-way tie for 2nd place.

Green Deals Orange Its First...

4/23 Riverside

... Tie? That's right. Green and Orange traded points up until a ten-minute hard cap was called. The night threatened and both teams decided at 9-9 that the next point would win. By that rule, the game should still be going on. Neither team was able to see the disc and it didn't help that Green was wearing green. In the ten minutes alloted, no one scored and the game ended in a tie. Spring's first. Congrats to Green though for slightly humbling the first place team. Green captain, John Kim, was reached for comment afterwards and he said, "a very good game. Top to bottom, [Orange] has a great team." Whether he was planting some subtle irony is up for interpretation.

Wednesday Is Black Over White

4/22 East River

On the East River tonight, Black defeated White, 14-12. According to Black captain Brandon Touchstone, Black took half 8-2. Then White turned it up and Black turned it down. Black's Chris Richardson had a couple of skies contributing to the win. Jennifer Daugherty and Deirdre Mooney played savage for black, making the win even more impressive, or depressive, depending on who's talking.

At Riverside, Sun Goes Down Grey Goes Up

4/21 Riverside and 103rd

A renovated but wet Riverside field nearly led to no game today but the captains of Grey and Yellow brought everyone up to 72nd St., boarded them all on the M5 limited, and sent both teams to 103rd and Riverside Drive where a lovely turf field lay waiting. Naturally, darkness was quickly settling but the teams managed a game to 11 before discs were hitting people in the face. Grey got the win and with it moves into a tie with Black for 4th place. Yellow played hard and fast and simply didn't have time to win. They were down 7-2 at half and brought it back, all the way to 10-9 before Grey's Maura Brady scored the final point. Yellow has a chance this weekend to regain its basically disappeared clout when it challenges Electric Orange. Grey faces Red and Blue.

Schedule Update

4/21 Webmaster's Desk

Due to permit issues the Inwood games that were scheduled for Sunday May 17th have been shifted to Saturday May 16th. This will not affect the Riverside Park games; those will still happen on Sunday May 17th.

While Teams Stay Home Orange Flags Fly

4/19 Inwood and Riverside

On the day the two teams without losses were to face each other in the first of three matches, Yellow, captained by Fall League champion Mateo Mead, chose to only send four players to the game. "Forfeiting is the man's way to lose," said Yellow's Jeff Rohr. "We're like a heavyweight fighter choosing who to fight," added his teammate Eric Kuo. Neither was present on Sunday. However, not only did Yellow concede the win to Orange, but their four players challenged the four who showed up for Blue. Yellow lost at universe point, 12-13. Commissioner Suntaree, who was present, says the result will stand.

Orange may have gotten a free win but they certainly deserved their other Sunday W. Winning 15-3 over Black, Orange increases their record to 6-0. According to Orange captain Stephen Nicolson, "Multiple D's by Eric Nielsen and Collin Rich lead the route" against Black. And impressively, "Anna Reinersman had a great one-handed snag of a scoober that was tailing away from her in the end zone."

Down at Riverside, Green and Grey arrived with light squads, though Grey, at 10 people had two more subs than Green's 8. Regardless, Green took half at 8-3 using an effective zone D in windy conditions. The wind died down in the second half and Green was reeled back in by a determined Grey team. Even with the 15-9 loss, Green's women played in the cup the entire day and kept it close. Grey's extra subs and superior team effort contributed to their comeback win.

In other Sunday Riverside news, White fell to Red 15-9. This caused some minor moves on the standings charts the prize is yet to be won. Keep an eye on weather for those upcoming Riverside games this week.

Red Threatens but Yellow Remains Undefeated

4/17 Riverside

Red and Yellow went at it Friday evening at Riverside. Red got off to a 4-0 lead with some quick movement and beautiful long throws from Rob McKenna and Matt Kushner. While Red continued at high levels, Yellow stepped up the defense and waited for its offense to kick in. Soon enough it did and Yellow took half. A few times in the second half Red got within one or even tied the score, threatening to bring down one of the two remaining undefeated teams, but to no avail. Dark cap went on and Yellow's Sarah Gilbert snagged the winning catch amidst a few Red jerseys for the 12-9 win.

Riverside's Ribbon Is Cut, MUD Rejoices

4/16 Riverside

In a lovely ceremony emceed by the Director of the Riverside Park Fund and attended by the Supervisor of Riverside Park, the Coordinator of Riverside Soccer and many MUD leaders and members, the Riverside field at 72nd was re-opened for our use. Alex Berzofsky and John Kim said a few words and MUD's first game on the new grass began, White vs. Green. Spectators couldn't have asked for a better match. A confident and full white team kept it close against the winless Green who also brought great numbers. They traded long points with each other leading to a 9-9 many-turnover stalemate. Universe point was to be decided in near darkness. After several more minutes and (possessions), Green got its first win and captain John Kim was so happy he took everyone to the bar and bought them each two drinks.

Grey Gets First Win in East River Upset

4/15 East River

Grey handed Black its second loss Wednesday, beating the Monstars 15-9. Previously, Grey had played three games and had scored a total of only 15 points. Tonight they finally accomplished the necessary feat of scoring 15 in a single game. Black arrived with four men and four women. They played 4/3 against Grey's 5/2 for the first few points. Grey took half 8-3. But Black's 5-0 run to start the second half made things even and interesting. It went to 9-9 but then Black couldn't muster another. In the evening twilight, Grey scored the remaining points, including a low pass hitting Charles George on the shoetops then bouncing into his hands, to win.

Windy Easter Sunday Causes a Few Blowouts

4/12 Inwood

Though all eight teams converged at Inwood to kick off the second week, four of them hardly showed up. Grey, White, Blue, and Green found themselves crushed like chomped jelly beans or dyed, discarded egg shells.

Red doled out the first and most significant beating, quickly going 15-2 on the scrappy, weather-worn Grey team. Red played solid overall and was more comfortable in the gruesome wind.

On the other field, during first time slot, Orange punished White 14-5. Orange's Scott Asher seemed to spend most of the game on the ground, making five rolling, ass-plant catches. Captain Stephen Nicolson, who has been enjoying undefeated success, claimed his Orange team was "aided by the wind." They also had five of their women present (all but one). This almost guarantees that you'll win games.

When Orange met Red later that day, it looked like a match of giants. But actually, Red had no answer for Carolyn Louth, who snuck around all the giants and scored many of Orange's windy points. Orange added another success, winning 15-6.

Grey's day only got worse when they faced Blue. Though they managed to triple their earlier score, they still couldn't figure out the wind and lost 15-6. Suspicions arose that Grey players either had too much chocolate that morning, or too many of them were still at home searching for their baskets.

The final games of the day stuck to the theme. Black mugged Blue, 15-3, while Yellow smeared Green, 15-5. According to Black's Victor Lee, their game "was nowhere near as bad as the score might imply." Both teams struggled to move the disc around wind-induced zone defenses. Steady play by David Goldemberg and savage excellence from Liza Comita and Kate Newburgh grabbed the win for Black.

According to Green's John Kim, their game against Yellow was exactly as bad as the score implies. Even with the wind assisting their defense, Green could not stop Yellow's patient drives. With Yellow's captain gone visiting his mother for Easter, Kara Donnelly (despite playing college sectionals that morning) stepped up and charged the team full of rabid Easter Bunny viciousness. Green's fate was doomed even before Harinthon Chanilal and Sarah Gilbert started foaming at the mouth.

East River Wednesdays Begin

4/8 East River

Orange took Blue down 15-12 on Wednesday evening as boats and Brooklyn let off some steam on and across the East River. The weather held up, players had no conflicts with other park patrons, and both teams were able to put four men and three women on every line. During the game, Blue's Julie Sussman kept a foot in bounds for a trailing edge, layout grab and score. As spectacular as it was, it couldn't pump enough into Blue to overcome Orange's charge. With its win, Orange becomes the early front runner.

First Weekend Gives First Impressions

4/5 Inwood

As the 2009 Spring season of MUD opened up, all eight teams were on hand, the weather was lovely, the rosters full and the grass a little less patchy than in the Fall.

Red and Blue celebrated the first pull of the season on the tree-side field. According to Red's co-captain Rich Previdi, "Red brought Rediculous numbers," named their team accordingly, "and overwhelmed Blue." With only one sub of each gender, Blue, said captain Brendan Snodgrass, "was no match for the conditioned and spry red hordes."

On the inlet-side field, Grey and Orange met for the first time. Grey was missing its principle handlers and fell decisively to Orange's Electric Boolgaloo moves, scores and savvy. The Orange team came together nicely. Grey, perhaps because of the missing players, seemed to suffer a lack of flow. They'll have two games to work out their nerves and newness next weekend.

Yellow premiered next against White. Despite being the only team to win two games this weekend, Yellow only barely squeaked into that desired position. White, wearing their appropiate color, kept things even with Yellow and the game was hard-capped at 10. Throughout the game, Yellow enjoyed more and more subs arriving to the fields every five minutes and, by the end, they had won by two points and were missing only two players from their roster.

Against Black, it looked to be a blowout. The well-stocked Yellow took half giving up only 1 point. Then through a series of diverse defensive looks as well as Victor Lee's momentum providing huck for a score, Black battled back to tie it at 13-13. However, after scoring then getting a D, while the sun significantly dimmed, Yellow patiently worked it against a dark and Black zone to win.

Green also played Black and White on Sunday but left the fields quite defeated. They hung with Black for a while but after getting a huck D-ed by David Goldemberg and giving up an I/O score from Jennifer Daugherty, they couldn't keep it going.

Against White, things started out well. Green's Kyle Friedrichs miraculously came away with a falling, rolling bid for score against White's Alan Rotenberg. And Phil Hospod risked life and limb with a lay-out D preventing White from certain score. However, the good did not last. White pulled through and, before anyone thought about yelling "daylight," dispatched Green 13-5.

Green's David Dunlop and Steve McGuire get this weekend's mentionable spirit. McGuire cut short his weekend in Boston for the games but also managed to forget his shorts. Dunlop, in an act of true charity, lent his teammate a pair.

Season Begins Sunday April 5 @ 2pm - Inwood

4/2 MUD News Desk

Check out the freshly sprouted Spring 09 team and schedule pages. Newsclips and photos are coming soon. Please arrive about 10 minutes early to your first game this Sunday. Bring plenty of water, a WHITE shirt and a DARK shirt, and as much spirit as you can muster.