Potlatch 2009

Back from my last vacation for a while…

Sketch managed to get me a reasonable ticket to Seattle so that I could hang out and play Potlatch, what many consider to be one of the most awesome ultimate tournaments in the world. I need to give a brief history of Potlatch so that you can fully understand what it's all about.

Potlatch is organized by DiscNW and has been a tournament for over 20 years. The whole idea is that you play ultimate and after every game you exchange gifts and cheers with the other team. There are teams that play the whole thing hammered/high, and there are some very skilled and competitive teams. In its current incarnation, Potlatch has about 90 teams in attendance from all over. The fields are located outside of Seattle, and are some of the nicest fields I’ve ever played on.

Now for those of you who loathe the hippy, free-spirit side of ultimate let me tell you that this tournament is still really fun. I don't love the pot smoking stigma that ultimate gets and I definitely enjoy the competitive aspect more. But this tournament brought out my goofy, friendly side and I couldn't help but be beside myself with laughter throughout the whole thing. Now that my college ultimate career is over I realize there is more to ultimate than just sweaty gym dungeons and that insatiable thirst for going to Nationals. On the flipside of that cutthroat competition there is still that eccentric, fun-loving quality that the majority of the community enjoys.

The team I played with for the tournament was organized by none other than Andy Wade, Captain Emeritus at Northwestern. HumpFreeze from Flagstaff, AZ was a collection of Northern Arizona University ultimate players, Flagstaff flatballers, and Seattle ringers. We weren’t a very competitive team, in fact we went winless for the tournament, but they were a great bunch to play with. As I previously mentioned, after every game there is a gift exchange and what I will call a “Spirit game.” The Spirit game is just that, a celebration of ultimate’s “rulebook” known as “Spirit of the Game.” Every team we played had a unique game to play (many involved alcohol), and ours was the WHEEL. Frisbee House guests and residents will immediately recognize what a wheel is, as we have just recently procured our very own. It’s a Wheel of Fortune style spinner that is adorned with challenges, and is spun by contestants. Whatever slice of the pie it stops on, you are condemned to that challenge. My favorite, and most common challenge was the Sponge Bob Suck Job. Wader and his buddies took a Sponge Bob pinata and turned it into a beer bong, and the spigot was conveniently located where Sponge Bob’s junk would be. Challengers would have to get into fellating position (on your knees, bitch) and suck down whatever liquid was in the funnel. The nastiest drink I saw go down? Beer + coffee on Sunday morning, about a 150 ml sucked down 3 separate times.

And that sort of merriment was had throughout the whole tournament. We quickly became the infamous “Spin the Wheel” team, and after Friday night I quickly became “the wine guy.” Me and Sketch patrolled the Night Bacon party, (a team so named because they cook bacon at night … yeah, that’s it) with two bags of wine and made a lot of friends doling out bag slaps. I could go on and on about the goofy shit and fun games we participated in this weekend, but I’m still slowly absorbing it all. But things I learned;

If you EVER have a chance to go to Potlatch, GO. If you like playing ultimate and just having fun, it’s a great weekend. Even if you don’t like sleeping outdoors in tents (me), hippy ultimate (me), or spending money on flights (me), just try and go. All my fears and concerns were erased, and I had a great time.

I don’t play well when I drink. In fact I play and feel terribly. After Friday I decided I would save the drinking for the parties at night.

Another huge bonus of going to Potlatch this year was watching Team USA play. The showcase game featured Team USA vs. Team Canada, and though not the most exciting game, it is always a treat for me to watch such skilled players. The men and women of Team USA are straight ballers. When I watch them play I try to figure out what separates a player of their caliber from me and I’ve noticed a few things.

Athleticism is the big thing. Everyone on that team is seriously fast, lightning quick and dominates in the air. They play with such intensity every point because the team is so deep, and they go 110%. The marks are fierce and are all up in your business, the cutting is very physical, bows are thrown, a lot of jostling, but surprisingly clean play.

Now all that athleticism will only take you so far, so the next thing is straight skill. I’ve only been playing for 3 years and I come from a decent, but not elite program. I have to admit that despite all my studying and practice of the game that there is a certain part of the game I’m not going to fully grasp or understand. I don’t immediately recognize the difference, but the throws and moves of Team USA have a subtle quality that make them so effective.

Break throws are one thing. No matter how good of a handler you are, when you play a team like Team Canada there are going to be times when their defense locks down and the usual reset options are not present. Team USA and other high caliber teams adjust to that by being able to throw to any part of the field. Because even a great defense will be unable to completely shut down an offense all the time, so a lot of the time the best you can do is make sure the only open look is also the most difficult open look. Well Team USA could hit that open look more than 90% of the time, and that’s what makes them such an excellent team. The defense is playing a percentage game hoping that they will force enough of those throws to cause turnovers. This works well and the offense must respond by being creative yet consistent. The upline and dump reset were not always open, so I saw plenty of over-the-top and huge IO breaks.

Cuts were another thing that were hard to analyze. What made those cuts so good? Certainly the quickness and ability to change direction on a dime helps, but these guys just have sweet jukes. It’s the same thing when you watch basketball highlights where Allen Iverson or Chris Paul just breaks someone’s ankles and goes to the hole. It often looks like, “Well there’s a double crossover and a spin move, I can do that.” But my basketbal skills would say otherwise and I am still amazed at the play. So there’s some subtle quality about it all that makes them so exceptional.

The finals of Potlatch unsurprisingly pitted Team USA vs. Team Canada again. Kind of sucks for the other teams that usually would have had a shot at the Potlatch championship. But the finals proved to be a far more exciting game. The wind was high and there were some huge upwind hucks and air contests. Most impressive were the women of Team USA. They came up with some huge offensive layouts to save possession, and some absolutely filthy lay out D’s. I’ve never really seen women who play like that.

Anyway it’s back to Chicago, and back to the job hunt and organizing my life and “the future.” Seattle is a great city, and Sketch showed me a good side of it. The weather is really nice actually (hot during the day, but cool at night, not very windy), there is a ton of green and water, and is populated by some chill people (maybe too chill for some). It’s definitely on my list of places to set up shop eventually. And if you like ultimate, there’s no city better for that than Seattle.

Wish me luck on finding a good job. Pray that I can find a paying one.

EP #6