Columbia University Ultimate Frisbee Team

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Ultimate Frisbee, sometimes abbreviated Ultimate, is an intercollegiate club sport, represented at our fair university by the Columbia University Ultimate Frisbee Team.

History

1974

• The Columbia University Ultimate Frisbee Team was founded by David "Buddha" Meyer in the fall of 1974.

1976

• The team qualified for the 1976 East Coast Championship in April/May 1977. In its first single elimination game Columbia lost to Penn State, the eventual East Coast champion.

1977

• For the spring 1977 season, Budddha got John Anthony, a Columbia graduate student; Dave Bloeme, the then reigning Frisbee World Champion; a graduate of Bronx High School of Science; and Mark Dana to join the Columbia squad. The team discovered its potential in a game at Baker Field when Buddha taught the team how to play a zone on the subway ride up to Baker Field & the team narrowly lost to a well-respected team. That season's team consisted of several "athletes" (certainly athletes by Ultimate's then standard of "athletic"), including refugees from Columbia's other sports programs, including Jerry McManus (baseball) and Bob Jarrett and Michael Forlenza (lightweight football), Steve Kane, a self-acknowledged, but nonetheless excellent, goal hanger, running around to get open for Buddha, Bloeme, John Anthony & Ken Gary to throw to. A typical play would have a Bloeme throw-off that pinned the other team in the corner by their goal line (this was before the "brick" rule); Columbia would then apply its zone (often a "force side") and upon a turnover Columbia would score, often with Buddha throwing an air-bounce wrist flip (that is not a typo) to someone in the end zone.
• Fall 1977: In the fall of 1977, Steve Kane & Jerry McManus were the co-captains, and despite the loss of Buddha & Bloeme, the team improved. Other players joining at this time were Muarice Matiz (a cross-counrty refugee); Luis Pacheco (a varsity soccer player), and freshmen Ernie Cicconi, Paul Tvetenstrand and Bob Kennelly. and others ----. The highlight of the fall season was the crushing defeat of then top nationally-ranked Rutgers at Rutgers. (By coincidence a poster for this game is on page __ of Ultimate the First Four decades). In contrast to the fall of 1977 when Columbia had Buddha and Bloeme, Columbia's humiliating defeat of Rutgers, by a bunch of non-New Jersey, no-name players was an announcement that Columbia was a team to be reckoned with (even though one should never end a sentence with preposition).

1978

• 1978 Florida Trip
• Fall 1978. End of season upset of BFC/BAD (their only loss of the year). Columbia teaches a very raw Pat King the intracies of the game.
• Winter 1978-1979. UPA founded; new regions; NY in Northeast Region; NJ in Mid-Atlantic. Likley showdown between BFC/BAD & Columbia.

1979

• Spring 1979. Florida trip (fun but not many victories). team never quite clicks (plays about .500). In Northeast semi-final at Amherst [confirm], loss to Cornell on a tipped disc goal with time running out. Two unnamed players (Strage & Gigi oversleep - who would have thought such responsible young men would do that?). Cornell goes on to upset BFC/BAD; thus BFC?BAD's only losses in the 1978-1979 were their final games of the fall & the spring.
• Fall 1979. Heiffers formed. Is this when the Schmidt Rule comes in ?
• Winter 1980. We win Syarcuse tourney 9was this the 1st or 2nd one?

1980

• 1980 Florida Trip. Last minute car plans change so only 8 players go in Steve Kane's parents' station wagon - Steve Kane, Chris Schmidt, Bob Kennelly, Mike Stage, Wally Don, Ken Gary, Ernie Cicconi and Jeff Coffin. The team goes undefeated, despite playing many doubleheaders with only 1 sub. Columbia would have won by a larger margin, but Mike Strage confuses Ken Gary when he receives a throw-off.

1981

At 1981 Fall Regionals, UMass

External Links

• Uptown Local (men's team )
• NYPD (women's team)
• Google group