COURTESY SÜPERFLY Süperfly hopes to reassert its national dominance at this weekend's Yale Cup.

Frisbees fly all over town at Ultimate tourney

Mike Gordon, MC '00, has a unique way of conceptualizing how the men's Ultimate team goes about competing against other squads—he calls it "stealing the furniture." This phrase refers to a group of thieves who broke into and entered a house and did nothing but replace all of the home's furniture with exact copies of what had already been there. "We like to sneak up on people, and take them by surprise," Gordon said.

Currently ranked 40th in the nation, the Yale team (a.k.a. Süperfly) will need to catch its rivals off guard if it hopes to capture the Yale Cup in this weekend's two-day competition on Sat., Apr. 8 and Sun., Apr. 9. The Yale Cup is the oldest Ultimate Frisbee tournament in the nation, and this year has expanded to feature 25 men's and 15 women's teams from as far away as Texas and Louisiana. But Süperfly's toughest competitor will hail from close to home—the Brownian Nation, a team comprised of Brown and Rhode Island School of Design students, is the top-ranked squad in the nation this year, and defeated Yale last year in the finals of the Yale Cup.

Last year was a banner year for Süperfly—the team qualified for nationals and ended up ranked 12th in the nation. However, 10 of the team's top players, several of whom were acknowledged to be among the nation's best players, were seniors. Losing them to graduation led to a tough fall season (7-16) in 1999. But the players don't see this downswing as permanent. "This is supposed to be a rebuilding year for us, but that's a lot of crap," co-captain James Click, MC '00, said. "We have as good a shot as anybody to go to nationals. We just need to prove to everybody that we can compete."

According to Click, Süperfly's goal in the Yale Cup is to reach the finals, as they did last year. "The Yale Cup is definitely the highlight of our season," Blake Greene, MC '02, said. "This year we're out to prove what we can do. We're just starting to get it together."

Men's Ultimate

Record: 13-13 Recent Results: 2-4 at College Easterns. Coming Up: Sat., Apr. 8 and Sun., Apr. 9, Yale Cup at the Intramural Fields.

But co-captain Josh Kaplowitz, ES '01, acknowledged that it would be difficult for the team to beat Brown. "We're not expecting to win," he said. "Brown is possibly the best team in the country. While we think we can be competitive with them, it's not likely anyone can beat them." Click was less pessimistic. "Brown is a very good team," he said. "But there's no such thing as an unbeatable team."

Süperfly has one ace in the hole that may push it into the finals—Andrew Mackie, BR '99, ARCH '01, returned to the team last weekend for his fifth and final year of eligibility. Mackie was one of the three superstars from last year, and his teammates hope that having him back will help immensely. "He makes a huge difference," Click said. "He changes the game and gives us a deep threat."

Süperfly is lucky to have Mackie back, but team members are praying to the weather gods for even more luck this weekend. If there is standing water on the Intramural Fields, where the games are to be played, Yale will prohibit the teams from playing so as not to damage the fields. Click said that the tournament would then be relocated to an off-campus location, but this result would be far from ideal. Gordon felt that this policy is indicative of Yale's frequent mistreatment of club teams. "They've kicked us off the fields for youth soccer leagues," he said. "Last week they kicked us off for graduate school intramurals. Yale doesn't respect club sports."

But most Süperfly members, though they acknowledge that they often feel like second-class citizens in the Yale sports community, would not trade their club status for varsity, even if given the choice. One of the primary attractions of being a club is not having a professional coach, according to players. "If your coach is going to have you run 10 sprints, you want him right there running next to you," Gordon said. Click agreed, saying that he would enjoy the additional money and supplies that would come with varsity status (Yale currently gives Süperfly $500 per year for all of its expenses), but he would dislike increased administrative interference with the team. "We want to have our cake and eat it too," he said.

Currently, no Ultimate team in the nation has been accorded varsity status. Several teams have recently hired professional coaches, including Brown, whose coach happens to be an ex-Yale Ultimate team member, Nathan Wicks, MC '95. Click admitted that Wicks' position on the opposite sideline would provide extra motivation for Süperfly this weekend.

But Süperfly does not need much more motivation to get them fired up for this weekend's competition. Greene and Gordon felt that this weekend would be very important in setting the stage for nationals. "We could either really turn it on and surprise some people, or we could just hold to what we've done this year and stay in neutral," Gordon said. Come Saturday, Süperfly will be hoping for good weather so they can pull off some surprises—and maybe even steal some furniture.

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