2B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - April 12, 2004
CLUBSPORTSWEEKLY
MagnUM truly makes ultimate experience a blast
By SethGordon
Daily Sports Writer
What team would show up at midnight for a two-
to-three hour practice at Oosterbaan Field House?
It's actually the men's ultimate Frisbee team, maybe
not your first guess.
For those who aren't familiar with the game -
it is known as "ultimate" to those who play - it
is akin to rugby with a Frisbee, but also incorpo-
rates aspects of soccer, football, and basketball.
It's a non contact sport, played by two teams of
seven, on an area similar to that of a football
field. There are endzones on each end of the rec-
tangular field.
This simple explanation is just the beginning of
understanding ultimate, and the Michigan team.
The team goes by the nickname MagnUM, uphold-
ing a tradition in ultimate to name your team some-
thing besides the school's mascot. Seeing the
energy and dedication the players put into their
practice at the indoor facility - at 1:30 in the
morning - one gets the feeling that there is some-
thing special about this sport and this team.
The level of sportsmanship and camaraderie in ulti-
mate is so unique, it's actually built into the rules -
there are no referees in ultimate. The game is self-
policing, with players calling their own fouls.
The camaraderie in the sport is so strong that it
extends to the other team. Once the game is over,
players feel just as connected to their opponents as
they do to their own teammates.
"I played a lot of sports all throughout my life,
and I've never played a sport like this," sophomore
Dave Collins said. "You can run all day on the field
against opponents, and then hang out with them all
night, and just chill. On the field you hate them.
But then at night you have a great time. It's an awe-
RULES OF ThE.GME
Similar to f atha's kikof, ultimate begins with a
pu«t" where one team throws the disc the length of the
field The offense dvances the dis. down the fiel by
passing the disc between players. The defense attempts to
prvent the offense from advning by "marking" or cov-.
erng offensve players much hke in soccer or basketball,
A player cannot run with the disc he must establish a
aixo root and he then has 10 second to throw the disc.
If the disc;s dropped hits the ground or is caught Out
of bounds it is considered a turnover or "skult at which
si possess in ofthe disc goes to the defense and the
affense must switch to defepse,
A point is scoee ven the disc is caught in the end
one, zuch ke a toucldown catch in football, Th
actn begins 8ew with a freshputl
There are two basc p.itions in ulimantethandlers and
uttes. Hlandles usull have exelent disc skills and
control the of£ense with horizontal passingacross the
field Cue. ae simlar ta we receiversin football,
stetchihe ieldv eticly with long pass routes.
some sport."
Perhaps the aura that surrounds this team can
be understood by seeing of the diversity of the
people in the sport, all united under one common
bond. Sophomore Eron Cayedito sees this as a
definite strength.
"There's no greater variety of personalities than
there is in the sport of ultimate frisbee," he said.
MagnUM offers a unique experience to Universi-
ty students. One that they can't get on any other
team, varsity sport or not.
"What I love about this team, is that I've gotten
to travel all over the United States, to cities I never
would never go to originally," fifth-year senior Sean
Halladay said. "Boise, Boston, Baton Rouge, we're
going to Seattle, San Diego, with a group of 25 of
my best friends, in college, and basically my life,
right now. And at the end of the year we get to go
out and compete for a National Championship. I've
never played in a sport like that before."
The team has two coaches, head coach Ricky
Eickstadt and assistant coach Jonathan Brodhag,
but is run democratically. The major decisions are
made by an elected "leadership group." This group
includes both coaches and players in every class,
from freshmen to seniors.
"I don't want to run the team," Eickstadt said.
"It's their team. I'm there to provide some mentor-
ing and guidance. And I provide my 10 cents."
Ultimate is physically demanding, requiring a
great deal of stamina and conditioning. To pre-
pare, MagnUM practices and trains year round,
starting in the fall. Eickstadt actually boasts that
his team's coniditioning habits could stand up to
any varsity team on campus, short of maybe the
track team.
This past year, 100 students tried out for the team
and only 25 made the cut. Practices in the fall focus
on conditioning, and progress towards strategy and
scrimmages as the season progresses.
Ultimate offers excellent competition for students
at the club level, with a comprehensive network of
college teams around the country, and culminates in
the National Championships.
MagnUM has stepped up to the competition and
advanced to Nationals in the last five seasons, fin-
ishing in the top 10 each year.
Currently, the team is preparing for the first
round of the College Championship at the Michigan
Sectional, to be played on Saturday and Sunday.
From there, MagnUM hopes to advance to the
Great Lakes Regional Tournament, where it could
earn a sixth consecutive trip to Nationals.
ahe AiNoan i
ATH LETE OF THE WEEK
Who: Kavitha Tiperneni Sport:Women's tennis
Hometown: Galloway, Ohio Year: Senior
Why: Tiperneni extended her winning streak to 11 matches yesterday with a
victory in No. 3 singles over Indiana's Sarah Batty. Tipirneni fell behind 4-1in
the first set, but battled back in exciting fashion and disposed of Batty 6-4, 3-
6, 6-3 to keep the winning streak alive. Tiperneni
MONDAY, APRIL 12
No Events Scheduled.
TUESDAY, APRIL 13
No Events Scheduled
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14
Baseball at Central Michigan
Softball at Eastern Michigan
THURSDAY, APRIL 15
W Gymnastics NCAA Championships Preliminaries
FRIDAY, APRIL 16
Baseball vs. Illinois
Softball at Illinois
M Track/Field at Eastern Michigan Invitational
W Track/Field at Mt. SAC Relays
W Gymnastics NCAA Championships Super Six
SATURDAY, APRIL 17
W Rowing at Michigan State
W Tennis at Illinois
M Tennis vs. Purdue
Softball at Illinois
Baseball vs. Illinois
Water Polo Second Round
W Gymnastics Individual Event Finals
W Golf at Lady Boilermaker Invitational
M Golf at Kepler/Cleveland Intercollegiate
3 p.m.
3 p.m.
3 p.m.
7 p.m.
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11 a.m.
noon
noon
1 p.m.
2 p.m.
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9
Backup- chelor
Has quarterback Jesse Palmer found a new home after his stint on "The Bachelor?"
By Eric Ambinder
Daily Sports Writer
SUNDAY,.
Softball
Baseball
APRIL 18
vs. Penn State
at Iowa
noon
1 p.m.
0.
I admit it. I watched "The Bachelor" on
Wednesday. I'm the biggest New York Giants
fan at this University, and if I could deal
with the embarrassment of that playoff loss
to the San Francisco 49ers two years ago, I
can deal with Giants backup quarterback
Jesse Palmer being The Bachelor. After
mulling over the future of the franchise, I
realized Palmer's latest gaffe wasn't all that
bad - his teammates have warmed up to the
idea. Plus, with rumors of the Giants trading
up to get Eli Manning, Palmer's future as a
Giant is uncertain. And seriously, what sin-
gle man wouldn't accept such an opportuni-
ty? So, to help Jesse out (he is, after all, still
a Giant), I'll evaluate what is better: his role
as The Bachelor or his role as a quarterback.
Rating:
Memory:
Odds of Ring:
Runs from:
Heartbreak:
The field:
Biggest critic:
Depth chart:
Biggest fear:
Education:
Experience:
THE QUARTERBACK
59.8 as a quarterback
(That's horrible)
Can't remember defenses
1 in 32
300 lb. lineman each week
4-12 season with Giants last year
Giants Stadium
His boss (Giants GM Ernie Accorsi)
Backup
Sapp loves pretty boys
Political Science and
Business degrees
Four weeks (all losses)
THE BACHELOR
10.9 on ABC
(That's good)
Can't remember pretty girls' names
1 in 25
A stalker (as seen in preview)
Inevitable
25 beautiful women
Karen (he forgot her name)
Starter
Ending up with the spy. It's Jenny S!
Earning another Bachelor's degree
Six weeks (Lots of "playing" time)
Host Chris Harrison
EDGE
Bachelor
Quarterback
Bachelor
Bachelor
Push
Quarterback
Bachelor
Bachelor
Push
Bachelor
Bachelor
Push
7. Memphis 50-29
" This week: Posey kicks ball in
stands, Williams ejected. It's okay
because Grizz are playoff bound.
7. Kansas City 4-2
" Do you have Carlos Beltran on
your Fantasy team? No? Tough luck.
Yes? You're lucky, not smart.
*I
9. Houston 44-36
, Houston has problems: lost
seven of 10, waived Oakley and
could drop to eighth spot in West.
9. San Diego 3-2
-Jimmy Carter threw out the first
pitch at the $458 Million PETCO
Field. Ouch!
Stiffest competition: Kerry Collins
Final analysis: 7-2, Bachelor - It looks like Palmer should quit his day job.
f3I 8 l ~
Golfers searching for depth across the roster
By Stephanie Wright
Daily Sports Writer
Following its best tournament in
nearly three seasons - a third-place
finish at the Furman Intercollegiate two
weeks ago - the Michigan men's golf
team hoped to build on its success with
a strong showing at the Boilermaker
Invitational in West Lafayette.
But the Wolverines were confronted
with a force stronger than momentum.
Call it home-course advantage.
Despite carding a solid 54-hole score
of 901, Michigan finished 46 strokes
behind winner and host school Purdue,
placing 14th out of 18 teams.
"Whenever you're playing a tourna-
I
ment on your home course, where your
players have practiced a hundred times,
the course you play day in and day out,
you definitely have a great advantage,"
Michigan coach Andrew Sapp said.
Sophomore Christian Vozza led the
Wolverines for the second-straight tour-
nament, carding a total score of 221 to
finish in a tie for 27th overall. Freshman
Kevin Dore finished tied for 31st, one
stroke behind Vozza with a 222 total.
"Basically, we're getting two good
scores each round, but we're not getting
numbers three and four, in order to fin-
ish the round with good overall team
scores;" Sapp said.
Junior Rob Tighe, sophomore Bran-
don Duff and senior Dave Nichols
attempted to fill this role, finishing
third, fourth an.d fifth, respectively. But
uneven play over the two-day tourna-
ment prevented them from scoring as
low as they might be capable of.
Despite their inconsistency, Sapp
praised both Tighe and Nichols for
posting low scores following a rough
round. In addition to the strong play of
Vozza and Dore, Sapp believes this
ability to bounce back will help his
team for the rest of the season. Michi-
gan will also be able to make the most
of a home-course advantage of its own
when it hosts the Big Ten Champi-
onships in early May.
"I think it's a great advantage," Sapp
said. "Our golf course isn't exactly dif-
ficult, but there are lots of nuances with
the greens. If you've played on it a lot,
you definitely have an advantage."
By beating Michigan State, Iowa and
Wisconsin this weekend, Michigan has
finished ahead of five Big Ten teams
this season, one more than it beat all of
last season.
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