Chadence!

Small Packa-what?

And now without any further ado, my top 10 favorite ultimate frisbee games:

10. Iowa State Ultimate Club (ISUC) v. Massachusetts @ Spring 2005 Quarters of High Tide
This game cracks the top ten because ISUC had no business winning this game. Eight players, four rookies, Jon is injured again and in street clothes, we're heavily outmatched in skills and athleticism, but we somehow manage to beat them so bad some of their players are tearing up and others just quit playing with a couple of points left. You know you've beaten a team you aren't supposed to beat when most of the team doesn't shake hands after the game because they are too stunned.

9. ISUC v. Kansas @ Fall 2001 Sectionals in Kansas City
We lose to Kansas on double game point to end the day Saturday. Sunday, the game is much the same and I belive it comes down to double game point again. We have the disc to score 20 yards out, but there are no cuts. I call time-out on stall 9. Draw out play where Walding cuts to the back opposite corner for a hammer. I drop it in there for the W. This game also featured Brad Caruth and Shawn Walding running full speed for a disc discussing which one of them would layout and make the grab.

8. Party Truck v. Kansas? @ Mason Dixon
I can't honestly remember who we played in the semis and finals of Mason Dixon, but I remember how fun it was and certain players on the team. Eric "Maddog" LeBlanc, Jon Staron, Brad Caruth, Terrell Hoagland, Austin Gangel, Matt from Tennessee, Jos, Eon, Vivek from WashU. It was a great group of guys who played hard and partied hard. We won B-division finals, taking ninth out of 40 some teams after an original seeding of 27 or something. Then we drove by the A-finals shouting Party Truck slogans and the like, receiving mixed applause, some people cheering, some throwing beer, some saluting us with simply one finger. But you knew everybody there was sad that there weren't a part of something so mythical as Party Truck.

7. ISUC v. IHUC @ Spring 2000 Sectionals in Nebraska
The only loss on the list, we lose this game 15-16. An ISUCer drops the score that would have made it 15-14 good guys and two passes later IHUC is scoring to make it 15-14 them and we still have to go upwind to win. This was the last game of the day, though, and there were a good 100+ people on the sidelines watching the game, mostly cheering for the underdog ISUC. It was my first, but not last experience playing before a large crowd.

6. ISUC v. UNC-Wilmington @ 2002 Beasterns Final
Remember green hat, you can't do that. Okay, it's only Beasterns, but it was the first tournamen ISUC had ever taken first place in and we beat rival Minnesota in the semis and former national powerhouse Wilmington in the finals. Wilmington had never lost at Beasterns, either. The sidelines are definitely split with many alumni and friends on the home side and a number of teams cheering for ISUC on the away side. We take a quick 6-2 lead in a very clean game. Then, Mike Gerics returns. The game quickly turns very ugly. We still take half, but not by much. UNCW storms back and we only lead 12-11. The game is so ugly that I call a timeout to ask the team if we should finish the game or not. It was the first time that I was just ready to walk away from a game and not care. I suppose it would have been an even bigger slap in the face than what we ended up doing, which was win 15-11. Owan caught a tipped pass and threw a 10 yarder to me for the winning score. I remember trying to spike the disc so hard it would break and was a little disappointed that it didn't vaporize or something, but quickly forgot. Riding back to the hotel singing to the Flaming Lips "Yoshimi vs. the Pink Robots" was an experience I will never forget. And I believe I was sitting next to The Chad Larson. Oh yeah, and UNCW tailspins into the dark ages of ultimate. They haven't been the same since they lost. Look it up.

Okay, the top five later, this is taking too long.