Congratulations on another fine season of Ultimate! We just completed our 37th year (our 16th at the Tewksbury field), and as usual I have a wealth of attendance statistics to share with you.
First, thanks to Jeff and Daniela for hosting the end-of-season party, and to Biller and Pete for hosting the annual awards ceremony (you must be present to win, but you really don't want to miss this regardless). Also thanks to Eric for his continued top-notch photography, a slideshow of which was another highlight of the party.
We had strong attendance this year, helped by just one rainout and hardy players showing up to play 3 games in the rain. Like last year, we scheduled a whopping 30 games (including 3 Thursdays), and we tied the all time record for most games in a season: 29.
It's worth mentioning that we have several records from 2016 that I claim are unbreakable. An astonishing 12 overall (not individual) records were set in 2016, including these that are unlikely to ever be broken:
· Total player appearances: 822
· Average players per game: 28.3
· Regular players (5+ games): 52
· Players with 20 or more games: 16
· Most games with 30 or more players: 14
What's even more remarkable, is that we continue to set new runner-up numbers for many of the records set in 2016. This year was no exception, where we had these tops and near-tops:
· Tied for highest number of games (29).
· 2nd highest total player appearances (733).
· 2nd highest average players per game (25.3).
· Tied for 2nd highest number of players with at least 20 games (12).
· 2nd highest number of players at a field game (35)
· 2nd highest number of players with 10 or more games in a row (9). Sorry Kevin and Dave, you only got 9 in a row.
· 2nd highest number of games with 20 or more players (23).
· 2nd highest number of games with 30 or more players (9).
· 2nd highest number of consecutive games in a season without a rainout (23). The statistician had to work overtime for some of these more obscure stats!
· 2nd highest number of players in the first game of the season (25).
· 3rd highest number of players (102).
· 3rd highest number of regular players, with at least 5 games (43).
· 3rd highest number of players in the final game of the season (23).
Congratulations to the 12 players with 20 or more games this year (that's 7 more than last year!): Roger S, Dave, Tinu, Kevin C, Eric, Mitchell, Dale, Deanna, Pete, Elliot, Bill and Becky, and the 9 "streakers" who played at least 10 games in a row: Alan, Tinu, Mitchell, Dale, Deanna, Pete, Elliot, Biller, and Becky.
I'm thrilled to report that the winner of this year's Frequent Attendance Record Trophy did so with a record-breaking year of perfect 29-for-29 attendance, the highest ever!! Becky is only the second player to have 100% attendance in a season, and nobody has made 29 games before. Congratulations, Becky!.
Becky also has a multi-season streak of 32 games in a row, good for 3rd highest ever. She's within reach of overtaking Pete's 36 in a row for 2nd place, but still quite a ways away from Bill's record of 54. Bill's streak was once thought unbeatable, but if Becky plays 23 games in a row starting next year, that record falls!
Dave continued to break his own record for oldest regular player, now at age 70. Dave made 21 games, tied for his second most ever. He is now just 3 seasons shy of breaking Tom Merrick's record of oldest player in any game (72.9). Dave can beat this by playing in any game in 2022. Go Dave!
In addition to the 43 regular players who played at least 5 games this year, there are two "ultra' attendance categories. "The most elite category is "Iron Man (or Woman)", where you have to play at least 20 games for 5 years in a row. Only 4 players have accomplished this, and only 2 are currently Iron Men: Bill and Pete. But watch out for Becky: she is just 2 seasons away from becoming the 1st Iron Woman and 5th ever of any gender. And her season average of 22.8 games is the highest of all active players!
The other elite category of "Super Consistent" players are regular players who have played at least 100 games and averaged at least 10 games/year. Although Kurt played his 100th game this year, he is not a regular player so does not qualify. After qualifying last year with 107 total games, Kevin F dropped off the list since he is no longer a regular player. I'm pleased to announce that there are 2 new Super Consistent players as of this year: JJ (at 102 games) and Roger S (101 games). Congrats to both! We now have 14 super-consistent players, shown below. Note that Dave just passed Roger B, while Pete flew by Richard.
Below is a list of the 43 regular players with at least 5 games. Notable changes include Mitchell's 21 game increase this year (an unofficial record, breaking Dale's 19 games in 2012), Alan's 17 games as a "rookie" (tied for 4th highest ever), Ian's jump of 16 games, Dale's and Hope's jump of 14, John's jump of 13, Deanna's jump of 12, and Jonathan, Erick, and Leslie each increasing by 10. In the "Where did they go?" department, Peter dropped 18 games (tied for 2nd worst ever), Sam V and Kevin F -16, Sandy -15, Kit -13, and Nick & Nathan both -11. Super inconsistent?
Speaking of super inconsistent, Mike E makes claim to a dubious "Low Show" record, not fully fact checked but too "good" not to be true: a record for the most number of consecutive years of non-regular play. This refers to a "streak" of at least 1 but less than 5 games per year. After being a regular player in 2006-07, Mike has now played 12 years in a row as non-regular player. Most ever? I don't know, but sounds right. Any challengers?
One last unofficial record: the longest gap in attendance was 17 years, set from 1995 to 2012 by John Cortese. That "gap record" was shattered this year when John Nelson returned after almost 21 years (6/9/98 to 5/7/19). If that wasn't enough, Curt Hunnewell showed up at a beach game this year after 15 years of absence, claiming the #3 spot. I don't encourage going away for such long gaps, but it sure was nice to be reunited with players from the "old" days!
2019 Regular Players:
1
Becky 29
2 Bill 27
3 Elliot 27
4 Pete 25
5 Deanna 25
6 Dale 23
7 Mitchell 23
8 Eric 22
9 Kevin C 22
10 Tinu 22
11 Dave 21
12 Roger S 20
13 Bob 18
14 Roger B 18
15 Alan 17
16 Dan 17
17 Ian 17
18 JJ 17
19 Jonathan 16
20 Jeff A 16
21 Hope 14
22 Nate 14
23 Richard 14
24 Erick 13
25 John 13
26 Ashley 12
27 Leslie 11
28 Cordelia 10
29 Sam 10
30 Collin 10
31 Scooter 9
32 David 8
33 Steven 8
34 Jeff N 8
35 Kailey 6
36 Chas 6
37 Dean 6
38 Nick 6
39 Matt 5
40 Philip 5
41 Eric 5
42 Kevin S 5
43 Tony 5
See you next season, if not before!
-Stat Man
