We had another great year of Ultimate "Frizzbee," thanks in part to the influx of talented, young players we had this year. U-Mass Amherst seemed to adopt our loosely-knitted "club" as its Eastern annex. That was a good thing, as 6 new U-Mass players joined us for great games and amazing plays. Between these 6 "rookies" (not really!), they had 31 games played. Thanks for joining us, and respecting our philosophy on having fun while not getting injured.

Thanks again to Tim and Nancy Walker for hosting a splendid end-of-season party. Too bad the weather didn't cooperate for one more end-of-the-season game at Sinking Horse Field. And thanks again to our fearless leader and trophy meister, Bill.

New Records:

• Fewest players per game. Bill and Brian broke the previous record of just 3 players, and somehow "played" a game by themselves. Let's hope no one tries to break this record!
• Most games in a season. We tied the record of 27 games set back in 2000.
• Most years in a row with 20+ games. Bill has somehow managed to play 20 or more games every year for the last 10 years. (See "COUGH" trophy.) The next closest players have only three 20+ game seasons in the last 10 years.
• Most games by guys named "Eric" -- or any other single name, for that matter. Erick R, Eric S and Eric K combined for a total of 50 games this year, including 8 times where all 3 played together. Maybe next year the Johns and Jons can try to beat this. It won't be easy; no group has ever come close to 50.

If only the weather cooperated to let us play just one more game, we could have had even more records:

• We could have broken the all-time record of most games in a season.
• Bill could have tied his own record for most games by any player in a season.
• We could have set a record for latest game ever played, by one day.

Notables

• We had 26 new players this year, our second-highest ever. The record is 28, set in 2002.
• Bill reclaims the FART trophy for most games played, after being off the podium the last two years, tying for 2nd place on the all-time list. Who can challenge him next year?
• Only Bill managed to complete a streak of 10 or more games in a row this year, and he did it twice. Where was everyone else? That's no excuse, people! :-)
• Wayne came back from the past and played a couple games with us, after not playing for at least 10 years.
• Players with 5 or more games played:
  • Bill 25
  • Erick 20
  • Jon 19
  • Barb 18
  • Dale 18
  • Ted 15
  • Eric 15
  • David 15
  • Eric 15
  • Melissa 14
  • Scott 14
  • Joe 13
  • Jon 11
  • Brian 11
  • Bob 9
  • Hope 9
  • Kelly 8
  • Ara 7
  • Roger 5

Unclaimed Trophies (you must be present to receive your trophy):

I believe we broke a record on the most unclaimed trophys! I blame it on the weather.

     Here's Bill's best guess (He's still looking for the napkn :-}

     BURP - Best Ultimate Rookie Player
     MVP  - Most Valuable Player
     Timeliness - For arriving during the game-to-5, with the score 4-to-4.
     Superhero - Climbing to great heights to avoid the Bozo award
     Old Timer - For once, It's not Tom M.
     Web - For finding us via a web search
     Fashion - Love those purple shorts!
     Hero - For finding us the Tewksbury field
     No Show Loser Award - we had a tie for this!

     Here's what Bill remembers!

     Best supporting spouse
        Janet received a mosquito repelling armband for not
        only bringing the kids, but playing 'bee too!  Yeah,
        I know she's always played, but, there's a subtle
        connection since Jessica always wants to play "mosquito".

     Bozo of the Year
        Roger received a rubber chicken due to an email he
        sent at 3:00 pm one frizzbee day.  Yes, at 3:00 pm
        he floated the question "Due to the questionable weather,
        should we switch from the beach to the field?"  The
        resulting confusion put 4 players in Tewksbury, 3
        players in Seabrook, and, not enough for a game in either.

     FART Envy
        Dale received a can of beans.  Throughout the first 80% of
        the season, Dale had near perfect attendance.  Clearly, he
        was anxious to waltz through the rest of the season, go to
        the Finale Party, and bring the trophy back home!  Then,
        poor Dale got a job, ..sat at a desk, ..ate airline food, 
        and, ended up pulling a muscle.  There's some lesson here.

     FART 
        Bob earned the coveted Frequent Attendance Record Trophy.
        Bob's always one of the top contenders.  For the next year,
        his mantle can show off our equivalent of the Stanley Cup.