Callahan Redux

While Nick Lance of course walked away with the Callahan, Alex Thorne showed his caliber in the finals. No two ways about it, he crushed Wisco with his throws. All props to Pitt's impressively athletic defense, they made it nearly impossible for Wisconsin to reset the disc. Pitt's downfield defenders relentlessly pressured all unders, knowing Tyler would bail them out on the deep looks (he was at least 50/50 in the air on O and D, and against a team like Wisco that's an amazing stat. Dude is a monster). Pitt's overall athleticism, defense, and ruthless cutting are top notch.

But at the end of the day, without Thorne that game is a dogfight, and I think Wisco would take it with their experience. But Thorne's throws were so on point that Wisco never had a chance to build their characteristic defensive momentum. Zone on a windy day? Looks like fifty yard bladey flick hucks to his wide open brother with no chance to the defense. On a day when Wisco's bread and butter hucks were not clicking, Thorne was nearly perfect. As shown when other Pitt players put it up big, he was the only one on either team with the composure to put it up big repeatedly with success.

Almost more impressive than Thorne's hucks was his demeanor as the game approached its final moments. On the end line up big, close to the win, Thorne did not try and force the disc into the endzone with a tough but flashy throw. He trusted the same system that got him there, swung the disc unselfishly to his teammates until a cut was wide open. And throwing the final point to his freshmen brother? Icing on the cake, cementing Pitt's multi season road to finals as a narrative the ultimate community will not forget. And the best part? Pitt is not even close to done. With all the press their young players have deservedly gotten, cumulative in a national title, with hard work and dedication to the program Pitt (and Oregon for that matter) can and should stay in the mix of title contenders for the foreseeable future.

And then we have Wisconsin. The Hungry Hungry Hodags, who have now been denied two years in a row from taking home the gold. The nature of being a casual fan of ultimate is that we follow a more abstract notion of our favorite teams than fans of more recognized sports. And given that coupled with ultimate culture, it is almost trite to follow one of the perennial contenders. But the Dags play with a heart that is both fire and ice, and they are a fun team to root for. This season and last, they defied expectations and made it to finals at the expense of early season favorites. The current Hodag squad now has a monkey on their back of sorts, only to be thrown off with a finals victory. I have no doubt they will approach next season with renewed dedication to bring home the gold to Madison again.

Congrats to Pitt for the win and Nick Lance for the Callahan. Well deserved and well fought.
I may have spent the better part of the finals game yelling profanity at my laptop screen, but despite dispatching my favorite team in finals Pitt won my heart with Alex's relentless awesomeness. Meanwhile, we have the upcoming club season, and another Callahan winner on an always hungry Chain Lightning. Should be a good one, a worlds year with experimental tournaments, the US Open, AUDL champs, you name it. It is an exciting time to be an ultimate player. Me, I'm just hoping the shakeup in the mixed division leaves our section with the same number of bids as last year. With the Hudson Valley/Connecticut merger and Doober's Albany liaisons, regionals looks ripe for the picking and this team, and season, is looking to be a lot of fun.