Last weekend, the Bowdoin Ultimate Frisbee Team traveled into enemy territory?Waterville, Maine?to play at Sectionals. The tournament began on Saturday with clouds and storms moving in, foreboding signs indeed. Much like the weekend, "Stoned Clown" began with some disturbances of its own.
The Clown fell behind 5-0 against the University of Maine-Farmington in its first game of the day. At halftime, the Clown faced a 7-3 deficit and a moment of truth. Motivation came from senior captains Free "Willy" Church and Patrick "Theodore" Mahoney, and, in front of a huge crowd of Polar Bears who made the trip to Waterville, Bowdoin scored the next seven points.
Michael "Snatch" LoBiondo '06 and Matthew "Rabbit" Murchison '07 fought through the cobwebs of Friday night to bring Bowdoin the laurels.
"UMF came out really hard and surprised us," said Church, "before our defense really turned it on and shut them down. We had more blocks in that game than I can remember in any other."
In the end, the Clown left with a 13-9 victory and a much-needed boost of confidence. Unfortunately, the horizon remained cloudy, and raindrops began to fall on Colby College. Next came Dartmouth-A, an old Clown arch-nemesis.
As the mist turned to torrents, Bowdoin fell quickly behind and never really got back into the game, falling 13-2. The sidelines, however, never lost form and terrorized Dartmouth's fearless spirited line from start to finish.
"A good frisbee cheer is competitive enough to strike fear into the heart of even the most seasoned player," says senior Andrew "KNUTZ" Fischer, "but friendly and funny enough to let them know that you love playing against them."
After the drubbing at Dartmouth's hands, Bowdoin found itself in a familiar position against the "Orange Whip" from Bates College: behind. Lack of focus and casual defense put the Clown behind 7-6 at half to their Lewiston rivals.
However, as with UMF, Church and Mahoney rallied the troops and limited Whip to one point in the second half. After spending much of the day diving for the disc, Avery "Houdini" Ash '05 made an incredible catch late in the game to break Whip's back. Theo "Powdah" Salter '07 and first years Alden "Stiffy" Galston, Silent Bob, and Alex "Chun Li" Bettigole helped to turn the tide on defense.
After dispatching quickly with the UNH's B-side squad on Saturday, the Clown went home for some much-needed rest and a good measure of drying out. Meanwhile, however, Clown-B, Bowdoin's "second" team continued to battle. Having lost tough games against UNH-A, Dal, Colby, and Dartmouth-B, Bowdoin-B stayed the course even as the rain poured down. Captain Adam "Buster" Caldwell '06 rallied the troops for their fifth game of the day in worsening conditions. Layout after layout, cut after cut, the young Clowns struggled against the elements and their opponents, but it wasn't to be. Clown-B fell 7-6 in a game called on account of weather.
"While we didn't put up big numbers," said Caldwell, "we had good flow and everyone played well as a team. Probably most importantly, we had a most excellent time. All I know is, I'm ready to dry out and warm up next to that new guy, Ian Kile."
Clown-A, on the other hand, returned on Sunday with British teen-pop ultimate frisbee sensation, Mark "Fluuuuuffer" Krempley '06. Fischer extolled the virtues of his young charge: "Having Krempley back from dreary old England was like having the sword Excalibur...totally sweet." Murchison agreed, "He makes us a lot better, as does our new fight song: Raffi's 'Bananaphone.' It sure beats Chick Boyd." Indeed, with these added weapons in their arsenal, the Clown ran over UMaine-Orono, 13-2.
Next was UNH-A and a chance to avenge the B-team's Saturday loss. Raffi blasting, clothes drying, and rain falling, the Clown stampeded into its final match of the tourney, brimming with confidence. Like the mud season rains, the Clown fell hard early. Behind 7-4 at half, Bowdoin's finest struggled to break their opponent's zone defense, although first-year sensations Ben "Wonder" Stormo, Zander "Raymond" Abbot, and Jesse "Rodeo" Drummond shone as deep threats. In the end, Bowdoin rallied to push UNH, but their best efforts fell short, 13-9.
"We still seem to have Maine pretty much under control," said Church, "but New Hampshire is another story entirely."
What next, for this gregarious band of brothers, you ask? "KNUTZ" Fischer reports that, "Next, the Clown plans to use our skills to take from Bowdoin to give to the Portland Housing Authority (at our charity IM tournament)... you know... just like Robin Hood, but with frisbees instead of bows and arrows." Email fchurch@bowdoin.edu to play this Sunday afternoon, May 1.