<News from the field>

(Note to the reader from the blogmaster: Below is a short synopsis, written by Josey. I have highlighted a couple paragraphs for your reading convience so you don't elect not to read it because of how short it is)

Ghetto Force entered the fall's first tournament (or "turntament" as
some may say) with a unique challenge to overcome. Several of the
team's seasoned veterans were unable to play for Ghetto due to a
previous engagement with Dayton's premier Club Ultimate team,
"Enigma". This left the team with only two players (Zach Kaylor and
Brian Jones) with more than a year of college ultimate experience
under their proverbial belts. Nonetheless, Ghetto came into the
weekend with one thing on its collective mind; pure domination.

Ghetto Force began the tournament/turnament taking on the first of
three Division 2 foes; Rocket Oxen of Case Western. A very formidable
wind created a point trading scenario for the first half hour or so of
the game, until Ghetto decided to string together by far the best
three point stretch of the weekend and potentially the entire fall
season. After scoring downwind to take a one point lead, Ghetto pulled
upwind. After a turnover/turntover by Case, Kaylor swung the disc to
Jones on the right side of the field. With coach Evan Corcoran
standing just yards away on the side line, Jones summoned some of the
alumn's handling greatness and released an upwind huck that few would
dare attempt. The throw sliced cleanly through the wind, flattening
out and descending gently in the back corner of the end zone to the
outstretched hand of Blue Chip recruit Patrick Kaufmann. A victory cry
of "Crab Cakes and Football!!" was unleashed, and Ghetto celebrated
it's first upwind break of the day. However, much more exuberant and
fanatical celebrating was soon to follow, and for very good reason.

Not 40 seconds after the Jones/Kaufmann connection, Ghetto pulled
downwind to their now shaken foes. The fear which Ghetto was
instilling quickly became evident, as the first handler swing pass
Case threw sailed over the intended players head and high into the
air. With the look of greatness in his eyes, Zach Kaylor summoned the
Ultimate lineage which flows through his veins and darted towards the
disc as it quickly descended towards the ground in the opponents end
zone. With the disc angling away from him and just inches from the
ground, the son of Ghetto Force's founder threw his body forward in
hopes of completing one of the greatest plays a Ghetto member has made
since his father crafted the team so many years ago. A split second
after Kaylor leaped, time stood still. With his body completely
parallel with the earth, Zach clasped his hand around the lip of the
disc only centimeters above the grass. The clouds above opened, and a
choir of Ultimate angels descended on the field to celebrate the
completion of one of the most phenomenal plays that can be made in a
competitive game of ultimate; a layout Callahan. While the events
described in the previous sentence may be a bit dramatized, the play
was freaking awesome. Many players wait their whole lives for the
chance at any sort of Callahan, let alone a layout in the first game
of the season. Understandably, pandemonium ensued.

After the Callahan celebration subsided, Ghetto prepared for another
attempt at an upwind break. After a very solid pull, Ghetto's other
Blue Chip recruit Mark Fedorenko lived up to his first name by putting
on a phenomenal mark and forcing another handler turnover/turntover by Case.
Marky Mark then picked up the disc and tossed it to the Callahan Man
himself, Zach Kaylor, for Ghetto's third straight point and their
second upwind break of the day. Case called timeout in an attempt to
regroup, but it was too late. The momentum from this greatness-filled
three point stretch carried Ghetto to an impressive 13 - 8 victory to
start the day.

In the next game Ghetto took on a slightly more formidable opponent in
Ram Jam from the College of Wooster. Even so, Ghetto put forth another
impressive performance, with the new recruiting class making quite an
impression. Mark Fedorenko proved to be as skilled on both offense and
defense as any opposing veterans the team saw all weekend. Patrick
Kaufmann was a deep threat that opponents simply could not deal with,
using his freakishly lankly build to great effect. Great performances
were not limited to these experienced freshmen however. Ragen "Iceman"
Frost displayed a tremendous understanding of cutter movement and
defensive positioning, all while dealing with a sickness whose
symptoms lead this commentator to conclude that he has a contracted a
case of the Black Plague. Details to follow. Famous rap artist Pete
Larkin also delivered an outstanding cutting performance, even with
some sever injuries to the back of his hands that reportedly were the
result of walls getting in the way of his moving fist. All of these
stellar efforts along with the veteran leadership of Kaylor and Jones
propelled Ghetto Force to a thrilling 10 - 9 victory over Wooster.

Ghetto was left with one more task for the day: Take down the Athens
Bulldogs of Ohio University. While Ohio's top tier players were
competing in the D1 part of the tournament/turnament, Ghetto was still
ready to face a tough opponent. Ohio University is a perennial
powerhouse in the East Plains section, nearly knocking off the ever
dominant Ohio State at last spring's College Sectionals. Ghetto knew
their opponent would be well coached, an expectation which was well
met. The Ohio game was the first time during the day that Ghetto was
forced to contend with a zone defense. With a group of largely
inexperienced cutters and just 3 experienced handlers, this proved to
be quite a test for the young team. However, Ghetto was well up to the
challenge. Red-shirt freshman Josh Weitz quickly mastered the proper
positioning when cutting in a zone offense. Thanks in part to his
blazing speed, and in part to his heads-up field vision, handlers were
routinely able to find hit Josh through holes in cup and get him the
"ball-ball-ball" quite frequently. Ghetto cruised in its final game of
the day, winning 12 - 6 and completing a perfect 3 - 0 record. It also
must be mentioned that newbie handler Brian Walsh caught what was
clearly the grab of the day (minus Zach Kaylor's Callahan of course),
by securing a disc that thanks to odd winds ended up on his lower
back/buttocks region while he was most of the way through falling over
forwards. He was subsequently given a gold star sticker and a Capri
Sun juice packet for his efforts.

With a very exciting day one in the books, Ghetto returned/returnt home to UD
to relax, and many enjoyed a cinematic adventure entitled "Hard Ticket
to Hawaii," which reportedly won the academy award for Best Movie Ever
Made.

Day 2 recap coming soon.