In 1985 the Black Tide became the official name of the UCSB Ultimate team. The rule about carrying ringers was tightened up considerably in ‘85, so we had much less talent than the year before, but the camaraderie of that team continues to this day and nearly every member went on to play 10 years or more in the Open division.

We struggled in ‘85, no doubt about it, but I’m proud to have been a part of that first purely collegiate Black Tide team, just as I’m proud of all the guys who’ve come after us. I remember making those first T-shirts in Pete Gately’s living room. They were a darn sight simpler than the works of art he went on to create for later squads, but we were such a unit that we were all there and helped out and bar-b-qued and partied during their creation. The front of the shirts were similar to today’s oil derrick-sunset idea, although they were printed by a simple homemade silk-screen. The back of the shirts had a silhouette of a guy laying it out [rumored to be Greggo though there is some dispute as to whether Greggo ever layed it out - sorry Greg] and said "Watch For It! Black Tide."

Regionals were held in Santa Barbara, and I can still remember the disappointment of losing an all-important game that would’ve allowed us to go to Nationals. We had the disc and needed only to score to win, but a drop in the end zone and fast break by the other guys knocked us out. Ouch.


Memory from Mark Alexander on missed point at end of Regionals:

It was at the end of the game, and we had marched up field against a strong team. We needed a score to win. One of our players made a cut to the right side of the endzone creating distance between him and his defender. The thrower fired a rather fast shot, he jumped up, tried a two handed pancake catch, only to have the disc bounce off his chest. I remember the dejected look on his face after the game. We did our best to cheer him up, all grateful it hadn’t been us in his shoes; no one came down on him. We were a team of friends. It is a fine line between game star and game goat.

1985 UCSB Game Scores:

01/xx/85 U.C.Santa Barbara xx xxxxxxxxxxx xx
01/xx/85
01/xx/85
01/xx/85
01/xx/85
01/xx/85
01/xx/85
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02/xx/85 ??????
02/xx/85
02/xx/85
02/xx/85
02/xx/85
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03/xx/85 ??????
03/xx/85
03/xx/85
03/xx/85
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SECTIONALS:
04/xx/85 ??????
04/xx/85
04/xx/85
04/xx/85
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REGIONALS:
05/xx/85 U.C. Santa Barbara ?? ??
05/xx/85 ?? U.C. Santa Barbara ??
05/xx/85 ?? U.C. Santa Barbara ??
05/xx/85 ?? U.C. Santa Barbara ??