1997 Worlds

[Commentary by Joe Seidler]

Marcia and I were there Tuesday-Thursday and saw 6 games. They had already played 4 games on Sunday and Monday beating the Bombers (JAP), Lanceros (VEN), Boulder Beer (USA) and Loaded (CAN) by wide margins. The weather was perfect, and the fields were generally good. It was a great event with a huge turnout of some 2,000 athletes with 50 Open teams, 30 Womens teams and 20 Masters teams from around the world. UBC is a very large, beautiful campus about 15 minutes from downtown Vancouver.

The Condors were ranked 27th coming in, but they quickly showed they were much better. With only 13-14 players, they were a bit thin. Steve Dugan was letting his knees heal; so he played a little the first two days, but then never played again. So Steve became the full time sideline captain, always with his clipboard in hand.

The first game on Tuesday was against Snapple (USA), and the Condors won 18-11. Then they played the Red Lights from the Netherlands and won 18-13. Both were good games, but the Condors definitely seemed the stronger team.

On Wednesday they played the Nomads (CAN) and Ring of Fire (USA). Both games were close in the first half, but then the Condors pulled away and won 14-10 and 16-9, respectively. Despite their small squad, the Condors players were each stepping up and making great plays when it counted.

The team had started something interesting whenever a timeout was called. The players on the sideline for that play would go on the field and form a line between the Condors and their opponent and give them the ‘evil spirit’. I don’t know how it started, but when they kept winning I think they decided to keep it up. Who knows... maybe voodoo works!

By Thursday they were getting pretty tired, and Jay Higgins had to leave after Wednesday's games due to a work commitment. They beat the Altar Boys (CAN) 18-12 in the morning, but when they played Double Happiness (who had 25 players) on Thursday afternoon (essentially quarterfinals), the Condors had an uphill battle. The score quickly went to 5-0 with the Condors behind. But they never lost their composure and came back to 8-6. They went into half-time down 10-7. The second half was the only time in the tournament they ran out of gas. We left that night for Victoria thinking they were done and had placed at least 8th with a record of 11 wins and 1 loss. But the team wasn’t satisfied, and they played Friday with the other quarterfinal losers to determine 5th-8th places. They beat Saucy Jack (it's a long story, but Andy Crews was playing on SJ at Worlds) and the Swedish team to wind up 5th in the tournament. Quite a feat!

With Andy Crews and Ryan Yarbrough on the team this Fall, and a healthy Steve Dugan, the Condors will be a National Champion contender this year. I hope someone figures out how to hold a reunion with the alumni we've found to help support them this year on their quest to #1.

Now for the fun stuff. Two good stories came out of Worlds for the Condors. The first had to do with hormones. The Seattle women’s team, Verge, entered the tournament late and had to be split up among the dorms. A few of them were put on the floor with the Condors. We found out later that they had noticed the good looking men. During one of the Condors games on Wednesday, Marcia was sitting next to these women and got to talking to them. When they found out that Marcia was the mother of one of the Condors, they quickly began quizzing her about the Condors’ ages, girl friend status, etc. By the end of the game, we were all friends. They even came to some of the Condors games later.

That evening while everyone was taking showers before going to Jamie’s parent’s house (that’s the next story), someone asked the women if they wanted to come too. Guess the answer. By the end of the tournament, a few close relationships were budding. For more details ask James, Steve, Todd or Jason.

There were a number of parents at the games. In addition to Marcia and me, James’ Dad, Win’s parents and Jamie’s parents also came to quite a few of the games. Jamie’s parents live in Vancouver and invited the team and the parents to their house Wednesday evening for a barbecue. Little did we know how wonderful it would be. Their home overlooks the Vancouver bay with a large terraced back yard, and they had caught and grilled salmon for everyone. Also served were 3 types of pasta, hors d’ourves, etc. etc. etc. And Jamie’s father never stopped serving wine all night long.

After dinner, many of the guys played in the indoor swimming pool and/or the hot tub. Between the food, wine, conversation, women (4 of the Verge were there too), weather, and spectacular home and hospitality, the team truly relaxed and I think bonded a bit. Some of the guys slept over and were treated to breakfast in bed the next morning.

I’m sure I speak for everyone when I thank Jamie’s parents again for such a wonderful evening.