The ultimate Halloween showdown

ROCHESTER—Hustling isn’t easy. This was the motto for the UB club Frisbee team this past weekend, playing all their games dressed as ’70s era hustlers, wearing zoot suits, fur jackets and canes. The team was given the chance to dress up in costumes and play in the Danse Macabre ultimate Frisbee tournament at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT).

The Frisbee team is one of UB’s many serious club sports, playing in both the fall and spring, but for one weekend, throw all that out the window.

“It is a dumb, fun tournament but I love it,” said Frisbee team member Steven Bennett. “It’s meant to be taken lightly while everyone dresses up like complete goofs. The whole thing is a blast and a really good way to take away the stress of recent midterms for a weekend.”

The team went as zookeepers, bananas and Harambe for last year’s Danse Macabre.

This marks the third time the team went to the tournament. According to Bennett, a junior computer science and math double major, the team plays several games throughout the weekend but only some matchups are memorable.

The highlight game of the weekend was on Saturday as the Cortland Frisbee club came dressed up as pirates. One member of the pirate team did a bit too much pillaging the night prior, as he spent the whole game throwing up in the bushes.

“You can never be too careful with pirates, I have always said that,” Bennett said. “Definitely the deadliest opponents I have ever played in a Frisbee game, I see they have swords but we got canes so let's see what happens.”

It was an epic, swashbuckling affair as the teams exchanged long distance hammer tosses and almost nothing else.

Both teams would deflect the Frisbee in mid-air with their canes and swords. At one point, one of the UB players changed teams and proceeded to score a touchdown for Cortland.

It was a game for the ages.

Even with the pirates’ weapon advantage, the hustlers proved too much for Cortland, moving on in the prestigious tournament.

“It is wins like this that you will always keep with you. This was a win was for more than hustlers, it was for everyone,” Bennett said.

Teams are inclined to “take some liberties” with their performances as the games have a very small impact on the whole season. According to club member and junior biomedical major Nick Lenhard, these games are played almost entirely for fun.

“Sometimes you get a team that is taking this seriously and boy does that suck,” Lenhard said. “We are all here trying to have a good time and take it easy, but it just takes one team to cramp the mood. After that, the only thing to do is beat them.”

On Saturday, UB played the Clarkson club team and when they noticed that they were taking the game seriously, they proceeded to beat them so badly that no one knew the score: just that UB had won.

“This is one of the best things I’ll do the whole year. How many chances do you get to play a tournament like this?” Lenhard said.

The UB team never has an issue playing in these games as the team mentality is rather laid back. They take games seriously, but more than anything are looking to enjoy themselves. Now with the weekend over, the team is on to more traditional games. The UB Frisbee club plans to return for next year’s tournament, in brand new guises.

“Really if you have ever been around the team, it is no surprise we always do this tournament, I love it and I think the team will do as long as we can,” Bennett said.

Thomas Zafonte is co-senior sports editor at The Spectrum and can be reached at thomas.zafonte@ubspectrum.com

---