2011 Preview – Oregon State University Beavers

[stextbox id=”alert” color=”050505″ bcolor=”6cc3f8″ bgcolor=”ffffff” big=”true” image=”null”]School Name: Oregon State University
Team Name: Beavers
Captains: Timmy “Tmoney” Perston, Greg “Gbaby” Meshnik
Coaches: Kenny Faase, Andy Neill
Jersey Colors: Orange and Black
Website: http://oregonstate.edu/groups/disc/
Score Reporter
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Tell us a little about yourself. How did you get involved with Ultimate at OSU?

Timmy Perston: This is my fifth year at OSU and the first time I ever played Ultimate was on September 27th, 2006. I’m like 92% of the way through an Electrical Engineering degree here and have a real hard time doing school work with Ultimate practice four times a week. It’s tight. I started with the club because I signed up for all the clubs on campus and during my first term at OSU, I went to all of them and liked Ultimate the most because of the van trip to Chico for our first tournament of the year. That was nasty. I loved it.

What is Ultimate at your school all about?

Timmy: OSU Ultimate goes like this: Fall is dedicated to getting basic throwing, catching, offense, defense, the mark, and rules all up to snuff. We travel to three-ish tournaments and try to get fools as much playing time as possible. Winter we make “cuts” based on what we saw in the Fall. There is an A team and a B team that get sorted out of all the players. Winter is hellza turf practices and cold, zone conditioning. Travel to two or three tourneys to make sure our skills can pay the bills. Then tweak the last little bits of ultimate during the Spring and see how we weigh in against the other jerseys in our region.

How did your team do last year? What was the highlight of your season?

Timmy: Our team always, without fail, struggles to find focus after Spring Break. It mad sucks. Dudes just think they can show up casually to practice and leisurely play at tournaments like Sectionals and Regionals, but this is the most important portion of our season! Anyway, last year was crappy cause most of the tournaments we went to had weather issues and so sort of cancellation. But then at Regionals, we were all about just having fun and doing whatever you wanted on the field, and we took it to a handful of teams that ended up going to Nationals. We surprised ourselves and left with half a chub because of it.

Who is your favorite team to play against? Tell us about a memorable game.

Timmy: The Beavs have always had a thing with Chico and Humboldt, partially good and bad. It’s all smiles off the field and tons of jokes and shizz, but the game definitely gets kinda chippy and exciting. My favorite part about the Beavers is their lack of knowledge of other teams, haha. It is totally a gift and a curse, they usually don’t know who is good or notable on the other team and some of our underclassmen end up guarding guys and shutting them down just cause they play without a fear or care in the world. Memorable game was last year (2010) at Regionals against Stanford. They had beat us the day before in universe point. They didn’t want to play us again, but we made them do it. So the game ends up getting fairly serious and bitter, and we won in universe point! But the sweet part comes from the alumni of OSU. We had a pot of about $1000 waiting for us to beat Stanford at Regionals. We partied pretty hard the following weekend.

Tell us about your coaches and captains. What do they bring to your team?

Timmy: Captains have been me (Timmy), Gbaby, and Chris Hancock for the last three years. Chris Hancock graduated in his fifth year last year and hasn’t been around since. Chris Hancock and I have been playing for Rhino for several years know and have basically passed on that exact offense/defense scheme to the Beavs. Pretty easy to remember that way. Our coaches, Andy and Kenny, totally counteract each other. Both have won Nationals, at the Mixed and Masters level, respectively. Kenny is obnoxious and loud and crude and only wants people to be going deep all the time. Andy has a lot more knowledge of fundamentals and his guy doesn’t ever see the disc on O cause Andy knows when and where to guard; stuff like that. They coach, but it is a captain’s team that the coaches chime in every once in a while.

Are there players on your team who deserve consideration for Callahan, All-Region, or Freshman of the Year?

Timmy: We have talent up and down the team, but unfortunately we don’t get enough acknowledgment from the rest of the nation to have somebody get an award.

What player is most likely to make a huge play as a thrower? As a receiver? On D?

Timmy: Thrower HL: Andrew Henry
Receiver HL: Timmy Perston
D: Tim “Junior” Neal

Who’s the least athletic starter on your team? What makes him so good?

Timmy: Topher Kazanski is a fat, smoker, drinker; but for some reason the dirty dog can throw and go and show such charisma with the disc that we can’t not start him. I think that makes sence. Wouldn’t start on D, but the little tike can take guys on a tour on O.

It’s easy to see when someone throws a huge huck on gets a layout D. Who’s a player you have to watch more carefully to see how valuable he is to your team?

Timmy: Kyle “Smiles” Glidden, a pick up from a Ultimate school in Eugene, OR, Churchill High School. Very alert and smart cutter. Doesn’t take the big risks and plays conservative, textbook, 100% ball. His D is very focused and doesn’t give up anything. One of those doods on D who won’t have to mark cause his guy just can’t get open. OR, Nick “Magnon” Davis, his throws have come SO far. He used to be an overaggressive cutter, just demanding the disc all the time but couldn’t necessarily continue the next pass. But now he is a starting handler and also doesn’t take the risks; throws the hucks he knows will be completions and dumps when it’s open.

What does your team like to do on offense and on defense?

Timmy: Offense is a Horizontal with pistons in the middle of the field. Defense is gonna be junk and man and then man and junk, so confusing that the seven doods on our team don’t even know what’s what.

Has your team set any goals for this season? What are they?

Timmy: Really just maintain that focus through Spring Break and into the series. We would of course love to beat Oregon and maybe even go to Nationals, but I’d rather just see these guys feel accomplished by competing with the teams that usually beat us easily.

What has your team been doing this fall to prepare for the spring season?

Timmy: This fall has been a lot of recruiting and a lot of fundamentals of cutting and good marks. I like to play simple, do-what-you-do-well Ultimate. But all doods on our team must be able to put on a good mark and get open on offense.

What tournaments do you plan to attend in the spring? Which are you most looking forward to?

Timmy: Spring is only Sectionals and Regionals. Between those two we encourage dudes to go up to the Rhino tryout and test their skills at the club level, but also need to keep in mind their body safety. It’s easy to get hurt during this down time, haha. Last year, I went to the Rhino tryout, which is unnecessary, I’m a starter on that team, I didn’t need to be there. It was the first of like six tryouts and during the first year, I ran dead sprint into a field goal post and got a cut shin, swollen testicle, major concussion, and a severe broken collar bone. I didn’t play again until mid-August. But we still encourage guys to get better by playing harder opponents.

What does your team do to get pumped up for a big game?

Timmy: We travel to most tournaments in vans. Most of them are south of Grants Pass, OR. Two tasks, drink an entire gallon of water between leaving Corvallis and the destination, AND stop and eat a large dinner at the Grants Pass Taco Bell (GPTB). We also have cheers about Hood rats and Hoochie mamas and sex positions.

What song would you pick for the soundtrack to your team’s 2011 highlight video?

Timmy: “Face Down A** Up” – 2 Live Crew

Who’s going to win the 2011 USA Ultimate College Championships?

Timmy: Oregon will win.

Why do all Ultimate players look and act the same way?

Timmy: Ultimate frisbee is the place where very athletic, but extremely nerdy doods come to run around. We need more people thinking for themselves and caring less about what the dood in a different color jersey on the other side of the field does. Whatev though, I’m hellza cool.