Champe

There is a way of looking at ultimate that I often neglect.  Ultimate is a people sport.  We play and fall in love with this sport because of the people we encounter through it.  If I were to create a list of my favorite people in world my family would be the only non-frisbee exceptions.  Channeling this mojo at the end of a season brings a desire to write about my friends, a desire to say something about how meaningful interacting with them was, especially those who I am parting ways with. 

A year ago I wrote a post about Ian and Ben, but ended up throwing it away because I felt I couldn’t do them justice in a single blog post.  Ian turned NUT into a safe house for those on the voyage of self-discovery and Ben relentlessly demanded NUTs best.  These two forces worked together to create some fantastic things.  I tried to write a post about Walden in 2010, instead I ended up making shirts.  I tried to write a post for Kennedy in 2012, which is still sitting in my drafts folder.  Ultimately I feel that trying to express how I feel or explain what someone meant to a program is doomed to undervalue the contribution.  This time I have decided I will share memories as a way of preserving them.

My memories of Alex Champe:

I was at an early NUT practice and noticed everyone calling this kid Champe, I thought man that is a cocky nickname.  Little did I know his name is “Champe” even less did I know he is way cockier than nicknaming himself Champe.

I remember telling Champe that NUT isn’t going to make Nationals overnight.  First NUT has to matter in the section, then the region, and then they can contend for Nationals.  I remember him telling me that he thought NUT already mattered in the section and the region.  I almost reminded him of the Michigan-B loss at regionals the year before, but I didn’t want to incite him.

I remember wanting Champe to play OLine with Ben.  Champe has some DLine is best mentality that I still don’t understand.  There was this mentality in 2013 that DLine gets breaks and breaks win so the glory is on the DLine, but if your OLine can’t hold than breaks are meaningless!  Anyway, Champe would get down about playing offense because all the OLine could do “was screw up” and all the DLine could do “was win”.

I remember him throwing a hammer at Chicago Invite.  I turned to Walden and said, “That was a great throw!”  Walden replied, “no one was guarding the receiver.”  Good point Walden.  The next day Champe had to play OLine because of some injuries; he didn’t like it and sat on a bucket with his head in his hands.  He didn’t come onto the field when I called him.  When I asked him what was hurting he said, “nothing I just don’t want to play.”

I remember Kennedy beating the snot out of Champe at Huck Finn.  Champe was intensely focused on getting Ds on Kennedy while he was cutting, Champe might have gotten a few, but once Kennedy got the disc Champe was just standing and not really marking at all.  Kennedy had a field day breaking the mark.  I left that tournament and road home with Walden.  During that car ride I formulated a plan to trick Champe into asking Walden for Frisbee advice, and then I would let Walden teach Champe the value of a good mark.

Champe studied abroad in the fall of 2013.  He came with us to Steel City Showdown.  He was a nonfactor.  With Ben, Max, and Yiding on the OLine I was seriously considering have a BK, Micky, Henry DLine.  I was actually feeling pretty good about NUTs future, and in my mind it didn’t include Champe.  Champe felt this.  When he asked me for feedback I told him what I saw, a fat kid who couldn’t play defense and liked to standle.

At Warm-Up we had our first team cream adventure.  Champe was really into it. 

There was a lot of movement in the depth chart during Warm-Up 2014.  I knew Max and Zach were going to be great and they showed that.  I remember being shocked by how much I felt I could trust returners.  I remember Ben’s flick falling apart, and I remember thinking of Yiding as the closer the DLine needed to finish out games.  Then we played UCF in the quarterfinals.  The DLine got us a few breaks but certainly not enough to be comfortable.  UCF was on our tail the whole way.  I remember Ben telling me Champe should be in.  So I put Champe in.  I’ve seen good performances by a lot of Frisbee players, but that was the first time I ever thought a NUT player could be relevant at the Nationals level.

I remember Champe getting hurt at sectionals, and the sky appropriately opening up moments later.

After the 2014 there was a lot of back and forth during the captain nominations about whether or not Champe should make it.  I almost emailed NUT saying I wouldn’t coach if Champe wasn’t a captain, but decided against making that information public.  I thought, “I want them to want the best without me leveraging it.”  If NUT had gone a different direction it would have sent a clear message that they weren’t interesting in competing and subsequently are not the kind of team I am interested in coaching.  Champe was elected captain.

2015 had the potential to be a major setback year.  I had finally gotten Champe to buy into the idea of playing OLine.  If our OLine could convert then we could get our DLine a lot of play time and we could leave games with a respectable scoreline.  At Steel City that fall the OLine put together a lot of almost clean games.  We were within a few every game and we were doing it without getting breaks.  Champe looked like a very grown up and mature player, it was early in the season but I felt the OLine was complete.

We struggled through a lot of tournaments this way.  I put a lot of pressure on Champe and the OLine as I tried to push through the DLine’s issues. 

Sunday of Sectionals we went down against UChicago.  I had no intention of going tight lines at sectionals, but Champe said he wanted to do it.  He dug us out of the hole and then buried UChicago, almost single handedly.  I drove home thinking that if that Champe showed up we’d be the best team in the region.

Champe texted me before Regionals saying he had sprained his ankle playing intramural soccer and didn’t think he should play any D points at Regionals.  On Sunday against Michigan when his team needed him most, Champe had a choice.  He could’ve sat on a bucket and told me he didn’t feel like it, or he could have pushed as hard as he could.  He chose the latter, and it was awesome.

While at Nationals I was complaining about the nature of college ultimate.  I hate how every year you start from scratch, you have to reteach a bunch of kids to throw, you have a new crop of injuries because people sat on the couch eating potato chips and then decided to try really hard at the first practice and end up hurting themselves, you have to convince cutters to practice throwing, and you have to convince handlers to move around.  Just when you finally start getting those ideas through to people they graduate and then you are stuck starting from scratch.  I think Champe fits this perfectly.  The year he become the archetypical handler for the type of offense I want to run, he graduates.  More painfully, he is a great friend who always understood me.  I already miss him.