The competition was hot Thursday at Ketchum's Atkinson Park as the Ultimate Frisbee League culminated its summer season with the annual North vs. South game.
The team from the South, hydrated by tap water and tap water alone, doused the fire of perennial contender North 15-12 just as darkness fell. For the North, the Perrier just did not arrive in time.
Setting up the story line of the watery clash, the South was short a few players, while the North was just plain short. Lonnie "Lawn Dart" Lindquist of the North offered to play for the South until reinforcements arrived from below the Mason Dixon line, a.k.a. East Fork Road.
"So, I see Lonnie goes both ways," commented an onlooker. During a post-game interview at Grumpy's, Lindquist countered by saying, "I like all kinds of water."
The fields were soft but the running was hard.
After four points the game was even. But then, a long throw to Garrett "The Bullet" Hildebrand in the end zone was plucked away at the last second by his slightly taller defender Wes "Who Me?" Southward.
This led to an eventual score by the South, and never again would the North see a lead or even a tie game as the South marched on to victory.
Still, the North pulled out all the stops in its comeback attempt. In fact, after halftime the score was often within a single point. Joel "I Want the Spirit Award NOW" Mallet threw the meanest, toughest pulls of the match, slicing backhands that rose at least 1,000 feet in the air and came down with such force that they dug holes almost to China in the turf.
Sunny "Break the Mark" Poppler braved The Corner of Death to score on Christl "Wooden Clogs" Holzl, who did not get beat without a fight as she laid it out on defense in an attempt to knock the disk out of play.
Todd Dunham made several lay out catches to keep his team from drowning in Perrier-soaked errors. Bill "Taco" Sherrerd roared and stalked and shook his fist a lot.
It all was to no avail.
The South was more than the North could handle, in part thanks to cameos by aces Eric "Mr. Eric, not Mr. Rogers" Rogers, Jamon "I know EXACTLY where I am at all times" Frostenson, and John "I Am The" King. Their height, skill and general handsomeness put the nail in the coffin next to the Corner of Death—and the South rose again 15-12.
Lonnie "Lawn Dart" Lindquist apparently can drink any kind of water when he plays Ultimate Frisbee. Photo by
