The 1998 Carolina Kudzu Coed Classic was a resounding success. While the tournament was originally planned to accommodate 20 teams on 8 fields, the late notification of the tournament (pending an announcement of Mid-Atlantic Regionals) brought in only 15 bids, which within a couple of days of the tourney dropped to 13. Eight fields were excessive, and the actual number of fields dropped to 6, all of which were lined, including a mid-field line and 20-yard brick marks.

The complexity of scheduling for 13 teams prompted the use of a "scramble" format, where each game was a contest to win or retain the higher seed. Three teams held the coveted #1 seed on Saturday: Red Kudzu held off three challengers before succumbing to the DC team Chac Mool, which with tired legs after 4 successive games fell in the fifth round to Reflexa which was just coming off a bye.

The only seeming glitch in the day’s events was a prodigious thunder storm which blew over Holly Springs at about 11:30. Lightning streaked across the sky for 30 minutes, putting on a searing, retina burning display of fireworks that was seen even through the fogged windshields of the cars to which everyone had retreated. A quick captain’s meeting at 12:15 enabled a revision of round durations and game lengths, allowing the resumption of the first round at 12:30 and the beginning of the amended schedule at 1pm.

Under clear skies thereafter, players completing rounds early or those having byes were able to buy burritos and drinks from Judy Murray and her crew operating a satellite service for one of Raleigh’s best ultimate hangouts, Baja Burrito.

Standings at the end of Saturday:

The party Saturday evening was at a local Jamaican restaurant, emphatically named Jamaica Jamaica. In addition to several kegs of premium micro-brewed beer, there were free victuals: jerked chicken, potato wedges, plantain chips, tortilla chips, and assorted crudites. Best of all were three local bands: Todd Jones and Thing playing a mix of pop originals, all imbued with a nasty razor-sharp sardonicism, Poor Valentino, described by drummer-Ultimate player Kelly Ferguson as fallopian flavored power pop, and LadyFinger putting on a headliner show with great rhythm-driven funk.

Sunday’s play began at 10am, with all the teams being paired and the #1 seed getting a first-round bye. Strict mathematical matching wasn’t adhered to in the interest of giving teams a chance to play different teams during the first two rounds. Losers in the first round continued to play in a B-Division, while winners advanced to an A-Division. Early ominous clouds and then a more benign cloudiness kept temperatures very comfortable the entire day.

Sunday’s play provided some surprises as Blissters came out strong with 2 new players replacing the 2 who had been injured the previous day. These reinforcements, coupled with Reflexa’s sluggish start after a first-round bye, gave Blissters the slight edge they needed to eke out a close, capped 14-13 victory. While Chac Mool had led the entire game in their previous game against Red Kudzu on Saturday, they were unable to adjust to Red Kudzu’s more aggressive Sunday assault and found themselves far behind at half. Playing a solid give and take with Kudzu in the second half, however, was not enough, and favored Chac Mool fell 15-9. Meanwhile, Blissters was playing a close tit for tat game with UNC-dominated Elvis Needs Boats, which after its first-game loss on Saturday racked up 4 successive victories, including one against Blissters. However, Sunday’s match was not to be a repeat victory, and Elvis could not capitalize during the cap and fell 12-10.

The final game had Red Kudzu running away with the lead, taking half handily with a 3-point margin. At 11, Red Kudzu allowed Blissters a 3-point run, and they adjusted accordingly, favoring their women handlers and trusting the men to take care of the defense. The strategy worked and Red Kudzu prevailed 15-11.

Meanwhile in the B-Division, Winston-Salem, playing with a small, relatively inexperienced squad was playing one tough game after another, finding themselves weak and bedraggled at the start of the finals with DC’s Pillage and Barn. The New Jersey Thrash Badgers had saved their best game for the time-capped second round match with Pillage and Barn, and they lost by only a single point. Pillage and Barn was able to exploit their third round bye and came into the finals with Winston-Salem well-manned and refreshed. Tired as they were, Winston-Salem refused to roll over, and they pushed the game into double digits before Pillage and Barn hammered in the coffin’s final nail, 15-11.

The Kudzu Coed Classic featured several rules innovations, primary of those being an insistence on complying with the 4/3 gender ratio. The defense was required to exactly match whatever 4/3 man/woman or woman/man configuration the offense chose to play. Additionally, the two-point, from-beyond-midfield, cross-gender huck rule was one that assisted a number of teams and contributed to last minute strategizing to win during the cap. Finally, the most innovative of the rules was one that may or may not last during the experimentation to enhance the coed experience: the alternating gender pull. This rule has the potential to be willfully ignored or forgotten, but if score keeping properly accounts for not only scores but gender pulling, it could become an important strategy element in the composition of a given defensive lineup.

Look forward to the Carolina Kudzu Coed Classic coming again next Memorial Day, with lots of lead time, notification appearing as early as February. Y’all come back now, y’hear?