James Parinella: Basically, there were two reasons. One, it makes for an awfully long season. We were a little embarrassed after going to Worlds in 1995 and losing after not training that much, and it almost killed us for the fall. Only a gutsy performance at Nats saved our season. Last year, we began training in earnest in June, and by November, we were a wreck. Two, we quite simply couldn't get enough people to go for a variety of reasons. Family, work, injury, retirement, money - those took out half our team, and a few more just were too fatigued of it all, and we were down to about seven or eight that wanted to make it.
I guess three would be that it's a long week for not that many good games. Chain Lightning, for example, had easy games all week until they lost. Same with Randalls. As the #1 seed, we wouldn't have faced any challenging teams until at least the semis, most likely. So to take a precious week of vacation, spend $1000+, and abuse our bodies, we would like a little more in the way of ultimate.
HS: When did you folks decide not to go? Did it come together slowly in your minds or was there a sudden turning point?
JP: It was over the winter sometime. The long season last year (June-Nov) really tired us out and sapped some of our enthusiasm. We work really hard during the real season. We still go to tournaments in the spring, but it's usually only about half the team, and the intensity is way down. Once our "season" starts, it's full tilt until Nationals are over. So everyone kept to themselves after last fall, and when it was suggested that we take the summer off, a lot of people thought it was a good idea.
HS: Was the decision not to go unanimous?
JP: No, about eight people wanted to go, but not enough others could make it. One of our players did go and play with Saucy Jack, who he played with before he moved to Boston. Another attempted to play with Ring of Fire but was shot down by the UPA.
HS: You decided not to go to Worlds because of the time and money, yet you decided to play in the NUA series, which required TWO trips. Were you making a statement?
JP: David, that's an excellent question.* We were NOT making a statement about the UPA by going to the refereed tournaments. The two decisions (attending NUA and not attending Worlds) were made independently. We got together this past winter and decided for those two reasons I cited earlier that we just couldn't do Worlds this year. Later, when the NUA materialized, we were excited about that because they were short, intense tournaments requiring no vacation time.
Q. But surely you could have put together some semblance of DoG for Vancouver.
JP: Truly, no. From the 19 we had last year, one retired, one lost an ACL, two had kids and couldn't leave them for a week, two had busy work schedules at the hospitals, and then when you start throwing in too poor or no vacation or too busy, we were down to eight. We're an old team. Only six of our players right now are in their 20s, and three of those are 29.
HS: But it's Worlds.
JP: Yes, it is, and it's a great time. In many ways, I wish I could have been there. But the fall season is the really important one for us, and come Nationals, my body and mind will be happier about it.
HS: Did you folks follow the games at Worlds closely or try to ignore them?
JP: It was hard for some of us not to watch, although we tried not to. I can't say that I was rooting for anybody in particular.
HS: What's your next big tourney?
JP: We're going to the Tune-Up again in Chicago on September 6-7 with our biggest squad yet. Usually we only have about 12, but people are anxious to play, especially with the short season.
What's DoG's priority over the next year?
JP: Winning our fourth title in a row by playing as well as we can. Sockeye played an excellent defensive game against us last year in the finals, and we'd like another shot at them. And then there's Worlds in Minneapolis next summer, if we qualify. We're just like everyone else, trying to improve our game.
-----------------
* It should be noted that, due to e-mail delays, Mr. Parinella wrote out his own interview, questions and all, and mailed it to the editors before receiving our questions. It is left as an exercise to the reader as to which questions are which.
How and why did you get involved in organizing Hat League?
[Pensively] I got involved in the organization when a group of us were at the Flying Burrito and Christian mentioned that someone was needed for the Raleigh site. I figured that I'd be playing every time it was in Raleigh, so I might as well go ahead and do it.
What was the biggest problem in organizing Hat League?
The biggest snag for the Hat Masters was determining the site where everyone would meet (big surprise there). [Laughs] We actually made the wrong call one day when we listened to the weathermen who said it was going to rain and it never did. Besides that day, the only other one we missed that was non-weather related was in the middle of the summer when we couldn't come up with a Chapel Hill site. Eileen Barrett came through for us the next week and got us the Carmichael fields.
The biggest reward?
The biggest reward was being able to stack teams that I played with by rigging the numbering system. Actually, the biggest reward was the number of people that I met this summer. I seriously doubt that I would know as many Ultimate folks if I hadn't been a Hat Master.
Would you do it again?
Yes, I would do it again, but I'd like to have an alternate so I wouldn't have to worry when things came up that prevented me from playing. [Spreads hands]
What does the field situation look like for next year?
Crabtree is pretty much a definite as long as we don't abuse it this fall/spring. The park managers were very pleasant to work with and are generally positive toward us (which is a switch). As long as Mark Parris, Alan Hoyle, and Eileen Barrett maintain their connection with UNC, we'll probably be able to get the late-night Carmichael fields as well. The best thing is that TFDA now has time to work on getting fields for next summer. [Rubs forehead] The question is what we'll find for this winter...
-----------------
[Note: this interview was conducted by e-mail. Thus, all the words are accurate but some of the emotional reactions may have been extrapolated.]
Garrett Dyer, Hat League Grand Poobah,
Reveals All. Or Some.
