2007 Summershred

2007 Summershred
Ocean Beach
San Francisco, CA
August 4, 2007

1. Tommy Leitner/Skippy Jammer
2. Arthur Coddington/Art Viger
3. Mark Regalbuti/Carl Dobson
4. Steve Hubbard/Carolyn Yabe
5. Tom Sahlit/Mike Galloupe
6. Doug Korns/Steve Stotter
7. Mike Esterbrook/Tam Wolfe

Here’s what Skippy Jammer wrote on the Jammers On The Net list:

“Tam Wolfe nailed some great moves to set the tone then Mike “the Farmer’ went to work using the wind for some sweet combos. Doug Korns continues to improve with his dedicated play and worlked well with Steve’s roll and wind game. Tom “Slick” Sahlit put the pedal to the metal and came up with some big moves alohg withy Seattle’s very own Mike Galloupe who used good variety for some good combos and catches.

“Steve “Hubby” Hubbard shook off some major crust using a solid roll and counter game to compliment Carolyn’s smooth flowing style. Mark “Buti” Regalbuti played a solid counter game and used to wind to his advantage for some great combos and solid catches. His team mate Carl Dobson, an old UFOS stalwart hit some big moves with spinning combos and a confident wind game to nail the third place spot.

“In an incredibly tight finish, the team of Arthur and Art had some inspired play hitting roll and brushing combos, huge gitis (giti?), Bad Attitudes and spinning scarecrow catches to nearly snatch the title away from top seeded Tommy and Skippy. They played like they’ve been team mates for years. Playing last, Skippy hit some big against moves and a tight Indigenous catch and flying beach gitis setting the stage for his partner. Tommy was in his element peeling off one incredible move after another. After a brief flat period these two guys hit their stride working the wind with some incredible combos and beach plays. Tommy’s big moves was a long technical combo that eventually started go towards the surf. He continued to work the disc dispite being knee deep in water and finished with a flying water catch. He ended the routine with a spinning axle gitis to seal the win.

“A great time was had by all. Next tourney out here is the Santa Cruz Open on August 24, 25 and 26.”

I’ll elaborate a bit:

– Tradition was broken. Summershred was warmer than Wintershred this year, but only because Wintershred was Antarctica cold and Summershred was only Alaska cold. The wind was sweet at both events, but….brrrrrrrr, I’m glad I brought sweats.

– The mystery judge was looking for three mandatory moves: anything against the spin, a crow and a gitis.

– Carl Dobson found the Fantastic Four action figure on his way from the car to the shore. It was immediately clear that the action figure brought mutant force to freestyle. If only we could harness his power…

– Buti was itching for a gitis, but the seas would not allow him to catch it. Each time he would set up for the catch, a big wave would come in, cementing his feet to the earth. We needed the Fantastic Four action figure’s super powers to push the waves back and give Buti just a few seconds to nail his standing gitis.

– It was so fun to play with Art Viger. For those who don’t know Art, he was the dominant teenage freestyler in the mid-to-late 1990’s. The team came together at the last minute. I was thinking of just jamming/spectating this time, but Tommy let me know Art needed a partner, and it was ON. Who’s going to pass up a chance to play with Art? He’s moved on to other pursuits now and plays once or twice a year – mostly because of freestyle-specific wrist pain – but he’s always been one of the sport’s naturals. With only about ten minutes of warm-up and less than two minutes before a sound system time-out in our routine, he shook off the cobwebs and found his rhythm. There was about 90 seconds in the middle of our routine that just worked. Every pass was there, every catch was either caught or in the hand. I’m glad I was there for it, and I hope Art can work out his wrist pain to play more often.

– Tommy. The ocean picked two players to mess with on Saturday – Buti and Skippy. Skippy hit some sweet moves (his restricted cuffing blows me away), but not surprisingly Tommy stole the show. It’s always a privilege to watch Tommy jam, even more so on the beach where he is king. Skippy mentioned some of the insanity that Tommy brought to their routine, but the sick details need to be revealed. The spinning axle gitis Skippy passingly refers to at the end needs a “triple spinning-” added to the front of the description. There was another combo where Tommy lost his balance during a brushing run and the disc cooperated and stayed within his reach. Tommy brushed it from the ground, buying himself enough time to stand and continue the brushing run. There was a third brushing combo that included 3-4 consecutive restricted brushes, one of which was an indigenous brush. Keep in mind that during this time, the tide was coming in FAST, leaving Skippy and Tommy with about 3 feet of sand to play with. They’re that good.