The Halili Report

Hong Kong Junk at the Singapore Flying Mooncake Open 2002

Compiled from Staff Dispatches(NB: There are several first persons in this report.)

September 21-22, 2002, Singapore -- So we rocked. We came in second in a tournament of 18. We lost in one of the closest finals I've seen to Singapore 18-17, a fact that irritates me more with every day.

After coming out cold against Bangkok and finding other 'easy' opponents more trouble than they should have been, we were a little worried going into the game. The Taipei game was a huge watershed for us. We'd been lying around for like three hours while Taipei was getting pumped on their victories. We could have thrown in the towel when it was 5-1, but instead we battled it back for half and played it out for an intense game. (Down 5-1, took half 7-6, down 9-7, hardcap 10, won 10-9.)

We learned to trust our handlers more with the dump swing: the patience we were forced to acquire with the straight-up mark is what saved us against Jakarta (and, arguably, what we forgot in the finals).  More importantly, we learned to beat a good team, and by doing so finally came into our own. By the end of the first day, our team had come together.

It was the team that got us as far as we did, but here are some individual highlights:-

Apple: I give Apple the spirit award. She did not play much but when she was in the game, she played her heart out. She was also the first to hand out bananas, oranges, and water to the team during the breaks. As for her offense, I noticed her forehand has gotten smoother. Knowing her competitive (bodybuilding) spirit, she'll be zipping that disc down the line to score in the Hong Kong tournament. Best Apple Moment: Her hard play impressed me the most as I know she is playing with pain due to a spine problem.

Ed "Lover" Finn: Lived up to his reputation. Perhaps at first the name didn't seem fitting. But he gets the hotly contested Best Hook-Up Award. (Nice backrub after the finals.) I see Ed high releasing over even the tallest, yes indeed the tallest, man at the tournament. I see Ed wings spread flapping around the cup. And I see Ed face down on the sideline after the Zone in the finals.

Gui: I just remember Gui, on the opposite side of the field in the Bangkok match, shaking his head saying something with a French accent, to quote Steve Lee. And our Frenchman, going down to friendly fire in the finals was a real blow because he may have been the most consistent in the tournament. Perhaps next time he'll wear his je-ne-sais-quoi top.

JD: Breakfast, who needs it? JD didn't and got rid of it during our game against Japan. Darn good thing too. Good that it didn't happen in our other games Sunday cuz we needed him. JD has this sensational ability to frighten sidelines that he isn't going to catch the disc. Not quite sure what it is, but it was explained to me that he catches it like a softball with a little give so it creates the illusion that he didn't stop the disc's motion. Whatever. He had one-handed grabs all over the finals. Tom went down and JD (breakfast-less) stepped up. He was everywhere.

(Aside on Japan: I remember it taking me a full four hours to understand what the hell Japan meant with their cheer. It's a merlion!)

Joel: I'm sorry but I'm going to bring up the Bangkok game. Junk's tallman Joel had a couple of drops, pancakes that didn't pancake. Didn't stop Joel in the next game against the International AllStars, the boy was a score-a-matic (not sure if that carried over into Saturday night.) Whatever bug he had in against Bangkok was gone. In the finals he had an amazing two-handed layout to catch EdLover' sinking backhand for the score, with Steinar diving onto him at the same time. That really got me fired up.

Jordan: Abe Lincoln? Not really fitting. One of our young guns, this GW grad, came to Singapore in style ending his first night face plastered to a chair. (http://www.edfinn.net/porepics/im001699.html)Jordan part of Hong Kong: the next generation played chilly offense being an anchor in our handlers, and then in the finals, I just remember in one of those marathon heartbreaking final points, a huge D punctuated with a loud grunt.

Julie: Julie had her A game at the tournament. I kept hearing spectators, all men, comment "I wish I can huck like that." Julie had at least 4 impressive 35-yard hucks down the line for a score. No fear in this woman. She will fire it down hard and make the defender look useless. Her cuts were as sharp as ever. She even played defense in the finals. As for the men that commented on her passing, they can only wish. Best Julie Moment: A 35-yard sideline huck to Joel vs. Jakarta for a score. Simply awesome.

Kate: Has this girl been practicing behind our backs? Her game seems to be two levels higher from last year. Kate took that level of play even higher in Singapore. Acrobatic diving catches is what I most remember from her play, especially in the finals. I remember staring in horror as Kirk missed a tough endzone catch against Jakarta to equalize in the Semis, and the disc shimmying up and away out of bounds. There, improbably, was Kate in her tutu, making a hot layout across the line (but her feet were in) for the SCORE! Her fairy outfit made the catches even more memorable and winning the "BestLayout" Award. This girl lays out better than I do in bed.

Kelly: I was both excited and sad watching Kelly play at the Sing tournament. Excited because she had both sides of her game going. Kelly dialed in on her offense. Her cuts were fluid, long, and timely. On defense, she was called repeatedly by the captains to shutdown the best women players on the opposing teams. The sad part was that while watching her put together her best games since I first saw her play 4 years ago, I kept thinking this was the last time I will be playing with her. Closest I felt like that was when Natalie Hawkins played her final game in the Singapore tournament 3 years ago. Best Kelly Moment: Besides Kelly's play, her spirit impressed me most. Our team down by 4 to Bangkok with some players looking a bit dim, I saw Kelly bumping to the beat of the music like she was at a night club. That got me up, to me that's Ultimate spirit.

Kirk: Sunday night people were passing around pictures, everyone was astounded by a picture of this "guy" whose feet were more than a meter in the air, the guy's hips were at his defender's head. It was Kirk. Jumping for the disc he was suspended in the air, fingers barely on the plastic, toes pointed. Kirk flew around the field, lept into the air, put himself where help was needed all over the field. And he played basketball Monday night!

Kyle: Those swirly shorts powered Kyle around the fields. My favorite Kyle moment was against Bangkok and he was marked up against Michael Riley. All of a sudden Riley is open running up the sideline. Why's Riley open? I remembered Kyle, and I think go ahead Dawg I dare you to throw it. The Dawg handler takes the bait, the disc is going up the sideline, and zoom in come Kyle, bats the disc out of bounds(though not to the ground something that came back to haunt us later....) Also, there was the cheeky Kyle in the finals with a floaty disc coming down field to him and he runs with it, just about as far as it will go, with no defender in sight.

Marcus: Slipped disc? Who would've known. I could tell he was playing with pain the way he was running. Despite the injury, Marcus played consistently, often snagging the disc with one hand - very difficult catches when your back hurts. What surprised me the most was his stamina as he couldn't train fully. Best Marcus Moment: I'll leave it up to Marcus to fill this section.

Noemie: One of the most athletic and consistent players. I don't remember her dropping a single pass. Her cuts were razor sharp and her hands soft as silk. Noemie's best skill is catching the disc in the air in very tight situations, usually landing very close to the sidelines. Not to mention her party performance although you have to question her mental party game, losing your hookup in the elevator? Best Noemie Moment: A diving "her back to the disc catch" against Nami in the finals for a score. Balletic move that ended with a big "YEAH!".

Roberto: You gotta check out this picture of Roberto(http://www.pbase.com/image/5122156) How many times was El Chino, MVP of the team, standing in the endzone, protesting `throw me the fucking disc, I'm open.' Or he catches a huck upfield and protests `where's my cut?' We all know Roberto's greatest moment was in the women's all-star game, but that aside, I think Roberto and Rob Woodward in the finals had the match of the match. Diving in and out of the endzones, each scoring championship points only to have them retracted.

Robert Halili: Deserves an award for always being on the opposite sideline cheering on the team because he was often forgotten over there as he coached on our zone against Betamax. Thing is, though, this insider, coming from a week of disc in Hawaii showed the potency of Hong Kong's geriatric contingent. While he may have sacrificed playing time being on the other side of the field, he didn't pout and when he was on the field he played his heart out scoring repeatedly.

Steven Lee: Co-captain Steven Lee played extremely well at his first appearance on the traveling team. Steve made several key plays against Jakarta, scoring in very tight situations (hmmm.) If it weren't for his knee injury, this guy would have scored a lot more at the tournament (Don't forget him in the Miata.) As for defense, his awesome hand block against Taipei would have been the Best Steven Lee Moment but his other act the following day deserves mention. Worst Steven Lee Moment: Farting on the sidelines before the finals. This guy can expend gas at will. Female spectators were cringing as he let off a round of his specials. That to me is the Ultimate spirit.

Sue: Has anyone noticed Sue has improved her game this year? That's what hitting the Asian tournament circuit does to a woman. Tripping around those wild animals in Africa made her faster. I remember Sue making a couple of incredible layout grabs in the endzone in our game against Japan. One in particular stands out as amazing because she basically dove into a crowd of people to snag the disc one-handed in front of her. Great grab. Then there was that sneaky layout into the tight corner of the Taipei game, diving in front of Josh. 

Tom Nunan: Taking a short break from his modeling career, the gun was firing away at the Singapore tournament. I don't know what he did to prepare for the tournament but he was at his heckling best. As for disc, Tom played as expected - HUGE. This guy played like he was 23years old. The old man still has the zip. HK would have won the finals had he not injured his hamstring. Best Nunan Moment: I don't know what possessed him but he gave an extremely lazy 3-yard all-thumbs pass to Sue. The disc dropped to the ground like a dead duck.

Tun: Sadly, is returning to the States to pursue a career in Ultimate design and logo. Talk about stepping it up, Tun was out until at least 2(!) Saturday night taking the whole team thing to heart and partying with the team (Tom where were you?) Where would we have been without Tun's hot defense, without those awesome 30 yard tosses to middle cuts, and then zooming in for the dump. Tun played hot defense in the finals. Too bad that whole alpha beta thing didn't work out.

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