Reaching
for Birmingham

The dust has settled at the Regionals, and a world-class rematch may be in the air.

There weren't many upsets. The top seeds in all classes from the six Regional tournaments qualified for the UPA National Championship Tournament, to be held in Birmingham, Alabama, from 2-5 November. In the Women's competition, Ozone took the Southern Regional and Women On the Verge qualified in Olympia.

These two could replay last July's World Championship match - but Phat City, Lady Godiva, and other fine qualifiers may not let that happen.

The biggest event of the weekend wasn't on the field but took place on the Net in rec.sport.disc, where members of the combative men's teams spent more time grumbling about each other's behavior than chatting about fine tourney play. Most of the venom was directed at Port City, which was slammed by the competition for its testy posturing and name-calling. On the field, Port City, Cojones, and world club champs Double Happiness are the favorites to wrest the Open Crown from last year's champs, DoG, who qualified for Nationals, placing second in the Northeast region.

Birmingham awaits, with camellia laurels for the victors.

Story by Matt Margolin
Photo by Rick Collins