So I thought a cool idea for the blog would be to interview 2 of the biggest contributors on and off the field to Reaper Ultimate. Nate #9 was a founding member of the club and has always been the backbone of the team. He organized and did 90%+ of the work running our annual tournament -Last Call. Nate was also a force on the field - providing a speedy, well-rounded handler, to a team that lacked depth in the throwing department. Oddly, Nate answered the list of questions I emailed him for this interview in paragraph form instead of a Q&A type format therefore "interview" #1 is more of a Nate Kinsinger history/some background info/his piece.
Interview #2 is with Michael Schwenk #29. All-Region certified monster - I have heard opponents on the field literally say, "it's impossible for us to stop that" regarding his ups. A great captain and leader who makes everyone around him want to work harder. Mike is on the elite club team Chicago Machine, a team that is currently ranked 2nd in the Nation going into USAU Club Nationals. He'll make you drink the bitch cup every-time in 28 and then will feed you delicious drunk food like a Mother Bird : ).
Nate and Mike happen to be Brother in Law so I felt like it was very appropriate that I post both these interviews at once. Nate's interview was originally sent right before College Regionals this past year.
Enjoy.
Interview #1 - Nate Kinsinger #9
1. I first played ultimate when I was in junior high at a summer camp, I only played it once and didn't know how to do much. During my childhood I threw with my brothers and father and my brother Chris, who played a couple times a week on his lunch break at the University of Minnesota, taught me how throw a flick. My senior year of high school I was introduced to ultimate again at cross country practice. We played maybe once a week. Very unorganized. The very first day I was at EIU I was planning on walking around campus, but I went outside of Taylor Hall and I saw some people playing ultimate on the south quad. Alan and Andy were actually the first two who invited me to play and so I did. I quickly learned that they played there daily at 4PM. Through out my freshman year I was able to learn more about the game and practice my throws. Nobody was really that great, but we all had our little perks. Evan was fast, Alan had a great backhand, Andy worked hard, Rolando is crazy, Grizz could jump, and I was mix of it all. It was nice to have something to do after classes were done for the day. I was quickly known as Nate the Late because I would show up right at 4 or about 1-2 minutes after. During the summer between my freshman and sophomore years this odd kid joined our Facebook group and was really excited to start playing with us. We had never had someone seek us out like this or have someone with as much gumption for the sport. This kid was James Roush. When my sophomore started James was there with his buddy Will Bearman. We continued to play pick up at our usual time during the first semester, but James had other ideas and wanted to make us into an actual team. In the spring semester of 2008 Discovery attended their first tournament at ISU and ended up losing all of their games. (I was not in attendance). We then traveled to Peoria for a tournament and were able to bring two squads. Throughout this entire time I was dating Debra Schwenk who was also at EIU and had a little brother names Michael who was a senior. He was undecided of where he wanted to go to school and ended up on settling in at EIU. I also was able to bring in a new roommate for my junior year as a transfer student from my hometown named Drew Traver. During the summer between my sophomore and junior years Traver Schwenk and I played ultimate a bit in Peoria and I kept hoping that they would play for the newly created team. Traver was a shoe in, but Schwenk was thinking about playing baseball at EIU. As it just so happens he decided against that idea and began coming out for ultimate. Right away he was one of the best players because of his pure athleticism. Being the fist official year of the team we decided to recruit a bit and Mr. Scott Marcacci was able to find us. We attended a few tournaments in the fall and we weren't really thrilled with our name. So we decided to change it to Reaper. We decided not to go to sectionals that year because we were still a young team. The following year we were able to pick up a transfer student who played at the Indiana University named Steve Karlson. He was a great help to our team since he had some experience prior to coming to us. This year we did go to sectionals and ended up taking 9th place. We were able to beat James' beloved North Park while we were there as well. That is also the tournament where our rivalry with Loyola truly began as we lost to them in a very tight contested match. Then things got crazy because two new transfers decided to come down names Chris O'Connell and Tim Leung. These were both players that had played before and both immediately impacted our team. We thought this would be our year, but we took what we did not appreciate what we had. We went to conference and placed 3rd. While at regionals we lost to Michigan State by only 4 which was a big feat for us. We then had to play Northwestern and we were up in that game , but something happened to us and we completely fell apart. We ended up losing that game by 4 as well. No one really knows what happened. After that year we lost a lot of good players and we thought we might be in for a long disappointing season next year. James, myself, will, dan r, carlson, and tim had all left the program. The next year however showed us that people can step up into roles and play well. I decided to come back to school for my masters in sports management and again played with the team. I was not on campus though until the second semester. During that semester we attended tournament without Schwenk and figured out that we didn't know how to play without him. It was good for us to lose so many games, and come conference we were able to place 3rd again. At Regionals we were ready to go and ended up beating the University of Illinois 13-10 which was the first time that we had ever beat them and the first time that the seniors at U of I had ever lost at Regionals. We ended up taking 4th in the region which is a great accomplishment for any school of our size as well as how new we were to the sport. That brings us to this year. Losing Schwenk and OC were huge and we really weren't sure what we were going to be able to do this year. We ended up having the best recruiting class to date with having half of our 28 man team being rookies to our program. It was a rebuilding year and we finally treated it as such. We were able to play everyone at tournaments while still being able to win around 50% of our matches. Even in the spring we still attempted to play everyone with the exception of Conference and Regionals. We were again able to finish 3rd place at Conference and we are seeded 9th going into Regionals. We have a very talented team and could do some major damage if we are able to work our fundamentals and our new 5 zones. James Roush came back and coached us at almost every tournament which was a great help this year with keeping us on track with our goal of making Regionals and now making day 2 of Regionals this weekend. My ultimate goals after college is to play club, but I do not know if I will be able to with the area that I live in. My life outside of ultimate is consumed by my wife the lovely Debra Kinsinger. She has been a huge supporter of the team throughout the entirety of the team. We are currently looking for jobs for me in the university athletic, rec, and park districts sector.
1. I first played ultimate when I was in junior high at a summer camp, I only played it once and didn't know how to do much. During my childhood I threw with my brothers and father and my brother Chris, who played a couple times a week on his lunch break at the University of Minnesota, taught me how throw a flick. My senior year of high school I was introduced to ultimate again at cross country practice. We played maybe once a week. Very unorganized. The very first day I was at EIU I was planning on walking around campus, but I went outside of Taylor Hall and I saw some people playing ultimate on the south quad. Alan and Andy were actually the first two who invited me to play and so I did. I quickly learned that they played there daily at 4PM. Through out my freshman year I was able to learn more about the game and practice my throws. Nobody was really that great, but we all had our little perks. Evan was fast, Alan had a great backhand, Andy worked hard, Rolando is crazy, Grizz could jump, and I was mix of it all. It was nice to have something to do after classes were done for the day. I was quickly known as Nate the Late because I would show up right at 4 or about 1-2 minutes after. During the summer between my freshman and sophomore years this odd kid joined our Facebook group and was really excited to start playing with us. We had never had someone seek us out like this or have someone with as much gumption for the sport. This kid was James Roush. When my sophomore started James was there with his buddy Will Bearman. We continued to play pick up at our usual time during the first semester, but James had other ideas and wanted to make us into an actual team. In the spring semester of 2008 Discovery attended their first tournament at ISU and ended up losing all of their games. (I was not in attendance). We then traveled to Peoria for a tournament and were able to bring two squads. Throughout this entire time I was dating Debra Schwenk who was also at EIU and had a little brother names Michael who was a senior. He was undecided of where he wanted to go to school and ended up on settling in at EIU. I also was able to bring in a new roommate for my junior year as a transfer student from my hometown named Drew Traver. During the summer between my sophomore and junior years Traver Schwenk and I played ultimate a bit in Peoria and I kept hoping that they would play for the newly created team. Traver was a shoe in, but Schwenk was thinking about playing baseball at EIU. As it just so happens he decided against that idea and began coming out for ultimate. Right away he was one of the best players because of his pure athleticism. Being the fist official year of the team we decided to recruit a bit and Mr. Scott Marcacci was able to find us. We attended a few tournaments in the fall and we weren't really thrilled with our name. So we decided to change it to Reaper. We decided not to go to sectionals that year because we were still a young team. The following year we were able to pick up a transfer student who played at the Indiana University named Steve Karlson. He was a great help to our team since he had some experience prior to coming to us. This year we did go to sectionals and ended up taking 9th place. We were able to beat James' beloved North Park while we were there as well. That is also the tournament where our rivalry with Loyola truly began as we lost to them in a very tight contested match. Then things got crazy because two new transfers decided to come down names Chris O'Connell and Tim Leung. These were both players that had played before and both immediately impacted our team. We thought this would be our year, but we took what we did not appreciate what we had. We went to conference and placed 3rd. While at regionals we lost to Michigan State by only 4 which was a big feat for us. We then had to play Northwestern and we were up in that game , but something happened to us and we completely fell apart. We ended up losing that game by 4 as well. No one really knows what happened. After that year we lost a lot of good players and we thought we might be in for a long disappointing season next year. James, myself, will, dan r, carlson, and tim had all left the program. The next year however showed us that people can step up into roles and play well. I decided to come back to school for my masters in sports management and again played with the team. I was not on campus though until the second semester. During that semester we attended tournament without Schwenk and figured out that we didn't know how to play without him. It was good for us to lose so many games, and come conference we were able to place 3rd again. At Regionals we were ready to go and ended up beating the University of Illinois 13-10 which was the first time that we had ever beat them and the first time that the seniors at U of I had ever lost at Regionals. We ended up taking 4th in the region which is a great accomplishment for any school of our size as well as how new we were to the sport. That brings us to this year. Losing Schwenk and OC were huge and we really weren't sure what we were going to be able to do this year. We ended up having the best recruiting class to date with having half of our 28 man team being rookies to our program. It was a rebuilding year and we finally treated it as such. We were able to play everyone at tournaments while still being able to win around 50% of our matches. Even in the spring we still attempted to play everyone with the exception of Conference and Regionals. We were again able to finish 3rd place at Conference and we are seeded 9th going into Regionals. We have a very talented team and could do some major damage if we are able to work our fundamentals and our new 5 zones. James Roush came back and coached us at almost every tournament which was a great help this year with keeping us on track with our goal of making Regionals and now making day 2 of Regionals this weekend. My ultimate goals after college is to play club, but I do not know if I will be able to with the area that I live in. My life outside of ultimate is consumed by my wife the lovely Debra Kinsinger. She has been a huge supporter of the team throughout the entirety of the team. We are currently looking for jobs for me in the university athletic, rec, and park districts sector.
-Nate Kinsinger #9
Interview #2 - Michael Schwenk #29
1. How many years have you been playing ultimate?
I have been playing ultimate for five years, I guess technically I have just started my sixth year.
2. When did you start playing ultimate? What sports did you play in HS?
My first experience with ultimate was some crappy pick up of 11 v 11 ultimate the summer after my senior year of high school. At Eastern I was quickly sucked into the first form of competitive ultimate, I wanted to remain active and my future brother in law played. In high school I played football for a year, basketball for two, and baseball for four years.
3. Who was your favorite team to play against in college?
This question is unfair and I am going to name multiple teams. I enjoyed playing against Illinois, they were always a team which qualified for nationals so it was a great test to see how good we actually were. Loyola, after a preposterous loss to them my sophomore year in which we were royally screwed by bad calls, any game against Loyola was huge and an ass kicking in our favor. Carleton, only was able to play their X team one time but it is one of the greatest games of ultimate I have ever been apart of. ISU, a program I always thought should be better than they were and honestly was a reason I was happy Eastern had a small core of guys who were completely dedicated to getting better at ultimate.
4. What is your favorite throw?
Back hand huck. This question is really unfair as well. I enjoy the fore hand bomb as well. As well as a nice quick give n go. Really any throw in the right situation.
5. Offense or Defense?
Defense all the way. Chicks dig lay out Ds.
6. Favorite tv show?
Scrubs, Prison Break, Breaking Bad, and Finding Bigfoot
7. Congrats on making it to club nationals! What is it like being on an "elite team?"
Being on Machine is an absolutely humbling experience every time I play against another elite team. I am on the D line and get to play every other D point or so. Every single player that I have the opportunity to guard is on a national caliber team for a reason. The game play is much much quicker than at the college level. This took some time and is still taking some time to get used to with regards to my positioning depending where I am on the field in relation to the disc and my guy. I guess the easiest description I could use would be to imagine guarding the toughest guy you have ever guarded and he is paired up with the best two or three handlers you know. My goal for the game is to lay out every point I am on the field. Now this never happens due to many other circumstances but it means that I have to be close to my man at all times. I believe I almost accomplished this goal last weekend in our first game Saturday. It's not always fun but busting your ass all game for that one D makes it even that more enjoyable.
8. What is your favorite ultimate-related memory?
Ohhhh man... I would have to say almost getting into a brawl at No Wisco or beating Illinois at Regionals '12. It may be replaced here shortly though I hope.
9. Any dogs in the house?
Roof Roof Roof Roof
10. What is your favorite tournament and why?
My favorite tournament in college was regionals. It is what you worked for all year. While all the other tournaments may have been more "fun", I know that I worked all year at practice and plyos for one goal and that goal was to try and go to nationals, no matter how achievable anyone believed it could be.
11. What are your future ultimate-related goals if any?
My only focus at this moment is club nationals in October. Bust my balls in the upcoming workouts and hopefully reap the rewards down in Texas. After that my goal switches to 4 peating at Last Call in dominating fashion like last year on the alum team. It really shouldn't be a problem.
12. What is your life outside of ultimate like? What did you study in school? Do you have any hobbies or interests?
I currently am living in Gibson City, IL and am in my first year of teaching elementary P.E. In the winter I will be beginning my coaching career as the freshman boys basketball head coach and the JV baseball coach in the spring. My hobbies really are any sports, except LAX. My interests include music (hip hop, mashups), health related topics, and food.
13. Any last words?
This past week Steve put up a post about being at practices with 14 guys busting their ass every day to get better. I was part of this group and really never knew any other way than this. I believe that having such a small group allowed for us to improve drastically as teammates, which we did, and to become friends off the field, which we did. I am not one to really beat around the bush so I'm gonna lay it out there. I truly hope that you are playing ultimate on Reaper with one goal in mind, to win. Some of you may be in it to have fun, but I will tell you what is fun. Winning is fun. If you want to play ultimate whenever you want and not show up every day to work, then go play intramural Frisbee, play barefoot stoned, or go play mixed. Leave your purse at home and commit to the team during practice time every day you go to the field and then after that have a beer with the guys who yelled in your face and laugh about it. If every guy on the team who I yelled at on the field at practice took it personally, well let's just say there wouldn't have been a team anymore. They knew I wanted the team to be the best it could be and when I slacked off they let me have it to. I can remember one blatant email sent to the team, it was explicit, and called out some people(myself included) who did not attend a practice one day. As I was home that day I thought to myself, it will be ok because I attended 98% of all practices. This email let me know that it didn't matter what I had done in the past but that I was letting my team down on that day at that time. They didn't have enough people to work on the skills they wanted to improve and I wasn't improving my game as well. After I was called out, I believe a few days later the guy who called me out and myself, along with two others, played a ton of 28 on a team, probably threw up and had a great time. I guess all this ranting is to say commit to the team, make each other better, become brothers, and continue to make Reaper better.
If anyone has any question ultimate related email me mdschwenk29@gmail.com or shoot me a Facebook message. I don't care if I know who you are or not, the door is open. Peace out. See you soon or at Last Call, which ever comes first.
End
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