New Alumni pt 2 Cork

Continued from the last post - Saying goodbye to last years Alumni

Brooks "Cork" LeComte

Cork is a natural athlete. He doesn't seem to have to try very hard but is good at anything physical. I guess thats kinda the model for a good high school quarterback. I don't really think he was even that into frisbee until the middle of this year. Players like him make me wonder how awesome he would have been if he had tried hard the whole time.

This year, Cork was a monster on D. He has the best field sense of anyone on the team hands down which must come from playing football. If I had to put a label on him, it would be "snake in the grass". More poach D's than anyone, more "Holy Shit, Where Did That Come From?!?"s than anyone. He was good in the air, but the DOffense revolved around him as a handler. His hucks were not the touchy ones we O players dream about, but instead they were quick lazers that went really far (he also had more out-the-back hucks than anyone). These were perfect for our D receivers, Biel in particular. The DOffenses plan was for Cork to throw and receive every short pass or dish in the Vert stack until he found the right time to jack it deep (to Biel). I think Cork leaves the biggest hole to fill strategically in this upcoming year - we are going to have to totally rework the way the D scores its points.


More than his field sense, I was quite impressed with his view of the game, the way it is played, and his overall demeanor. I might describe him as serious or no-nonsense, but he is super funny and always down for drinking games (Which, like any other game, he is seemingly naturally good at. Playing Quarters with him on Spring Break was ridiculous.) Instead, I think the right description is "matter-of-fact". He is very good at seeing situations for what they really are. Games are for winning, parties are for having a good time, beer is for getting drunk, big games are for proving yourself, the silliness that is inherent in our sport is actually really silly. His humor is the same way - out of the blue he will make a comment, completely straight faced, that is totally true and observant but at the same time ridiculous.

One of the things that I liked most about him was his ability to question why things were done a certain way just because thats how they had been done before. We share the extreme dislike of practice drills that don't really mimic game time situations. One of the most insightful questions I've ever heard from Cork is this: "Why do girls play on the same sized field with the same sized disc as guys? Every other sport is modified in women's leagues to fit their bodies and skill levels, why not Ultimate?" We were running a warmup lap at Nationals and he causally made this observation and kept on running while I literally had to stop for a bit to think about how right he was.

I really like Cork; he is a great friend to be around and an amazing teammate to have because of of his field sense, athleticism, attitude, and humility.