Column: As the disc turns
Issue date: 11/8/06 Section: Sports
- Page 1 of 1
|
He devotes his time to something else instead: A whirly, twirly piece of plastic.
Ever since elementary school Neff has been a longtime Ultimate Frisbee player. The sport, often characterized by tie-dye clad, Birkenstock-wearing hippies, has been very good to him.
Neff, in turn, has been good to the game, and won't let anyone else bring him down.
"The preconceptions people have with Ultimate are something I've had to deal with since high school," Neff said. "People just gave it no respect. I learned to just believe and take pride in the fact that I worked really hard at it."
Neff is a rarity among the landscape of standouts. There isn't a lick of a "me-first" attitude in the soul of the bushy-haired athlete. He loves the game - and more importantly, he loves how the game affects his life.
"It's an opportunity for me to completely forget about anything else going on, and just play on the kind of subconscious level almost and really just lose my mind and get out there," Neff said.
Neff's Ultimate résumé is unrivaled - a product of Frisbee-mad Amherst, he has played for the U.S. junior national team, his high school, Northeastern and his local club team, Metal. The game took him all over the world, from Seattle to Chicago and even to Finland, where he won a world championship.
It's ironic that Neff represents what athletes, and the sports world, are. Often, those who are given the titles of role model, the professionals with million dollar contracts, are caught disrespecting themselves and the game. But Neff isn't like that; he's a throwback to the days of respect for everyone over a common love of what transpires on the field.
But Neff won't tell you that himself, his mind consistently transfixed on the sport he loves. What he will tell you about is the beauty of the game - and its intricacies.
"There's a harmony that's found when the offense is really clicking, and the disk moves from one person to the next person," Neff said. "On defense you're as amped up as can be."
To him the game itself is more than harmony.
"There's man-to-man coverage, and within that there are different kind of nuances, there's infinite strategy to it," Neff said.
He's found love, and it comes in the form of a small plastic disc, first created after someone was finished eating a pie. If only life were that easy.
It's almost as if the sport found Neff, and not vice-versa. Neff took a year off from school after graduating from high school, and found himself building houses in Vermont. Metal, a Cambridge-based Ultimate club, soon came knocking on his door and Neff found a permanent reason to stay in Boston.
"I really didn't know where I wanted to go to school, the year I took off was my first with Metal," Neff said. "They're just a group of young guys who are really cool and have a great attitude toward the game."
Would the story be any better if Neff were a doctor or humanitarian? Probably would. But let's not forget that sports, as trivial as they may be at times, often teach life lessons. And this, with Will's story as an example, is a good one - practice hard, do what you love and don't let anyone bring you down.
Even it if does revolve around a flying disc.
- Matt Foster can be reached for comment at sports@nu-news.com
Be the first to comment on this story