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#16 Ben Ristau
TallE
A 2003-2007
History
Pittsburgh
- RUN (2004)
- Burgh (2005-2007), Captain 2006-2007
- Forge (2008-2009), Captain 2008
name AT place
- 2007 Metro East All-Region (5th Year/Grad)
Where has the time gone? I’m back for my ultimate year. To those who would accuse me of pulling a Matt Leinart I would say, “Latin is a rigorous academic class. It’s not like I’m taking ballroom dancing or anything.” But I would also say, “28 touchdowns, 3800 passing yards, Heisman finalist, and No. 2 team in the nation sounds pretty good to me.” Besides interesting course loads, the 5th year is a time for reflection. It seems like only a few years ago we sucked big time. Actually, we did. And still do. But at least we are losing at nationals these days. I’m not sure what I’ll be doing next year, but I know I won’t be playing college ultimate, so here’s to one more year.
2007 Motto: Hard work.
2007 Goal: Smash the egg.
By the way, if you really want to know what’s going on, read the blog.
Well, these days I consider myself a true Pittsburgh Ultimate player. I’ve been playing for Pitt a couple years now and I also play for Pittsburgh’s club team, RUN. An upside down flick released from shoulder height is a hiawatha. A scoober is something completely different. (Ask me sometime and I’ll show you.) Anyway, Pittsburgh is a great town to play Ultimate in.
It has been two great years with En Sabah Nur, but I truly believe that the best is yet to come. Last year’s crop of rookies has matured into veterans (well, at least on the field) and this year’s rookies have tons of potential. I can guarantee that I will work hard to improve myself and the team and if we all work together, we could really have something.
A lanky product of the ultimate hotspot San Francisco Bay Area, Ben has come back east to show how West Coast Ultimate is played. He is known for such antics as arriving halfway through a tournament at Penn State after waking up late and taking Greyhound and asking if it was as cold as it gets in Pittsburgh when it was 50 degrees. (Editor’s note: Ben would like you to know that he feels that statement to be taken out of context and not representative of his meaning.) In his non-ultimate time, Ben puts his hands to use playing the cello in the University Chamber Orchestra.
The Tallman is a strange character, whether he is glaring at you for no apparent reason or flipping out at you for no apparent reason, or anything else he does for no apparent reason. That does not change the fact that TallE was an incredible player for En Sabah Nur during his five year reign. His dedication to the team drove him to become the best handler possible, using every inch of his 6’6″ frame to throw breaks past trees at six feet away hundreds of times a day, every day, for the entirety of the 2006-2007 season we shared. His return to Pittsburgh for his fifth year was through a degree seeking program in Latin, which he took just to play with En Sabah Nur. TallE is one of the smartest people I know, and in his spare time in Pittsburgh he played Cello with the Pitt Symphony Orchestra, of which he is a lifelong member.
TallE is currently living in Pittsburgh, working with the University of Pittsburgh.
-Written by Eddie Peters
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