Penn Void partially fills void left by varsity cancellations

This past weekend, while the sports world took pause to mourn and reflect on last week's events, the Penn Void, the University's ultimate frisbee team, visited Lehigh University for Club Sectionals -- the first step in the team's march to Nationals.

The tournament directors determined that Sept. 15 and 16 were the only dates available for play. Still, the recent happenings in New York, Washington and western Pennsylvania lingered in the minds of the ultimate frisbee competitors and became readily apparent in their conduct both on and off the field.

"The games had the same kind of energy as always," sophomore Michael Miller said. "But the players seemed a lot more cautious, a lot more careful. [The players' conduct] was a lot more thoughtful. No one was trying to offend anyone."

Prior to most of this weekend's games, players from opposing teams joined at midfield for moments of silence. Black ribbons and black arm bands adorned many players' uniforms. And whereas ultimate frisbee is normally played with white discs, the tournament director chose to use black ones.

However, considering most every other sporting event was canceled -- including Penn's varsity sports, Major League Baseball and the National Football League -- the choice to continue playing was questionable.

"[Professional sports] handled [the terrorist attacks] pretty well; they were very respectful," junior Lance Kaminsky said. "I knew the situation and the team did, too, but we paid our respects before the games and went ahead and played."

The Void's first practice for rookies was originally scheduled for the afternoon of Sept. 11. Due to that morning's terrorist attacks, however, the session had to be canceled, meaning that the team had only last Thursday's practice to prepare for Sectionals.

"It was questionable as to if we should have even played," team captain Jared Inselmann said. "The different teams exchanged thoughts on ultimate [frisbee] listservs, but we decided to play.

"The tournament director did a good job of directing it, though. If anyone felt comfortable enough to talk, he could. It was just really important to address it."

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