1984 Ronnie's Ranch Hands
Jim Mallon
When Tom Kennedy and Greg Sharp announced they'd be holding tryouts for the college team in late '83 and early '84, I couldn't believe it. TK and Greggo?!? Gonna run the college team? Nervous doesn't begin to explain. You've got to understand that TK was, is and always will be a god in the annals of Santa Barbara Ultimate. To share the field with him was like stepping off the sideline and catching passes from Joe Montana. You had to pinch yourself every once in a while. He has this way of looking you in the eye and making you feel the intangibles of the game, inspiring you to become better. I'll never forget him explaining how you just have to know you're going to get the disc when you go to make a play. "The Frisbee is yours," he'd say, "now just go get it."
Most of the young players, the ones still in college, had hoped to use the name Black Tide, which we'd come up with one day while hanging out at Pete Gately's house. But apparently, and I should probably have confirmed this before writing it, TK and Greggo had already bought and paid for the Ranch Hand T-shirts so the Tide moniker was shelved.