Enter a day in PHIL 415. Schnee’s talking about proofs in Modal Logic. It’s fast-paced, intense. Of course some people get disoriented. Maybe I get disoriented. I have a question about the exact meaning of a symbol he wrote on the board, so I go to talk to him after class.
I arrive in his castle of an office. I see at least a hundred books on the wall, some about philosophy, some about wine, others about things I’ve never heard of. I also see a white board with some mathematical looking scribbles on it.
After admiring all this, I ask him about the piece of notation. He explains it clearly and quickly and I now understand. But we keep talking, and eventually he spills that he played ultimate frisbee in college. I’m like “Whoa, we play frisbee too, man!”. He says that next time we have a game, I should email him. I say sure-thing and walk to my dorm in a good mood.
Now, ordinarily we play about 4 times a week. I emailed Schnee about twice a week for a month. Every single time, he is either busy or out of town somehow. Of course I’m a little annoyed. He asks me to let him know, then he can never make it. Does he just not want to play with us?
Next Monday I ask him about this after class. He says that he has actually been busy, and we should play before 3-4 PM if we want him to be free. I say sure thing.
The following day I email him at 2:48 PM, ask him if he can play. At 2:59 he says yes! In 5 minutes everyone is rallied. DJ has class, but this is more important. Belcher was watching a movie, but this takes priority. All the regular frisbee players drop everything to do ultimate with Schnee.
We’d waited weeks for this and we were all excited. Boy was it worth it.
Schnee gets each person’s name down after hearing it once. Captains are chosen. Teams are formed. It’s 4 vs 5. Ordinarily this’d be a pretty big imbalance. But the 4 side, my side, has Schnee. We can do this.
The game starts! Belcher’s guarding Schnee. They are one up, so everyone is well gaurded. No way he can make this. Schnee fakes for a low pass, goes high and makes a perfect hammer halfway across the field. It glides into Dustin’s hands. By the time he’s turned around and ready to throw, DJ is in the endzone and Schnee is halfway between them. It goes cleanly to DJ. DJ is now guarded by Belcher and can’t make a clear pass. DJ goes for a hammer anyways. It has too much curve and is headed to be out of bounds on the opposite side of where Schnee stands.
Five or six seconds pass but it feels like minutes. I look at the endzone again. Schnee’s left foot is barely touching the legal area. His right foot is in the air because he is stretched so far. His hand is tilted back with the frisbee barely in it. It’s a goal!
The game goes like this. He makes low passes that fly straight up just as they need to. Jokes are made about Pass Evaluation Functions and Axiomatic Toss Theory. Good times are had, but before we know it, Schnee has a meeting he has to get to. We all say farewell, not completely full yet.
He’s gone and it doesn’t feel the same.
Public Domain Dedication.