Sub Zero mourns the loss of one of it's founding members, Marty "mfb" Bakko. He was a member of the 1999 semifinals team, a leader of Swank, and a national champion with Surly. He was a tough but fair competitor. In his honor Sub Zero will be retiring his jersey, #42. We'll miss you, Marty.

Marty was a great friend, a great teammate and a fierce competitor.  He brought everything he had to the field on the points he played.   Marty was perhaps the most fair-minded player I have ever played with as well.  It was an honor to know him on the field and off.

-Mark "Butch" Severt

Marty was gifted in embracing other’s success, especially when he was not experiencing the same good fortune. I have two examples that bring this to light.  First, at the end of 1999, after Zero lost in the semi finals to the Condors, Marty sent me an e-mail that I still have and cherish. He congratulated me on my strong performance at nationals helped me appreciate my contributions. At the same time, Marty was very frustrated with his limited role on Zero, which prompted him to leave the team, joining Swank in 2000. I know he had mixed feelings about his years with Zero, but this did not get in the way of him expressing his thoughts about me. The second example is with John Sandahl who played with Marty on Swank in 2000. John moved on to make Zero in 2001 and Marty was very happy for John. Even as his teammates were getting the opportunity to play higher level ultimate, he was still able to share in their joy, even promote it. I think this is much more than mature and is a unique gift that all can strive for, but may not genuinely achieve.

-Dan Rydel

My name is John (John) Sandahl and more than anyone else, Marty Bakko taught me how to play frisbee.  I remember being a young college student and playing against Marty and thinking that I wished someday I could play with the tenacity and toughness that he displayed.

In 2000 I played with Marty as my captain/coach on a team called swank.  It was a team of players with a common competitive goal of qualifying for the national championships which combined several very young raw players (Many of whom went on to play with Zero) with lots of very experienced players (most of whom had played with the top minneapolis team Sub Zero for a year or more). Those practices and games I played with Marty were instrumental in my development and there were several scrimmages with Sub Zero where I noticed Marty looking out for me.  He was pushing me and encouraging me at the same time.  I loved the feeling of making a play for him, just like i had as a high school athlete. He was a coach you wanted to do well for.

The team did well but didn't reach our goal of making nationals and personally I was frustrated to not have made a bigger impact for the team at regionals.  I wrote him an email and asked him to explain how I might get better or improve and he did a masterful job at encouraging me to keep working and the next year when I made Sub Zero I couldn't wait to share my joy with Marty.  He was all smiles and hugs.  There was no disappointment that I had left his team And then we had to be opponents and I remember a real sense of gratitude that someone like marty existed to help me grow into the player I had become.  The following year he played on a masters team in Hawaii while Sub Zero played in the same tournament and I got to hang out with him as a peer.  It was a real honor.

To this day I coach and teach ultimate with him in mind as one of my role models for how to take ultimate seriously, without taking yourself too seriously.  He will be greatly missed.

-John Sandahl