B.O. in 2010

After 365 days and 416 posts in twenty-ten, what better way to reflect on the yesteryear? Based on reader enjoyment, here is 2010's ‘"Best"-Of’ listing from each month of SLOG postings.

* January: Thumbs Up & Mistaken Identity

* February: More Morrison

* March: Always Be Prepared & Saturday Nite Look

* April: Friendly & Masters

* May: Catching Up to the Times & fRisbeE-USE

* June: Frisbee Afterlife AND Did You Know-O

* July: Flow Chart AND Ültimate Umlauted

* August: Flat Out Truth & Frisbee by the Numbers

* September: SLUDGEopardy

* October: Ultimate? & Seven on the Line

* November: Listen to your Mother & Cookie Mistake

* December: High 2Five & Voice of fRisbEE-SON

Past Best Of's: 2009's B.O. .. 2008's B.O.

Gots additional favorite postings? Have your say in the Comments.

High 2Five

The 25th season of Sludge was 1/4 nostalgic + 1/4 quotable, 1/4 special + 1/4 memorable. A lookback at the posted logos you may have enjoyed/missed...

You SNAID It

Domo Arigato

Pain Management

I Scream

Play On

End the current year AND start the new year with pickup.

December 31st [NYE] @ 10am

January 1st [Hangover Classic] @ 10am

Location: Polo Fields.

Heart Warmer

This year's Washington Ballet production of "The Nutcracker" featured Amelia (bottom right) as (what else) an angel.

G'Day

Greetings from Down Under.

Photo is of the captain, proudly wearing Sludge brown, and NC at the summit of Cradle Mountain looking for signs of MicHael. I am confident that he had been there recently but I could find no trace!!!
We are having a great time & have taken some good photos (and many bad ones) of some amazing scenery. Beach below is Wineglass Bay - a potential for next year's OBX.

Happy Christmas to all and looking forward to being together in the new year!!!
Ch

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Tweet, Pray, Love

Vote for Jen's twitter feed/blog which has been nominated in the Washington Post's Top Tweeps 2010 in DC in the category of Favorite Foodie.

Which Washington,DC-area #DCTweeps topped your Twitter lists this year? We've sorted through hundreds of nominations & plugged your choices for the best of local social media into the online ballot.

VOTING: Until 11:59 p.m. EST Dec. 31, 2010.

WINNERS ANNOUNCED: Jan. 3, 2011

Toss, Not Toss Out

Sarah found an article on non-archival items found in boxes transferred to the Smithsonian Institution Archives in 2010. An obvious oversight, it erroneously lists the frisbee - one of the most influential items from the last century worthy to bring into the 21st century - as an item to toss away, instead of retaining to toss.

"I Found It In the Archives" [TBP . 10.14.10]

Some of these items are returned to the transfer office, some end up in the museum collections, some are deaccessioned (i.e. removed from the Smithsonian’s collections), and some we can simply toss.

As archivists, we are constantly making the hard decisions about what is worth keeping and what is not based on SIA’s mission and collecting parameters. But some decisions, as with the items below, are relatively easy...

Downing the Brown

Decorative

Righty "Lucy"

Throwback post: The Huck Before Xmas.

Where in the World?

Paying homage to the worldly mobility of Sludge...

Today's Features: CHarlie, MicHael

Q: Where in the World are they?

A: CHarlie is in Tasmania.

A: MicHael was in Tasmania.

Tangent

Q: A 4.5-ft tall girl is standing 22 ft from a tree and sees her Frisbee stuck at the top of the 36-ft tree. What is the angle of elevation from the girl's line of sight to the Frisbee? (Round to the nearest degree.)

Submit answers in comments.

Up Call

'TRON'-y Eight years Later...

After 28 years, the sequel for TRON hits movie theaters today! Anyone planning to attend a screening?

Enjoy past TRONish posts:

Grin & Tronic

elecTRONic Disc

Arcade Fire the Disc

"Master Control Program Has Chosen You..."

DISCS of TRON: Serve on the Game Grid (throw lit frisbees at the other player)!

Four Real

Happy Ann'y, SLOG!!

Another daily posting; another year of posts. Four years after the very first one! Thanks for entering the URL into your Web Browser & when necessary reading!

Tastes Less, Great Filling

Lost & Find

Banana Drama

Terrified FDA Warns Something Making Bananas Brown After Several Days [Onion. 11.29.10 ISSUE 46•48]

WASHINGTON—The Food & Drug Administration made an emergency announcement Monday to alert all U. S. citizens that "a force or forces unknown" is turning seemingly normal bananas brown, soft, and virtually inedible in as little as 72 hours.

"Whatever is causing the dramatic and frankly disgusting changes in these bananas is able to penetrate any container and is completely undetectable by any known instrument," said visibly shaken FDA commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg, adding that the brown sections of banana were "quite mushy and gross." "We urge anyone currently in possession of normal yellow bananas to consume them immediately, before this mysterious browning malignancy can strike—and it will strike."

The disturbing news comes only weeks after the FDA's announcement that bananas' tough, fibrous outer layer should always be removed before consumption.

Buy-In

Is a frisbee an acceptable holiday gift for a younger sibling?
How about for an office Secret-Santa??


Search for gift ideas on THE SLOG!

Alternatively, always take advantage of complimentary delivery.

Perpetuity

USA Ultimate announced their 2011 memberships are now on sale! Whether you are a player, fan or just enjoy supporting the Ultimate enthusiast in your family, there's a membership to meet your needs.

Currently, USA Ultimate offers membership in the following categories: Youth, College, Adult, Coach, Player/Coach, Friends & Family and Lifetime. So have a look at the various levels of membership and list of benefits and choose the category that is right for you!

Join by December 31st as a Lifetime member in December & receive a $150 discount!

Price: $750 (one-time fee)

Voice of fRisbEE-SON

Marge Simpson: 'Ultimate' makes everything worse!
Otto: Not frisbee!

[Source: The Great Wife Hope (2009)]

Fangers

Good hands...fingers..., hands..., fingers..., ha..., fi...!

BOTH hands & fingers are important for catching & throwing the frisbee!

Mantel Management

Consider having your mantel tested for structural soundness. You may be in the running for another miniature trophy!

Please answer the call today.

Frisbee-influenced Football

Brian caught this video of a college football player demonstrating some greatest elements.

Surely there must be something you can do...

I'm doing everything I can...and stop calling me Shirley!
-- Dr. Rumack (Airplane!)

More...
“Dr. Rumack [Leslie Nielsen (1926 - 2010)]: You'd better tell the Captain we've got to land as soon as we can. This woman has to be gotten to a hospital.
Elaine Dickinson: A hospital? What is it?
Dr. Rumack: It's a big building with patients, but that's not important right now.

Game-ous

Husband: Well I, for one, enjoy being in a committed, monotonous relationship.
Wife: Monogamous.

Do Over: November 2010

Catch up on last month's noteworthy posts you may have missed...

BOweLD MOVE

Ultimate Style

Pull & Cut at Pickup

TherapyB-leeg

$ettle

Almost as embarassing as WikiLEAKS, Andrew exposed Sludge's eating & spending habits whislt at The Sun.

Total meals = 126

Alcohol expenditures = $131.00

Edibles expenses = $494.00

Beer/wine costs charged to kids = $0

Quantity of purchasers = 6 (Andrew, Matthew, Joe, Kelly, Steve & Nigel)

Pay up per the payment plan!

Call for Noms 2010

Call for Nominations - SLUDGEYS 2010

Submit your nominations (anecdotes/fabrications) within calendar year '10, factoring in the spring season + fall season, to the Awards Committee in these possible areas:

Best OBX Moment Award
Criteria: A memorable time at our happy, sandy place.

Best Online Posting Award
Criteria: A quality communique via an online format. Read samples from 2009.

Biggest Best Brown Movement Award
Criteria: No criterion. Go with your gut.

Best/Most Offensive Play on Offense (Individual)
Criteria: Scoring is a big part of offense, but that’s not the only criterion for receipt of this award. In any particular game or period of a game, did someone exhibit mad throwing skills? Or incredible catching talent?? Or great cutting proficiencies? Overall common sense on offense?

Best/Most Offensive Play on Offense (Group)
Criteria: Which Sludge group play best put up the numbers en route to Sludge’s total score in a particularly impressive game?

Best/Most Defensive Play on Defense (Individual)
Criteria: “Our best defense is a good offense,” does not justify America’s military, so that pre-emptive crap doesn’t have a place here. The best play by an individual, which was most responsible for Sludge’s defensive success in a particular game.

Best/Most Defensive Play on Defense (Group)
Criteria: The best group play that was most responsible for keeping the opponent from scoring.

Most Entertaining Point/Moment (on the field or sidelines)
Criteria: A moment or point, in or near the game, that resulted in laughing, crying, blushing, delirium, and/or throwing up.

Spirit of the Game Award (on the field)
Criteria: By the book, “Ultimate has traditionally relied upon a spirit of sportsmanship.… In Ultimate, the honor system works…” blah, blah, blah.

Best Spirit of the Game Award (off the field)
Criteria: Karma; following the Golden Rule; by the Law, not getting arrested.

Best World Peace Award
Criteria: Best moment of someone walking away when they really wanted to punch the opponent.

Most Improved/Worsened Award
Criteria: Did someone nicely recover from an injury? Basically, did someone smartly slow down the worsening process?

Best Fashion Award (on the field)
Criteria: Best fashion statement that displayed stunning presentation, style, attitude, and wonderful overall appearance to supplement the standard issue brown t-shirt. Otherwise known as the Chris ‘wolfie’ Wolfson Award in honor of Wolfie's furry winter hat.

Best Food Offering Award
Criteria: Best edible offering based on taste, creativity, and appearance at either a game, Sludgefest, OBX, or pickup. Otherwise known as the ‘Bruce’ Award in honor of his delicious oatmeal cookies.

Best Story About ‘the Bestest’ Play Award (Fiction)
Criteria: Awarded to the author of the best work of fiction about ultimate, injury, family or whatever.

Best Excuse for Missing a Game Award (Fiction or Non-fiction)
Criteria: Quality of research and writing are major considerations in the judging of this award, as are insight and originality.

#1 Fan Award
Criteria: Any one, any one, at all that attends Sludge game(s) without stealing playing time from us. Cheering is not necessarily required.

Best Sludge Addition Award
Criteria: Open to purchases, offspring, significant others &/or pickups added in the calendar year.

Best Captain Award
Criteria: Best bearded person with the initials CH who reminds us that following is a lot easier than leading.

Leaft

Happy travels to all leaving DC!

Remember your PIE (tins) & Thank Yous!!

Turkey 'Toes

Not doing a bottled dinner? Here's a Thxgiving tip that the Native Americans somehow survived without...

If you have 20 pounds (?) of brown potatoes to wash for your Thanksgiving meal throw them in the top shelf of the dishwasher. Set on the quick rinse cycle and let your dishwasher clean the potatoes... definitely a space and time saver during the holidays.

Cutting Time

Cutting: Good cuts are made by recognizing space on the field and turning your defender on their heels. It's important to time your cut within the flow of your offense.

[Source: TGSEIBM]

It's-Not-Over View

Andrew sugarcoats...
Looking back at the recent Fall season, there's reason to think that we can still be competitive in B league (and don't need to be demoted to C).

We finished 5-6 overall (including the tournament) and scored a total of 135 points (vs. 136 points by our opponents). Even with our declining team speed, the average point differential in the games we lost was only about 4.5. In most of the losses, we were close despite lots of drops and not-great throws. If we had decreased drops and increased good throws (about 27%?), we would have likely won a few more of the close games.

The good news is that:

(1) catching and throwing don't get worse with advancing age and

(2) we have 4 months to practice before the next season.

See you at pick up...

Frisbee Feast

Whip up a batch of playing time...

> Thursday, Nov 25th - 10am @ Polo fields

> Friday, Nov 26th - 10am @ Polo fields
[26th Annual Turkey Digestive]

> Saturday, Nov 27th - 10am @ Polo fields

Do Over: Fall 2010

Week 1: Win 15-11 (1-0)

Week 2: Win 15-10 (2-0)

Week 3: Loss 14-16 (2-1)

Week 4: Win 16-14 (3-1)

Week 5: No game (3-1)

Week 6: Loss 12-15 (3-2)

Week 7: Win 15-10 (4-2)

Week 8: No game (4-2)

Week 9: Loss 10-15 (4-3)

Pool Play: Loss 8-12 + Win 13-6 + Loss 10-12 + Loss 7-15 (5-6)

Winterish Pickup 2010

Time for Saturday morning pickup! Your attendance is always welcomed!!

Where: Polo Fields, or FDR outfields.

When: 10am EST

Soy-da

Your vegan pals, if you dare invite them over for Turkey Day, may actaully prefer this non-bottled chocolate dessert.

Limited Edition 4pk ToFurky and Gravy Soda [Jones]

Info: Having friends or family over for Thanksgiving? Forget the eggnog & give brown Tofurky soda a try! Let the kids find this soda in the fridge and just watch a Truth or Dare game kick off. Tofurky makes a great gift for your vegan friends or simply a fun drink that'll help make this Thanksgiving Holiday unique.

Ingredients: Carbonated Water, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Salt, Caramel Color, Acacia Gum, Glucono Delta Lactone (Acidulant), Sucrose Acetate Isobutyrate, Medium Chain Triglyceride, Sodium Benzoate & Potassium Sortbate (preservatives), Sucralose (Splenda Brand)

Price: $5.99/4-pk

Listen to your Mother

Son: Is the living room bigger than the garage?
Mom: Yep.
Son: Mom says the living room is better for indoor frisbee.

Where in the World?

Paying homage to the worldly mobility of Sludge...

Today's Features: Joe, MicHael

Q: Where in the World are they?

A: Joe is in Italy.

A: MicHael is in Atlanta.

Beanie There, Done (with) That

Old Ha-Ha: I took my dog for a walk and played Frisbee with him, but he was useless. I really need to get a flatter dog.

Frisbee the Dog [ty]

Info: A brown beanie bow-wow "born" 6/29/2001, introduced 1/29/2002, & retired 12/27/2002.

Tag info: Throw the disc & watch me go. I'll always bring it back, you know. To me this game is always new. You'll get tired before I do!

Pool Play: 11.13.10

Game 1:

Sludge formed for their pool play game of their 25th season. What would seem routine, had a more 'teen' feel with our young opponents. Ammon, Ruthie, Anna, Daniel were cheering, but Sludge weren't scoring, 0-2.
An acrobatic goal line catch by Rachel put Sludge on the board, 1-2. After a tightening of the belt, 4-4.

Brown's zone hassleD forcing TO's especially near the endzone. During an extended point, Christy swatted down a sure score. 5-7 half.

Briefly, Sludge looked to take control as the D helped create transition O. Consecutive cuts were difficult to come by. Yet scoreboard hucks to Brian from Matthew, from David to Steve, & from Mike were all successful. Though the team wearing boxers had more fight in them. Loss 8-12.

:Game 2:
The next game flowed like easy crossword solutions. Already up 1, Chris caught a 50-yard flick to make it 3-1. Jen scored to push it to a 3 point lead, then Russ bookended (D, then score) Sludge to half, 8-5.

Zone walled up the blue-shirts against their endzone, 9-6. The offense pinched across the far sidelines for additiOnal. Opposite of loss...Win 13-6.

:Game 3:
A slender-er brown movement (bye to Fishpez & Russ) took a commanding 1-0 lead! Defense was on full display the entire game. Sarah blocked 2 endzone scores back-to-back. 3-3. Sludge outlasted Unclique on the long pointed first half, 8-6.

At 8-8, the energy output by Sludge into points did not transfer to scores. Charlie & Andrew kept pointed throws going, 10-11. With a hardcap on, the scores stopped clicking. Loss 10-12.

:Game 4:
Playing a 4th (meaningless) game is similar to reading your horoscope - it's fun, but isn't taken seriously. The 90 minutes after Sludge's toughest matchup and the last game allowed Bucci to layout (nap), MicHael to have 2 great pulls (sweaty sox off), & practice passing (nutty snacks).

Down 0-3 very quickly, Sludge looked s-crappy. Was the sun setting? Yes, literally. Such a factor that the green team switched to white. 3-5.

Sludge picked up the Pisces to get on the board. A more Libra person D was implemented, but couldn't Taurus past 25%. Sludge was beat deep & beat short. The good news: No clogging; the bad news: no cuts. 3-8.

At 7-14, Sludge was running...just not as fast as Keller or Ammon. Was the sun setting? Yes, figuratively. Loss 7-15.

-----

As always, a fun-filled day to be with Sludge! Too bad we had to keep score.

Pumpkin! Ginger!! Cookie!!!

Don't be turned off by the tarball-look of this brown batch. They shore sure are delicious -- all 40 of them!

PUMPKIN DOUBLE-GINGER COOKIES

Ingredients:
3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup nonfat plain Greek-style yogurt

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger

2 cups sifted cake flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Instructions: Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat it to 350 degrees. Coat 2 baking sheets with cooking spray or line with parchment.

In a large bowl combine the pumpkin, brown sugar, yogurt, oil and vanilla. Whisk until smooth. Stir in the crystallized ginger.

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, cinnamon, ground ginger, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet, mixing until just blended.

Drop tablespoons of the batter onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing cookies about 1.5 inches apart. Bake, in 2 batches if necessary, until lightly browned, about 15 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack & let cool. Makes 40 cookies.

Week 9: Tricky

Stashed away in the far-east corner of the FDR fields, the game started evenly with Sludge scores celebrated like a Halloween score of a full-size candy bar. 2-1, 3-4.

David's hammer(s); Jen & Rachel's cutting; MicHael, Andrew & Russ' D; Sarah, Chris & Steve's catches were super sweet, as CHarlie pushed additional sugar highs for the team.


Content on continuing the predictable Door-to-doOr collection, brown was repeatedly denied at the goal line with either throwaways or drops (not the candy kind). Instead of delicious chocolate confection, Sludge were begrudgingly on the receiving end of too many (lemon) drops. Sludge wasn’t only cut-off, they were cut on. Repeatedly. 6-8.

At 6-12, it was scary how good Sludge’s OFFense was making Karmakaze’s defense look. The team stuck at 6 points operated so much better when there wasn't a sugar rush. Field space opened up. At 7-13, goals were budged to seek more treats in the form of turnovers (not the apple kind). At thus, began the great race to a respectable double-digits. 9-14.


Sludge comeback was an hour late (early DST observance) and a few SNICKERS short. (Respectable) Loss 10-15.

aFRISBEEonado

[1968]
The Master Tournament Model designed for the aficionado, International Frisbee Association approved, weighing 150 grams with a diameter of 10.9168".

Good Fortune

Sludge advances to the B League's pool play on Saturday, Nov 13th.

Location: Sligo Middle Skool

Times/Field:
9:30 am @ Sligo #4

11 am @ Sligo #3

12:30 pm @ Sligo #4

2pm = bye

3:30 pm @ Sligo #4