PDQ

The American Ultimate Disc League season starts mid-April, so teams are finalizing rosters.

AUDL players can run (fast) & jump (high). [Connecticut Constitution]

The AUDL may use a red disc [Rhode Island Rampage]

Incomplete

A good throw uncaught is undesirable.

THE Ultimate Frisbee Problem

Knowing Ultimate relies heavily on a disc, this broken Frisbee may be THE biggest Ultimate problem. Ultimate Problems [tumblr] may agree to disagree.

[From Russell / Washington, DC]

Black & White Issue

T-shirt color can be problematic at Ultimate pickup games. Unless you're shopping for paint, more dark (black) hues exist than light (white) color. Caution: You are susceptible to not being thrown to &/or forcing a "shirt foul" by wearing an ambiguous color. 

Networking

Sludge recently $upported an Ultimate project via Kickstarter.

NexGen Ultimate - the entity who expo'd Ultimate around the country during summer 2011 - are planning the nextgeneration of themselves -- NexGen Network. The plan is an online television network that regularly broadcasts Ultimate using multi-camera setups, elevated perspective, instant replays and expert commentary.

Heads-up Attitude

Sarah performed with Wong People on Monday night at the Whole Foods on P Street. The Lion Dance is said to scare away evil spirits and bring about good luck and fortune for the Chinese New Year. Down each aisle went the Dance, with an elongated stop at the sushi bar. (just an observation.)

Sarah leads the drum, gong & cymbal

Sarah heading up the Dance.

Eat More Beer

After a successful inaugural gathering, here's another opportunity to...EAT MORE  DRINK MORE BEER.

WHEN: Wednesday, January 25. 7-10pm ET

WHERE: Meridian Pint
[3400 11th St NW; Washington, DC]

RSVP: To Joe

BONUS SURPRISE: Rob plans to attend.

Xin Nian Kuai Le

The Chinese New Year (year of the Dragon) officially started Monday.
Happy Lunar New Year!

HAPPY frisBee Day!

Happy 55th Birthday, Frisbee!



On this day in history, WHAM-O recounts... A building inspector named Fred Morrison puttered with and refined a plastic flying disc that he sold to WHAM-O® in 1955. Introduced to the consumer market in 1957 as the Pluto Platter™ (the name inspired by the country's obsession with Unidentified Flying Objects), it was modified in 1958, renamed the FRISBEE® disc, and has become an American icon.

Favorite Brown

I want tocklate milk! It's my favorite brown!!

Fast Count

During Ultimate games, a leap second will often appear somewhere late in the stall count to ten. Stalling 1; 2...; 3...; 4...; 5..; 6...; 7...; 8...; 9, 10.

"Leap seconds are an inconvenience...," said Ken Seidelmann, a research professor at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville and former director of astrometry at the U.S. Naval Observatory.

Killing off the leap second would also result in atomic clocks slowly outrunning the solar day by a rate of about 90 seconds a century. After many thousands of years, atomic clocks would say it's midday when outside the sun has yet to rise.

"This is replacing a small problem with a big problem further down the line," said Daniel Gambis, an astronomer at the Paris Observatory and the man who alerted timekeepers around the world to the next leap second. Unlike the better-known leap year, which adds a day to February in a familiar four-year cycle (with a few well-defined exceptions), the leap second is tacked on once every few years to synchronize atomic clocks — the world’s scientific timekeepers — with Earth’s rotational cycle, which, sadly, does not run quite like clockwork. The next one is scheduled for June 30 (do not bother to adjust your watch).

Still, the time for change has come, she argued. Unless a last minute consensus is reached, delegates at the ITU meeting in Geneva are expected to vote on the issue Thursday or Friday.

UPDATE: ITU Radiocommunication Assembly Defers Decision to Eliminate the Leap Second


USA Ultimate Rules [11th Edition] already address a similar violation.
Under XIV. Marker/1. Fast Count:
a. If the marker does not say stalling to initiate or resume a stall count, counts at intervals of less than one second, or skips a number in the count, it is a fast count.
b. If a fast count occurs in such a manner that the thrower does not have a reasonable opportunity to call fast count before the first utterance of the word ten, the play is treated as a contested stall ( the stall count resumes at 8).
c. If this (b. from above) occurs in the same possession following a contested stall, the stall count resumes at 6.

Frisbee Weather

The Washington Post's report proclaimed Tuesday's weather (January 17) a term Ultimate players refer to as "everyday".

This has been a winterless winter, a season that can’t make it past lunchtime without busting out in a springtime melody. Every time cold weather shows up, it catches a flight back north the next day. Snow this year is a thing of myth and legend.

Tuesday was typical of Winter 2012 here: chilly and damp in the morning, but Frisbee weather by mid-afternoon. The calendar insisted, implausibly, that it was Jan. 17.

Gripping

The potpourri of catches must begin with a throw.

Four right-side UP disc throws; five upside-DOWN disc throws.

Banana Protection

With the help of apples, bananas can ripen faster. With the aid of molded plastic, your snack for the Ultimate game can be protected.  

Banana Guard [Lookfly Ultimate Gear] 

Info: Are you fed up with bringing bananas to your Ultimate game only to find them bruised and squashed?

The Banana Guard was specially designed to fit the vast majority of bananas. Its other features include multiple small perforations to facilitate ventilation thereby preventing premature ripening and a sturdy locking mechanism to keep the Banana Guard closed.

Testing indicates that over 95% of commercially available bananas will fit into the Banana Guard. Highly curved bananas can be straightened ever-so-slightly without harm to fit the Banana Guard shape. The opposite holds true of very straight bananas. Color options: Red, Pink, Blue, Green.

Price: £ 2.00

Sludgeys 2011

SEVENTH Annual Sludgey Awards

Wash, DC ~ Saturday, January 14, 2012

Congrats to all nominees, participants & winners.

Andrew
Best/Most Defensive Award

Brian 
Callahan Award

Bucci
Biggest Traveler Award

C.G.H.
Best Captain Award

Chris
Best Acquisition Award 

Christy
Best/Most Offensive Play Award

David
World Peace Award

Hechter
Best Addition Award

Jen
Biggest Best Brown Movement Award

Joe
Best Comeback Award

Matthew
Most Improved/Worsened Award
AND Raffle Prize Winner of Skinny Dish!

Mike
Best Spirit of the Game Award (off field)

Nigel
Best Teamwork Award

Rachel
Best Fashion Award

Russ
Best Food Offering Award 

Sarah
Best Performance Award

Steve
Most Entertaining Moment Award (at OBX)

Best/Most Offensive Play (Group)
Sludge's advancement in the spring season's post-season.

#1 Fan Award
Sludge Generation II
+++++++++++++++++++++

Awards History: 2010 .  2009 . 2008 . 2007 . 2006.

##

Sludgey Eve

The 7th Annual SLUDGEYS are tomorrow!!!


[X] Pickup.
[X] Food.
[X] Acceptance speech.
[X] Appetite.

Flickiness

Remember this product featured back in January 2008? 

Snot Spot offers a simple, yet great wardrobe malfunction. Made of soft, high-quality, moisture-resistant fleece & is worn directly over your winter glove, mitten, or even on a bare hand....always accessible surface to take care of those pesky drips...a fantastic spot to put your snot.

Like Viagra was to high blood pressure, the Snot Spot might also help reduce "Frisbee Finger".

Ultimate Board Game

Sit down & play Ultimate!

ULTIMATE - The Flying Disc Boardgame

How to Play: ULTIMATE is a boardgame for 2 players, dedicated to the sport of Ultimate. In the real sport and in the Ultimate boardgame, two teams of 7 athletes compete to launch and receive a Freesbee in the opponent's end zone, scoring 1 point. In the boardgame, the team who first scores 3 points wins. Or, players may agree to the best score after 15 or 30 minutes. The game board is a hexed field. The team in possession of the disc may either: MOVE one athlete, OR LAUNCH the disc.

Info: Created & illustrated by Angelo Porazzi, proud member of Ultireds Milano Team (1988). Set includes:
(1) MiniDisc
(1) Hexed field, A3 format, full color, protected in a laminated shield
(1) Rule Sheet , A4 format, full color, in English, protected in a laminated shield
(2) TEAMS of 7 athletes each, mounted on coloured woodenblocks. Option to customize per your favorite team color(s) [NOTE: One "real Ultimate Team" available is: "Sludge, Endicott USA: Brown, Black, Brown"]

Price: €15 euro (~$20 USD)

What's Cooking

Prepare your pallet &/or palate for the Sludgey 2011 Gala.
David/Gayle - Beer and yellow cake (naturally).
Bucci - Fiery Cashew Dip [Skinny Dish!]
MicHael - Sesame Soba Noodles
Sarah/Steve - Baked tofu; hummos + carrots; beer; dessert (maybe)
Andrew - Soft drinks & tomato mozzarella salad
Fishpez - Green salad. Some sort of entree. Beer. Something sweet (maybe).
RacHel - Muhammara & pita chips.
Jen/Brian - Carrot Ginger Soup; Guacamame

Flow Chart II

"Wherefore art thou Flow?" The unteachable ultimate goal for an Ultimate offense. Found it! 

The graph below shows FLOW sandwiched between "Arousal" & "Control", and similar to another Chart of Flow charts FLOW based on levels of Challenge and Skill.

Live Strong

7 days without Ultimate makes one weak!
[Inspiration]

Fail Option

[Source: bmccall]

Like, Whatever

Take a second to think about the word Ultimate. Now, make that second last & you have penultimated Ultimate.

English includes more words than any other language, and this glorious variety gives speakers of English an unparalleled capacity for nuance and precise expression. But sometimes this gift can be difficult to discern.

Alarmed by this tendency, the Word Warriors of Wayne State University propose to help rejuvenate the language we love by advocating for words of style and substance that see far too little use.

Word Warrior's 2012 list of remarkably useful and expressive words that deserve more chances to enrich our language: Antediluvian. Erstwhile. Execrable. Frisson. Parlous. Sisyphean.  Supercilious.  Transmogrify.  Truckle. And,...
Penultimate - Next to last. Winning the penultimate Ultimate game allows that team to advance to the last Ultimate game (the championship).

Where They 'Bee

The ultimate  problem issue with owning so many frisbees is where to stash them; in the car, the closet, or basement.

Conan's Backhand

Conan repeatedly backhands a frisbee into the camera with the help of an invisible string.

Remember when Ultimate Frisbee was recently mentioned on 'The Tonight Show'?

Word with Friends

[Source: TypePlay]
Or...

Centric

Do Over: December 2011

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

Ulti-mating Behavior

Speed Up Aging

Completely Understand Ultimate

Exercising Rights

Auld Lang Syne

Happy New Year - 2012!