Halloween Costume

The best Halloween costume by a Sludge player goes to...

CHarlie in CHostume

Well Done!

Spirit of the Game

Happy Halloween! Do you believe in Ultimate's Spirit of the Game?
Read a haunting TRUE story about a live disc.

Club 2012 Nationals Recap

Over this past weekend, the 4-day 2012 Club Nationals tournament organized by USA Ultimate concluded in Sarasota, Florida. Game conditions were, again, not ideal as steady winds from Hurricane Sandy distracted from Ultimate's true sport flow.

Congratulations to the following 2012 winners...
Masters 3-peat Champions:
Minnesota Surly (1) over Raleigh-Durham Boneyard (3)
WEEKEND TOTALS: 43 games played; 824 points scored.

Mixed Repeat Champions:
San Francisco Blackbird (11) over San Francisco Polar Bears (1)
WEEKEND TOTALS: 66 games played; 1633 points scored.

Women 7-peat Champions:
San Francisco Fury (1) over Seattle Riot (2)
WEEKEND TOTALS: 67 games played; 1583 points scored.

Open (Men) 1st-time Champions:
Austin Doublewide (4) over San Francisco Revolver (2)
WEEKEND TOTALS: 65 games played; 1599 points scored.

Grand Masters Champions: [played Sept 2012]
Minnesota Surly GM (3) over Philadelphia Scrapple (1)

View video archive of select games [YouTube].

Week 8

Win 15-3. More details (hopefully) later...

Magic Spirit

Ultimate already exists. What are your other 2 wishes?

Recap: Age of 2012 Club Rosters

A recap of the breakdown of the Men's (Open) Division, the Women's Division, the Mixed Division & the Master's Division:

Club Championships 2012

USA Ultimate's 2012 Club Championships, in Sarasota, Florida, spans October 25 - 28 to "crown" the best in the Masters, Mixed, Open [Men's], & Women's Divisions. Due to a restructuring, 2012 will be the last time club teams will play competitive Ultimate without financial incentive.

Watch the youthful Men's Division, the spry Women's Division, the slightly more mature Mixed Division & the older Master's Division.

View the Schedule & Seeding.

Secure a strong internet signal & watch the Ultimate action! Free! Live Stream Schedule [NGN]:
THURSDAY, Oct 25
9:30am Mixed Pool Play [San Francisco Polar Bears vs Atlanta Bucket]
12:15pm Women's Pool Play [Boston Brute Squad vs Madison Heist]
4pm Men's Pool Play [Seattle Sockeye vs Atlanta Chain Lightning]

FRIDAY, Oct 26
9:30am Men's Power Pools
12:15pm Women's Power Pools
3:30pm Mixed Pre-Quarters

SATURDAY, Oct 27
9:30am Women's Quarters
1:15pm Men's Semis
4:00pm Masters Finals

SUNDAY, Oct 28
9am Mixed Finals
11:45am Women's Finals
2:30pm Men's Finals

MLU Locations

The Major League Ultimate announced ten locations for their 2013 season which consists of east and west coast sites. Specifically, 2 northeastern states, 1 New England city, 1 east coast city, 1 east coast territory, plus 2 California cities + 3 northwestern cities. BTW, here were my site predictions.

Eastern Division: Boston, New Jersey, New York, Philadelphia & Washington, D.C.

Western Division: Portland, San Francisco, San Jose, Portland, Seattle, & Vancouver.

Future sites: Chicago, Denver, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Toronto

Distances To/From MLU locations

NOTES: Chart measures the distance from two points.
Trenton was designated as the New Jersey city for this chart.
Eastern Division travel: 174 miles = avg distance between divisional cities. Shortest = 29 miles (Trenton  <--> Philadelphia); Longest = 395 miles (Boston <--> Washington, DC)
Western Division: 468 miles = avg distance between divisional cities. Shortest = 42 miles (San Francisco <--> San Jose); Longest = 827 miles (Vancouver <--> San Jose)

USAU's Triple Crown Tour

After introducing the non-tennis-related summer Ultimate tournament, USA Ultimate announced huge news for competitive teams. USAU's Triple Crown may sound like it's Medieval or about horse racing; so why not Game of Throwns?

USA Ultimate's Triple Crown Tour

Teams competing in the Triple Crown Tour will be divided into 4 competitive tiers (Flights) based on results from the previous season. The top 8 teams will be awarded a spot in the Pro Flight, while the next eight teams will compete in the Elite Flight. A maximum of 32 teams (four per geographic region) will be included in the Select Flight, and an unlimited number of remaining teams will be slotted into the Classic Flight.

Throughout the summer and fall, teams will compete in a structured Regular Season and Postseason format with an opportunity to win the three major components of the Triple Crown - the U.S. Open Ultimate Championships, the Pro Flight Regular Season, and the National Championships.

Regular Season sanctioned events will begin in June, while the U.S. Open Ultimate Championships in July will serve as the first of several Pro Flight events on the Triple Crown Tour. The Regular Season continues with various Flight-specific and cross-Flight Challenge events, as well as sanctioned USA Ultimate tournaments, providing a formal structure in which all teams will compete. The Regular Season is then followed by the Postseason, consisting of Sectional Playoffs, Regional Playoffs and the National Championships.

Teams performing well throughout the Triple Crown Tour will be rewarded for performance with a variety of incentives, including prize money for winning each of the three components, a bonus for winning the Triple Crown, byes to the Regional Playoffs, wildcards to Nationals, an invitation to the U.S. Open and more.

Unlike any sporting structure in the world, the Triple Crown Tour is accessible to any team. And while only four teams per division are eligible to win the Triple Crown in any given year, the structure features a promotion and relegation dynamic that allows teams to play their way into the Pro Flight and Triple Crown contention over time.

More explanation. [Ultiworld]

Women Club Teams 2012

The following is based on USA Ultimate's recently published team rosters. The chart below displays the sixteen (16) Women teams that qualified for the USAU National Club Championships, their seed, how many players on their published roster, plus the team's average age and its age rank. These teams from all over the map play October 25-28 in Sarasota, Florida.

NOTES: Women division has no age restrictions, but is open only to females.

Calculations exclude Vancouver Traffic due to lack of published age data.
The average age of the fifteen qualifying Women teams players = 26.2 y.o.; N = 371.
16th-seeded Hot Metal has the youngest player roster (22.9 y.o.) while 7th-seeded Atlanta Ozone are oldest (28.3 y.o).
The Hot Metal roster has the youngest player (16 y.o.); Molly Brown has the oldest player (40 y.o.) in this division.
Every player on the published roster was factored into the calculations.

RELATED: Seed + Age Charts for Masters . Mixed . Open .

Open Club Teams 2012

The following is based on USA Ultimate's recently published team rosters. The chart below displays the sixteen (16) Open teams that qualified for the USAU National Club Championships, their seed, how many players on their published roster, plus the team's average age and its age rank. These teams from all over the map play October 25-28 in Sarasota, Florida.

NOTES: Open division has no age or gender restrictions.
Calculations exclude Atlanta Chain Lightning due to lack of published age data. UPDATED
The average age of the sixteen qualifying Open teams players = 26.2 y.o.; N = 418.
15th-seeded Madison Club has the youngest player roster (24.9 y.o.) while 8th-seeded Furious George are oldest (28.6 y.o).
The Madison Club roster has both the youngest player (18) and the oldest player (39) in this division.
Every player on the published roster was factored into the calculations.

RELATED: Seed + Age Charts for Masters . Mixed . Women .

DC Ultimate Teams at Nationals 2012

Three Washington, DC Ultimate teams are playing at the Club National Championships, organized by USA Ultimate. Played in Sarasota, Florida over October 25-28, the Championships are the post-season of the Ultimate regular season, sectional tournament and qualifying regional tournament. Good luck to the DC Ultimate teams!

"When I root, I root for The District!"

DC Scandal (Women's team)
Mid-Atlantic Region Ranking: #1
National Ranking: #3
Tournament Seed: 1st

DC Truck Stop (Men's team)
Mid-Atlantic Region Ranking: #1
National Ranking: #12
Tournament Pool Seed: 3rd

Chesapeaked (Masters Men's team)
Mid-Atlantic Region Ranking: #1
National Ranking: #10
Tournament Pool Seed: 5th

Week 7: cancelled

Games cancelled due to Friday's night's inclement weather.

Behind-the-Back Backhand huck

Impressive execution!

Week 6: Prevailing

After such a FUstratiNg time playing Ultimate on the beach last weekend, the solid ground and sporadic wind was welcomed. The difference between Saturday's wind strength compared to OBX was as different as the strong ocean waves were to ripples in the (heated) swimming pool.

Sludge began with three break scores; Henry to Russ, a bookend by Jen and then Mike's apt-advised hammer to Steve. Natitude quickly set in fearing big early leads; 3-1. CHarlie restored brown's O with an upline backhand to Brian; 4-2.

The play of the game was a full layout one-handed catch by CHris at the sideline of a low backhand from CHarlie. This scenario had played out a few times during beach Ultimate, but for end-of-point scores. So, NICH quickly established a pivot and threw a 30-yard cross-field flick laser to Nigel; 5-2.

Sludge D was again establishing their many-throws-zone thanks to a stable cup presence. Russ' bookend; 7-3. Another break score led to a flow from MattHew to Nigel to Sarah; 8-3.

The energetic first half continued after halftime. More breaks cores led to a Bucci to Joe to Nigel chain; 9-3. Russ' ill-advised cross-field flick was tipped by the defense and grrabbed by MattHew in the endzone; 11-3.

ReRun's one-point switch to zone D was one of the quicker points of the game with MicHael and CHarlie handling complemented with timely cuts from Jen, Brian and RacHel; 12-5.

Solid all-around performance by Sludge not only creating turnovers, but also seizing on the TOs with efficient point-making. Win 15-6.

Mixed Club Teams 2012

The following is based on USA Ultimate's recently published team rosters. The chart below displays the sixteen (16) Mixed teams that qualified for the USAU National Club Championships, their seed, how many players on their published roster, plus the team's average age and its age rank. These teams from all over the map play October 25-28 in Sarasota, Florida.

NOTES:  This mixed gender competition division compete with either a 4:3 or 3:4 gender ratio.

The average age of the sixteen qualifying Mixed teams players = 26.8 y.o.; N = 407.

8th-seeded Overhaul has the youngest player roster while 2nd-seeded The Ghosts are oldest (30.4 y.o.)

The three youngest players are 18; Bucket has two, and Mental Toss Flycoons has one.

There are three players who are 40+; 1 aged 40 (American BBQ), Blackbird & Cosa Nostra each have 1 player aged 42.

Every player - regardless of gender - on the published roster was factored into the calculations. 

RELATED: View Seed + Age Chart for: Masters . Open . Women .

Masters Club Teams 2012

USA Ultimate's recently published team rosters. Based on the published data, the chart below displays the twelve (12) Masters teams that qualified for the USAU National Club Championships, their seed, how many players on their published roster, plus the team's average age and its age rank. These teams play Oct 25-28 in Sarasota, Florida.

NOTES:  Masters Division is limited to players 33 years and older in the year of competition.

The average age of the twelve qualifying Masters teams players = 37.9 y.o.; N = 321.

Chesapeaked holds the 10th seed and has the oldest average aged with five rostered players aged 50 or older; the oldest being 55.

Crawl - the only other team with a 50+ player (51 y.o.) is seeded 12th, but is youngest in average age.

Crawl & Chesapeaked each have one player on their rosters aged "32."

Every player on the published roster was factored into the calculations.

RELATED: Seeds + Age Charts for Mixed . Open. Women.

Forty Years Ago: College Ultimate Beginnings

Forty years ago today (October 15), the first inter-collegiate game of Ultimate (Frisbee) was played originally scheduled. The 1972 match between Rutgers and Princeton was organized by Irv Kalb.

Here's how Irv's typed letter to Wham-O would have played out on twitter...

[Updated thanks to Glenn Poole]

MLU 10/15 Notice

The MLU's 10/15/12 announcement was posted, and it reveals this new national professional Ultimate league will have "locations" and a "schedule"... plus a countdown to November 12, 2012.

Per Major League Ultimate's facebook page: "The is just the first step. It is an introduction. Stay tuned for regular updates and league details. The coming weeks will answer plenty of questions."

Here's what the updated website really means:

Mock MLU site update

[MAP] Club Teams 2012

The following Ultimate teams qualified for the 2012 USA Ultimate Club Championships in Sarasota, FL (October 25 -28).

Team Map (Open)

Open Division (listed alphabetically)

• Boost Mobile (Palo Alto, CA) 
• Chain Lightning (Atlanta, GA) 
• Doublewide (Austin, TX) 
• Furious George (Vancouver, BC) 
• GOAT (Toronto, ON) 
• Ironside (Boston, MA) 
• Johnny Bravo (Denver, CO) 
• Machine (Chicago, IL) 
• Madison Club (Madison, WI) 
• PoNY (New York, NY) 
• Revolver (San Francisco, CA) 
• Rhino (Portland, OR) 
• Ring of Fire (Raleigh, NC) 
• Sockeye (Seattle, WA) 
• Sub Zero (Minneapolis, MN) 
• Truck Stop (Washington, DC)

---------------------------------

Team Map (Women)

Women's Division (alpha sort)

• Brute Squad (Boston, MA)
• Capitals (Ottawa/Toronto, ON) 
• Fury (San Francisco, CA)
• Heist (Madison, WI) 
• Hot Metal (Pittsburgh, PA) 
• Molly Brown (Denver, CO) 
• Nemesis (Chicago, IL) 
• Nightlock (San Francisco, CA) 
• Ozone (Atlanta, GA) 
• Phoenix (Triangle, NC) 
• Riot (Seattle, WA) 
• Scandal (Washington, DC) 
• Schwa (Portland, OR) 
• Showdown (Austin, TX) 
• Traffic (Vancouver, BC) 
• Underground (Seattle, WA) 

--------------------------------------------

Team Map (Mixed)

Mixed Division (alpha sort)

• 7 Figures (Los Angeles, CA)
• American BBQ (Oakland, CA)
• AMP (Philadelphia, PA)
• Blackbird (Bay Area, CA)
• Bucket (Atlanta, GA)
• Chad Larson Experience (Ames, IA)
• Cosa Nostra (Austin, TX)
• Drag’N Thrust (Minneapolis, MN)
• Mental Toss Flycoons (Missoula, MT)
• Mischief (San Francisco, CA)
• Odysseé (Montreal, QC)
• Overhaul (Ann Arbor, MI)
• Polar Bears (Bay Area, CA)
• Slow White (Boston, MA)
• The Ghosts (Boston, MA)
• Wild Card (Amherst, MA)

Ultimate Field Comparison: Beach vs Land (Updated)

Updated this past comparison to account for the reduced end zones...

Beach dimensions are 27W x 81L (16 + 49 + 16) are 50% smaller than land dimensions of 40W x 110L (20 + 70 + 20).

How an Ultimate field compares to a beach Ultimate field (yards):

• Total Length: 110 vs 81 [-26%]
• Width: 40 vs 27 [-33%]
• End Zones: 20 vs 16 [-20%]
• Total Area: 4400 vs 2187 [-50%]

Cleat Storage

Whether wearing them or not, here's a simple option of how to store Ultimate cleats. This device has an "interesting" product name that probably shouldn't be said too loud. 

The Klitch

Info: A footwear clip that allows you to hang extra cleats or sneakers to the outside of your bag. This avoids getting the inside of your bag dirty, wet, smelly, & full. Great for anyone who plays sports, works out, or has an active lifestyle. The Klitch can be used for any type of footwear up to 10 lbs.

Price: $12.99

Ultimate Frisbee Cake

As if playing Ultimate isn't sweet enough; you can eat Ultimate, too! 

These amazingly designed Ultimate Frisbee desserts are in line with the "Frisbie" tradition:

"Ultimate" Bday Cake with marzipan cleats [tastes like yum]

Top of a wedding cake [Simply Stunning Cake Design]

Designed with Discraft Ultrastar logo. [Cake Central]

White Frisbee atop chocolate cake [via]

Ulti field cake [super sweet tooth]

Layout Cake [via]

"You're the Ultimate" cake design [via]

White Disc with blue skies [via]

Yellow 175-gram Ultra-Star cake [via]

Red Ultra-Star disc cake [via]

Cake with Old UPA logo stencil. Nice hand addition. [via]

DisC

A dated disc at a recent pickup...

DC-centric disc

Ultimate on the Mall (1989-2009): Twenty years without a tourist fatality.

Fifty? Objection!

Happy 50th Birthday, David!

Welcome to the Brown Hoodie Club, David! Even at age 50, you never lose your "appeal."

2OBX12

Welcome Home, Sludge!

Fish Tales (OBX)

Major League Ultimate

Major League Ultimate (MLU) is the new American Ultimate Disc League (AUDL)!
Major League Ultimate website.

The 2012 Major League Ultimate is the renewed major league Ultimate from 2006?

[SOURCE: ProUltimateBeat]

MLU's twitter account:

Twitter: @MLUltimate [10/5]

[As of 10/12]

RELATED: Explaining the AUDL Eastern Division.

Explaining the AUDL Eastern Division

The Philadelphia Spinners are rumored to be departing the AUDL & starting another (new & improved) professional Ultimate league.

Here's a visual recap of going-ons with the 4 inaugural AUDL teams in the Eastern Division:

Disc-y Business T-shirt

As seen in "Soda Tax" episode [S5;E2] of NBC's Parks and Recreation.

Parks and Recreation Disc-y Business T-Shirt

Info: Get the "Ultimate" Parks and Recreation Disc-y Business T-Shirt and you'll be so bomb at wearing t-shirts. Blue cotton tee features "Disc-y Business" (front) and "Carlton College I.M. Champions 1994" (back) in yellow, representing Ben's intramural Ultimate team.

Price: $26.00

ULTi-tunes

There has been a growing pool of options for catching up on Ultimate news - blogs, Facebook, online magazines, twitter, tumblr, printed magazines, ESPN, YouTube, Ustream, and a few audio varieties.

Hearing Ultimate from Ultimate players in their own voice, like this radio interview of Stork, brings to life what is so special about this sport - the people.

Some Ultimate audible options:
> The UltiVerse (Jan 2008 - Nov 2010)
Bringing a voice to the world of Ultimate.

> SKYD magazine's Skydcast (since Feb 2011)

> The Ultimate Podcast (since Sept 2012)
Dedicated to not only the game of ultimate, but the players themselves.

> Convert tweets into text-to-speech.