Ultimate Player Attempts ANW

Matt Esser (Philadelphia Spinners, Philadelphia Patrol) competed in American Ninja Warrior (Pittsburgh). Esser's entire run was not shown, but a short clip appeared on TV.

Esser successfully managed the first obstacle Quintuple Step (Godantobi) and then attempted the Log Grip, which is described as "The competitor must hold onto a vertical log with their arms and legs while it slides down a track with two large drops to the next platform. The log contains small indentations to provide some grip. In addition, the drops are closer together, almost eliminating a chance to recover from the previous drop."

See below for the outcome...

"I look forward to next year and getting a chance to redeem myself and complete the course faster than any other contestant" -Matt Esser

— Philly Spinners (@PhillySpinners) June 30, 2015

Ultimate Teams Honor Marriage Equality

Ultimate teams updated their team logo with rainbow colors to honor the Supreme Court's ruling in favor of same-sex marriage. See below for some colorful examples:

 via dragNthrust

via Heist

via Nightlock

via Riot

via Bitmap

via Tabby Rosa

via Voodoo

via Flyers

via Mischief

via FlameThrowers

via Bird

via GMG

via Showdown

via Oregon's Women Masters

via Viva

DISCLAIMER: This is not a complete collection. 

If you know of other teams celebrating the historic SCOTUS decision with logo updates, please let us know so we can add them!

International Women's Ultimate Weekend

One weekend where women around world come together to play one sport: ultimate.

International Women's Ultimate Weekend is a worldwide event managed by Five Ultimate to support all women and girls playing the sport of ultimate. The goal of IWUW is to raise awareness for all female athletes around the world.

IWUW: Facebook . twitter . Website

Pro Ultimate Team Name Categories

Skyd Magazine attempts to categorize pro ultimate team names for the fictitious Major League American Ultimate Disc League.

[via Contested Strip]

RELATED: SLUDGE's 2014 Categorization .  2013 Categorization

SPOTTED: Spirit Circles in Pro Ultimate

Before the last two D.C. Current games, the team has formed a spirit circle with their Major League Ultimate opponent. See below for photographic evidence.

Pre-game huddle: Boston and DC [photo by Brandon Wu]

Pre-game circle: Philadelphia and DC [photo by Sean Carpenter]n

[Photos by UltiPhotos]

Ultimate Road Trip

A new traveling team of college ultimate all-stars seeks support for a summer tour. Similar to the NexGen Tour (which ended operations in 2013) this tour distinguishes itself by promoting women's ultimate.

All-Star Ultimate Tour

INFO
The All-Star Ultimate Tour 2015 is a group of elite college-aged female ultimate players who are traveling across the United States and Canada from July 27th to August 14th in 2 vans to play the top women's club teams in the country. The games are an opportunity for you to come watch the best female players in your city and to support the growth of our sport by following the Tour via the FREE live-streamed games.

With the number of hours of footage covering men's ultimate increasing and so many venues for men to compete in, this tour is one way for our community to support female athletes and women in ultimate.

Donate.

2015 TOUR SCHEDULE [July 27th thru mid August]
July 27th: Seattle, WA
July 28th: Vancouver, Canada
July 29th: Portland, OR
July 31st: Denver, CO
August 5th: Atlanta, GA*
August 7th: Raleigh, NC*
August 8th: Washington, DC*
August 10th: New York City, NY*
August 12th: Boston, MA*
*= tentative date

AJ Nelson Lands on SportsCenter Top10

In his second game back from injury, AJ Nelson (#51) on Chicago Wildfire had bookends in Sunday's game. The spectacular layout catch score highlight landed as #2 on SportsCenter Top10 list. Congrats, AJ!

Chicago (in white) vs Madison Radicals (in blue):


AJ Nelson (6'4", 200 lbs) is the captain of Chicago's AUDL and also plays on Machine - Chicago's  club ultimate team.

Quiz: Ultimate Throws

"Muk" Kuzmowycz attempts to name as many ultimate throws he in 6 seconds...And. Go!

The clip is informative with volume, and also enjoyable with the sound muted.

[Clip via CBSNY]

Leaked Memo: No Ultimate in 2020 Olympics

Flying Disc (ultimate) was considered to be added to the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, but ultimate did not make it to the next round of possible Olympic sports.

Here's the "leaked" memo to the World Flying Disc Federation from the Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

First Scheduled Pro Ultimate Doubleheader

Ernie Banks' exclamation "Let's play two!" can now be applied to pro ultimate. The American Ultimate Disc League becomes the first pro ultimate league to schedule a doubleheader. Montreal Royal is scheduled to play Rochester Dragons at 11:30am and again at 3pm on Sunday, June 21st.

The one-game-per-day format has been used since the AUDL started in 2012, while back-to-back games - 1 game on one day, 1 game the next day - has also been utilized around the league.

The second game on Sunday was not part of the original AUDL schedule; it is a makeup game of a previously weather-cancelled May 9th match. Read a games preview.

AUDL Week 11, 2015

Additionally, Montreal becomes the first pro ultimate team (AUDL) to schedule three games in two days - set to play one against Toronto Rush on Saturday and two versus Rochester on Sunday. All road games.

AUDL games are played in 12-minute quarters. So, Royal are projected to play 144 minutes (2 hours:24 minutes) of pro ultimate over this weekend.

[h/t Tyler Bynum]

Philadelphia Phoenix (0-10)

With their most recent loss to Rochester, the Philadelphia Phoenix have now lost 10 consecutive games. This losing streak encompasses their entire American Ultimate Disc League 2015 season, so far.

The Phoenix are highly projected to win at least 1 game this season. The same projections indicate there's ~10% chance that they go winless (0-14).

The renaming scheduled games for this AUDL team from Philadelphia are against DC Breeze, Rochester Dragons, and New York Empire (2).

Philadelphia Phoenix has vowed to keep their twitter avatar as a egg (0) until the team wins a game.

[images by SLUDGE]

WAFC Seeks to Hire Executive Director

The Washington Area Frisbee Club (WAFC) is seeking to hire their first paid position.

WAFC - now known as the Washington Area Flying disc Club - was originally created in 1977 with local recreational leagues playing ultimate. WAFC was runner-up in WaPo's EXPRESS "Best Amateur Sports League" contest in 2011. The website boasts 2800 members, a board of directors and currently offers a variety of ultimate leagues throughout the year in the D.C. area.

WAFC Executive Director

Reporting to WAFC's president and board of directors, the executive director will be responsible for:

• Implementing WAFC's Strategic Plan
• Managing community volunteers
• Running multiple leagues including but not limited to managing registration, scheduling, volunteers, jersey distribution, etc.
• Establishing, managing, and retaining business relationships including but not limited to USA Ultimate, merchandise vendors, fields, business partners and sponsors
• Developing and retaining a business continuity plan involving standard operating procedures
• Working with the board of directors and community volunteers to ensure transition of designated volunteer operations to the executive director
• Organizing member social events
• Managing the website and member database
• Identifying, developing and establishing best practices for the organization and the community including but not limited to financial oversight, reporting, commissioning and captain guidelines, etc.
• Safeguarding WAFC's 501(c)3 status. Attains tax exemption in state of headquarters
• Exploring alternative funding opportunities and membership structure in order to ensure organization sustainability and member satisfaction
• Working with WAFC's Board of Directors to nurture the vision of WAFC's future

Vancouver Nighthawks Squawk in Tweet

With less than 1 minute to play in the 4th quarter, this travel call evoked a twitter response by Vancouver Nighthawks on Sunday, June 14:

Tweet, which has since been deleted, from Vancouver Nighthawks immediately after their loss  [screengrab by SLUDGE]

Vancouver was down 2 goals (13 to 15) to San Francisco, and had a break opportunity. Hibbert threw an awkward step-with-the-left-throw-with-the-right backhand into the endzone for a completion, but the MLU ref called a travel by Hibbert. Instead of a Vanocuver goal (14 to 15), the Dogfish took advantage of the turnover and scored to go up 3 goals.

San Francisco Dogfish would end up winning by the score of 16-14 over Vancouver Nighthawks.

Posting Game Results by AUDL Teams (2015)

The American Ultimate Disc League completed its tenth week of regular season games, but you may not know that by visiting websites of some of the teams. ALL 25 team websites list their game schedule, yet NOT ALL teams post their game results.

• 7 of 25 teams (28%) have not posted any game score results on their website - Raleigh Flyers, Seattle Cascades, Philadelphia Phoenix, Rochester Dragons, Indianapolis AlleyCats, Madison Radicals.
• San Francisco FlameThrowers did not post results in 2014 and, again, have yet in 2015.
• 18 of 25 teams (72%) post game results on their game schedule webpage 

As explained in 2014, if a sports team has a webpage with their game schedule, then they are expected to keep it updated with results. I understand game scores can be found elsewhere (UltiAnalytics, the league, AUDL app, but why make it difficult for team fans to find the results of your games? The lack of website score reporting by over a quarter of AUDL teams is unprofessional for a professional ultimate league.


UPDATE: After this was posted, Seattle Cascades have since posted score results on their schedule webpage. Thanks, Cascades!

UPDATE 2: Madison Radicals now have a separate tab with their 2015 results. Thanks, Radicals!

Jacksonville Cannons Jerseys Are Loaded

Of all the jerseys for the 2015 American Ultimate Disc League teams, none are as elaborate as Jacksonville Cannons. There's so much detail, these Cannon jerseys should be considered art-illery.

[image via]

• The sublimated jersey has a marbled pattern which is actually a Google Earth map image of Jacksonville, Florida
• The team's inaugural year (2015) is encrypted as roman numerals (MMXV) on the tail
• The nautical star on the sleeve honors Jacksonville's Naval background

Buy a replica jersey [home/black] ($50)

Away/White Jerseys for Jacksonville Cannons:

[image via]

Anniversary of First Use of Frisbee by The New York Times

On this day in history - 58 years ago - the first instance of publishing the word "frisbee" by The New York Times happened on this day in 1957. Located on page 10 of the newspaper of record's Real Estate section, the mention was part of scene description at Princeton University:

via NYT (1957)

"Informal get-togethers in about thirty tents dotting the campus and the community, a frisbee-throwing session on lawns and seminars with faculty members marked the first day of the alumni reunions, an annual pre-commencement activity."

The next sentence describes "Frisbees" as: "plastic disks sailed through the air in the manner of coffee can tops."

The first plastic disc to carry the name "Frisbee" was a Pluto Platter mold (originally designed by "Fred" Morrison in 1955), which was modified and renamed by Wham-O in 1958. Frisbee is a thought to be derivative of "Frisbie" (Pie Company).

Worst Frisbee Technique Ever

This is awesome! (Not in the good way)
WATCH the GIF (or don't)

This comical overhand disc throwing might be the reason why throwing instructions used to be printed on the Frisbee.

[via Daily Mail UK]

WFDF World U23 Ultimate Championships 2015

One more month until WFDF's Under-23 international ultimate tournament begins!

World Flying Disc Federation under-23 Ultimate Championships

When: July 12-18, 2015

Where: In London, UK, at University College London (UCL) Sports Ground

What: WU23UC will host open, women and mixed ultimate divisions with team representation from Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Colombia, Denmark, Germany, Great Britain, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, Poland, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, & United States.

Tickets: On sale until June 14th

First Win Battle, Rochester v Philadelphia

After 9 weeks of the 2015 American Ultimate Disc League season, teams are fighting for a playoff spot while 2 East Division teams will battle for their first win of the season. Philadelphia Phoenix visit Rochester Dragons on Sunday, June 14 in a matchup of winless teams. Game. Of. The. Week!

Two 0-win teams enter Sunday's matchup... 
One team will leave with their 1st W of the season...

Rochester Dragons (0-6) are on a 19-game losing streak dating back early into the 2014 season. The Dragons' last win was their very first game of the 2014 AUDL season - on April 18, 2014 - against Philadelphia, and have lost every game since then.

Philadelphia Phoenix (0-8) have not won a game in 2015, and their only 2 wins in 2014 were against Rochester. UPDATE: After a Saturday loss to Toronto, Philadelphia is now (0-9).

Reason to Call it "Ultimate" Frisbee

Jared Kass gave his logic to affectionately calling this game "ultimate" in 1968. The original rules of Ultimate Frisbee (née Speed Frisbee) - drafted in 1970 by Columbia High School students - provide another reason.

via official rules of Ultimate Frisbee (1970) 

The details for the object of the game start simply enough: "to gain points by scoring goals." The last sentence demonstrates how seriously the high school students thought of their fun game.

"The game also ends when one team concedes defeat to the other or if all of the members of one team die before the end of play."

So, the next time you are asked why is the sport called ultimate? You may answer by explaining the original written rules included a clause stating the game would end if/when all members of a team died. Ultimate? Ultimate, indeed.

[Thanks to T Leonardo for assisting with research]

MLU 2015 Season Tickets

Major League Ultimate teams sell tickets for single games and full season via TicketLeap. In 2015, Portland offers the least expensive tickets in the MLU, while season tickets for Boston, Philadelphia and San Francisco are the most expensive.

• Average season ticket price = $62.47 (~$2 increase compared to 2014.)
• Quantity of regular season home games = 5

Season Tix Prices [Ranked lowest to highest]:
1st) Portland Stags; $54
2nd) Vancouver Nighthawks; $57.79
3rd) Seattle Rainmakers; $58.50
4th) DC Current; $63
t-5th) Boston Whitecaps, Philadelphia Spinners, San Francisco Dogfish; $67.50

Single Game Tix Prices [Ranked lowest to highest]:
1st) Portland; $12
2nd) Vancouver; $12.84
3rd) DC; $14
t-4th) Boston, San Francisco; $15
t-6th) Seattle, New York, Philadelphia; $16

• Average single game ticket price = $14.61

Savings on Season Tickets vs. Single Game Tickets [Ranked lowest to highest]:

[Data taken from each team website, May 2015. Any processing fees are excluded]
[UPDATED by request]

Beary Impressive Catch

Consider adding Kodiak bears to the conversation of ultimate beasts. Marvel at this effortless one-handed pawed catch...

Pro Ultimate League Numbers

Check out the weekly collection and computation of statistics, news & trends in each pro ultimate league.

American Ultimate Disc League


Major League Ultimate

Sixes

It's 6/6 @ 6am...!  PLAY Ultimate!

[image via]

Frisbee Launcher Invention

Found in the USA Ultimate archives was this "student project" from Ben Daykin. His "Frisbee Launcher" was meant as a training aid for ultimate similar to ball machine in tennis drills or a pitching machine in baseball/softball batting practice.

Snippets from the article:
"An advantage of a Frisbee launcher over a human thrower is repeatability and consistency of flight."

"A remote operated version could enable people to practice on their own."

"Device needs to be portable, compact, lightweight and weatherproof."

Main power source "will have to come from rechargeable batteries."

[via UPA Newsletter - summer 2001]

Since that time, robotics and 3D printing are more commonplace to assist in hobbying together a machine to throw. [Example]

FIRST [For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology Robotics Competition] was founded by (Segway inventor) Dean Kamen in 1989 in an attempt to turn robotics and engineering education into a high school sports-like event. FIRST's 2013 competition known as Ultimate Ascent was combines elements of disc golf with the field parameters, scoring and team-vs-team nature of an ultimate game.



NOTE: Attempts to contact the Frisbee Launcher inventor could not be launched were undeliverable.

Detroit Mechanix Historical Streak

Detroit Mechanix have never finished with a winning record in the three previous American Ultimate Dis League seasons; 2015 will be no different. Detroit Mechanix are currently winless in the AUDL 2015 season - similar to the 2014 season. As of May 31st, their consecutive game losing streak extended to 22 games. They have not won a game since July 7, 2013 - a span of over 22 months; nearly 700 days.

History
In 2012, Detroit was part of the inaugural American Ultimate Disc League (8 teams) and played in what was known as the Western Division (4 teams). The Mechanix finished tied for last place in the division at (7-9). [via]

In 2013, Detroit played in Midwestern Division (6 teams) and finished the season with a (4-12), again, tied for last place in the division. [via]

In 2014, Detroit lost all their games in the 2014 season in the Midwestern Division (6 teams).

Through May 2015, Detroit (0-7) has yet to win a game in the Midwestern Division (7 teams).

Record by Season
2012: (7-9)
2013: (4-12); overall: (11-21)
2014: (0-14); overall: (11-35)
2015: (0-7); overall (11-42)

Notes
Overall, the Detroit Mechanix have a 0.208 winning percentage with a record of (11-42).

Detroit has not won an AUDL game since July 7, 2013 – a 17-16 win over Cincinnati Revolution.

From the 2013 season thru May 2015, Mechanix have won 4 games out of 37 games (.098).

Mechanix have won 1 game out of 33 games (0.029) since May 5, 2013 thru June 1, 2015.

Since the 2013 season, Mechanix have beaten 3 teams – Madison Radicals, Minnesota Wind Chill and Revolution (2).

In 2013, Detroit won 3 consecutive games early in the season and then lost 10 games in a row.

In 2013, Detroit's 14-goal loss to Minnesota was their largest deficit of the season, scoring only 6 goals on May 19. Later in the season, Detroit scored only 7 goals in a loss to Chicago Wildfire, 7-19.

Detroit failed to score at least 10 goals in 3 games in 2014; they scored 9 goals 3 times.

-24 = Detroit's goal difference in their most recent 20-44 loss against Pittsburgh Thunderbirds on May 30, 2015

In the 2014 season, Detroit's largest deficits in losses were -26 versus Madison on April 19 and -25 versus Minnesota on June 27.

In Comparison [via]
Here's where the Mechanix streak compares in pro league sports: 
NBA: 26 games; Cleveland Cavaliers (2010-11), Philadelphia 76ers (2014)
NFL: 26 games; Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1976-77)
MLB: 21 games; Baltimore Orioles (1988)
WNBA: 20 games; Tulsa Shock (2011)
NHL: 17 games; Washington Capitals (1974-75), San Jose Sharks (1992-93)
MLS: 12 games; New York Red Bulls (1999)

Mascots in Major League Ultimate

All four of the Western Conference MLU teams now have mascots, while only one Eastern conference team (Philadelphia) has a mascot. See below for the mascot for each Western MLU team:

Vancouver: Mo Hawkins*

San Francisco: Dougie the Dogfish

Seattle: Name to be determined  Dewey

Portland: Stony the Stag**

*Mo Hawkins is the only mascot listed on the team roster. While we are on that subject, shouldn't Mo's ultimate position be a "Wing" instead of a Handler?

**Portland also has a Park Ranger emceeing at home games.

And in the East Conference, Philadelphia has Dizzy...

Dizzy is supposed to be a dog. I repeat: A DOG.

[Photo Credits: Ultiphotos
Mo Hawkins via VNH
Dougie by Rodney Chen
Seattle mascot by Scott Houghtaling
Stony via twitter
Dizzy by Brian Canniff]

Daft Punk is Playing Frisbee (at my House)

Daft Punk is selling 175g Frisbees as part of a retro merchandising campaign by the popular gold/silver helmeted electronic music duo. This may be the closest thing to getting Daft Punk playing at your house.

The Daft Punk Official Frisbee® Series offers 2 styles of Wham-O 175 gram flying discs with the bands logo - The Classic (black) & The Firefly (white/glow in the dark).

Info: Daft Punk Official Merchandise presents the Daft Punk Wham-O Frisbee ® Series. Each of these models, "The Firefly" and "The Classic", measure 10 7/8" and weighing a heavy 175 grams and are hot-stamped with metallic foil to ensure a permanent and durable finish. The Firefly glows in the dark and recharges naturally from any light source. Wham-O is the original manufacturer of Frisbees®. Their Frisbee® disc designs are unparalleled and simply the best. Made in the U.S.A.

Price: $16.00

Daft Punk ad via

[h/t Pitchfork]

RELATED: Weezer drummer catches a Frisbee.

D.C. Sports Guide Includes Pro Ultimate Teams

DC's two pro Ultimate teams were sandwiched between the Washington Nationals and D.C. United in WTOP's D.C. summer sports event guide. The write-up by Noah Frank gives home game locations and ticket prices for the Breeze (AUDL) and Current (MLU).

via WTOP

[h/t WAFC] 

Ultimate Busted by Department of Justice

New York Times' The Strip by Brian McFadden focuses on the U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch's charges against FIFA.

Loretta Lynch: America's Top Sports Cop

In the end, ultimate Frisbee becomes a punchline...

Loretta Lynch: "We're out of time! I've gotta bust an ultimate Frisbee league for drug possession!

[h/t Ultiworld]