Factor in Redskins Dismal Season

Screengrab via The Cooley Zone

The Washington Redskins may have been practicing frisbee football & not football, which might account for their 4-12 record. Click the image to check out the April 2009 vid of the "Frisbee Competition."

Larry Michael: "How does it work?"

Chris Cooley (Redskins Tight End): "...Ultimate Frisbee...it's like a football game. You throw the frisbee up & down the football field. You can throw it anywhere you want. You just can't run when you catch it. I am horrible; horrible @ Ultimate Frisbee."

UPDATE: The archived video is not loading.

[Source: RCS]

Pittsburgh Ultimate Team Considers Name Change To Washington Redskins

According to Sin The Fields podcast [December 31, 2015 episode], the selection process of Pittsburgh's co-ed ultimate team — Muff'n Men — is underway. The team played as "Muff'n Men" since its founding in 2007, but the mixed division team was forced to change their name by USA Ultimate for the Triple Crown tour 2015 season.

Sin The Fields did a 4-minute segment (starting at 30:00 *WARNING: strong language*) on some of the poll choices of Pittsburghian options plus the write-in choices.  And, the write-in with one of the most votes was...
"Washington Redskins" with 6 total votes.

See the online poll: https://polldaddy.com/poll/9161069/

screengrab of online poll

Patrick Stegemoeller, co-host of STF, labeled the DC NFL football team choice as "Andy Kaufman-level."

Co-host Tad Wissel dared the Pittsburgh ultimate team to "do the right thing."

While some politicians have publicly opined that the Washington professional football team should change the name, it's clear the name change remains a hot button issue for the NFL team. States are even taking measures to forbid the use of Native American names as mascots.

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See below for The Muff 'n Men's team name poll introduction and a disclaimer that votes are "informational only and will be used to help determine a new team name."

screengrab via

Review: Washington DC Breeze (AUDL)

Part of the series critiquing the professional Ultimate team logos and nicknames.

Team: Washington D.C. Breeze

Web: http://the-dcbreeze.com // twitter: @theDCBreeze

Representation: City // League: AUDL

Disc within logo?: Yes. // Ultimate element in team name?: No.

Background: As a weather-related term, a breeze has positive connotations. As an automobile, it's not very cool; the Plymouth Breeze was a mid-sized 4-door sedan discontinued fours years after first introduced.

Elements from DC's flag include the red color, and the 3 stars (based on George Washington's family crest). View their previous logo.

First impression(s): A sperm-y "B" full of DC pride. Washington, DC sports teams are infamous for their offensive names (Bullets, Wizards, Redskins), so if anything, 'Breeze' is very PC.

Eli's Eval: Rather than drawing letters with a perspective, they have stretched type with a heavy stroke on it giving rise to awkward variations in the weight of the arms of the letters. The city name is included at the top, and it does line up nicely, but then it does not include the forced perspective making it seem optically at odds with the main part of the logotype. The double-stroke, gray and blue, are totally inconsistent as a result of inconsistent letter spacing: The tiny slivers of space between the middle arm of the first "E" and second "E", sliver between top arm of the first "E" and "Z" and the double space between the "Z" and "E", for instance. The entire "B" and its accompanying strokes are just awful on closer examination, most likely a result of the one-click perspective shift.

The logo itself is a slanted (not italic) "B" with a swooshing disc going back against the direction of the swoosh. Perhaps they are hinting about the efficacy of their breakmark throws? The incorporation of the DC flag's stripes and three stars is a nice touch. It doesn't make sense that they separated the swoosh from the "B" itself and gave it that little point that sticks out of the upper left since the white stripes and red swoosh don't even begin to line up. The disc itself has a shadow that is done poorly enough that it looks like we are seeing the bottom of the disc; better to have left it flat white.

The "B" logo looks good at small size (the favicon) which makes me think that despite some awkward moments it will look nice across the line emblazoned on a wicking tee. They need to give their files to someone who can use graphics software to clean up before they pay to slather it on collateral.

:Eli's Grades:
Grade: B-
On Logo: B
On Typography: C+

Thoughts on this AUDL's team name & logo?

DC Doesn't Love Philadelphia

DC sports fans do not like Philadelphia sports teams. This is true for Nationals vs Phillies; Wiz vs Sixers; Redskins vs Eagles. Add to the list: DC Current vs Philadelphia Spinners; where pro Ultimate Frisbee fans wear shirts like this...

A t-shirt of a DC or anti-Philly fan at an MLU game

Does this type of shirt cross the line of Ultimate "spirit"?

Are You Fitter than an NFL Player?

Washington Redskins and frisbee football is not a new concept. Knowing the fall season is just ahead, how would an Ultimate Frisbee player stack up against the NFL Lineman Fitness Test that Albert Haynesworthless has yet to pass?

The conditioning test consists of 300 yards of sprints -- called a "shuttle" -- back and forth 25 yards* at a time. It has to be run twice, with only a 3.5-minute break in between. The short break demonstrates that the player can recover quickly. Linemen have to run the first shuttle in 70 seconds, the second one in 73 seconds.

*Twenty five yards = length of an officially-sized end zone X 12; & then again 210 seconds later. The math alone is tiring, so is all that running too much for the average ulti player?

Recruitment

Brian, the Redskins fan, with frisbee football NFL player Michael Ohler of the Baltimore Ravens; famous for "The Blindside" movie.

No DC Sports Team Name Unturned

After the D.C. Council passed a resolution to rename the Washington Redskins NFL football team on Tuesday, they continued with their DC sports agenda.  Responding to complaints submitted by disgruntled constituents, the legislative branch then addressed DC's professional Ultimate team names.

"The Breeze term is very weak for a team name," a Councilmember (Ward 9) said. "My niece's youth soccer team name - the Puppies - are on par with gentleness."

Asked about the DC-area's other pro Ultimate team, an At-large member said, "The Current is just nondescript. If District residents wanted abstract, we would visit an art museum."

The bottom line for the D.C. Council is neither of these teams can be represented by a mascot, and therefore hurts job creation.

A resolution seeking to improve names of Washington, DC-based pro Ultimate teams expects to pass, after which it will be forwarded to teams owners Aaron Foreman (Breeze) and Mark Evangelisto (Current).

[spoof]

Pittsburgh Mixed Ultimate Team Produces New Name

Pittsburgh's mixed club ultimate team recently chose a new team name after being forced by USA Ultimate to name change in August 2015.

During the month of February 2016, they hosted a bracket challenge with 16 potential names like Alchemy, Confluence, Muffin Mix, Iron City, and the eventual winner of the popular vote was Jaggerbush. The finals included a disclaimer "NOTE: This does NOT mean that we have our new team name. Team leaders will be taking these results into consideration when determining a final team name!"

The team from the Steel City did not choose The Washington Redskins as their team's new name, but instead selected Alloy which is defined as "a metal made by combining two or more metallic elements, especially to give greater strength or resistance to corrosion." The name is a comparable theme to the Pittsburgh men's club team, Temper.

Their current Twitter avatar [@pghalloy] holds onto their roots with the familiar Muff 'n Men logo and red FKA (formerly known as) initials. This logo is assumed to be a temporary placeholder until Alloy forms a new tam logo.

[image via Twitter]

DC Breeze Intro Meeting Recap

The DC Breeze Introductory meeting was held at 201 Bar's Executive Lounge on Saturday, December 15 from 4-6pm. About 25 attendees with representation from Washington Area Flying-Disc Club, local college Ultimate players, a handful of elite players, and others.

[From DCB's Fb site]

Josh Moore (AUDL President) kicked off the meeting via Skype. Then, team owner Aaron Foreman spoke for 30 minutes, and was followed by Thomas 'TJ' Johnson (VP of Business and Community Development), Sam Shoyer (local high school Ultimate student/player), Tom Coffin (GM/Coach), and Dwayne Marcus (Founder of Flag It Sports Officials). View facebook pix.

Below is a synopsis of the well-conducted meeting. Overall, the presenters stressed a commitment to winning and indicated their desire to work with individuals toward organizational efforts.
Mr. Foreman spoke on the following...

Goal(s) for 2013 season:

"To win!"  
"...last year, Philadelphia and Connecticut were two of the more successful teams in the AUDL...We want to be a consistent winner"
"When they think of the Washington Redskins, they also think about the DC Breeze, the same way they think of [other DC sports teams]."
"We want to establish ourselves as a go-to, competitive championship team on a regular basis."
"We're not a multi-million dollar organization, by far. But will we be one? I believe we can. I believe everyone can benefit."

On Sponsorships/Deals:
"Final stages of securing a sponsorship with a [major footwear company]. They reached out to us (DC Breeze). We (the DC Breeze) will be the first AUDL team with a major sponsor."

For indoor practices and tryouts = API athletic fields (Crofton, MD)

For home/away uniforms = Football America (Laurel, MD)

"We (the AUDL) have [major rental car company] as a sponsor. They'll be handling our away transportation. They're a league sponsor."

"We (the AUDL) are in negotiations with [hotel chain] to be our national sponsor for room[s]."

"Another [AUDL] sponsor is Entertainment Book."

On AUDL operations:

"One thing that has been great. The league has developed into a family. Many of the resources of the team's involved in the inaugural season last year…we've become a family. Resources that they have belong to us and the resources that we have, belong to them because all of the owners realize this much - we have to get there together. We can't be, like, DC's doing great, and you know, Toronto suffering. If DC's not doing great and Toronto's not doing great, then that’s not good for the league; that’s not good for you guys as players, as well. As the sport evolves, we want to make sure that everybody benefits from it – just like in the NFL when they have meetings about profit sharing. And why this market is bigger than this market. I, personally, think this (DC market) is one of the best markets – and this is my opinion."

Player Compensation

"I'll tell you what that we are going to be investing back into our players. Pretty much this year, we're looking in some type of way to offer compensation; for compensation in some creative ways."

"Whether it be through ticket sales…You'll definitely have your uniforms taken care of, your transportation, your hotel, and your meals taken care of. In many ways, I'm trying to  - through [the major shoe sponsor] - secure a cleat deal."

Venues

The team seeks sites with a regulation-sized football field, preferably turf, with locker rooms & showers for both teams.

"Trying to keep [the organization's] base in DC" with these possible games sites:

• Anacostia Senior High School (SE)
• Galludet University (NE)
• Eastern High School (Capitol Hill)
• Georgetown University (G'town) - not available due to planned construction

On player eligibility:

It was discussed that DC Breeze players would be allowed to play in the local leagues, at college and in USAU events.

"I don't want you (DC Breeze player) playing for the MLU. I think that’s only fair to me. It doesn’t work that way…If you sign with us, I want you to stay with with us."

On Major League Ultimate's DC team:

"Do I welcome the competition? Yeah. Who knows, maybe we develop a rivalry with the team from the MLU. We'll have a rubber match - something people come to see."  [ Maybe??? ]

On challenges:

"There will be some bumps in the road. But will we will flatten the bumps out? Yes we will. We'll get it right."

"We want the best players. We do; we want them. We want the top players but I'm a firm believer that - having played professional football and having coached the high school level - I take who I have."

Other tid bits:

• "Our business model is to develop relationship with the community."
• Camps, clinics, sponsorships, having games before Breeze games, warm-up with players were some initial offerings to local high school players/teams/coaches.
• DC food trucks to be invited as concessions at home games.
• The website (http://the-dcbreeze.com/) will be up by the end of the December.

Tom Coffin spoke briefly about his Ultimate experience (36 years) & also had the following to say:

On AUDL:

"What brought me to the AUDL…this is a really unique opportunity…it's a real revolution – a game changer. We've been playing ultimate for decades. This is the first time professional ultimate has really come about. We're talking about 'Seize the Moment' kind of time. There is only a 'once', once; and this is the once."

"This game is a lot different.  This game is faster, harder and much more physical; and the offense right now is more dominant."

On the field width: "You can almost throws hucks sideways"

TJ spoke about mascot ideas, discount to season ticket holders, merchandising, hope to involve local celebrities/politicians for ceremonial 'first pull'. And, "We're not going to have a cheer leading or dance team."

Dwayne Marcus was introduced and communicated the plan to provide official training and to certify AUDL officials. In other words, the AUDL - as a professional sports league - seeks to employ professionally trained refs in the 2013 season.

Other meeting notes:
Official charity of DC Breeze = Capital Area Food Bank
Affiliate partner of DC Breeze = WAFC