TBT: Wildwood Beach Ultimate Tournament

Wildwood "The largest beach ultimate event in the world" Beach Ultimate Tournament starts this weekend. Such fond memories of playing at the beach ultimate in Wildwood, New Jersey.

View memorabilia from previous W2BU participation:
Hardware

Wildwood Cup from the 2/2 Wildwood Beach Ultimate Consolation Division (2004)

Drinkware

Wildwood plastic cup (2005)

6 Months 'til Wildwood Tournament

For those closely checking the calendar, it's less than 6 months until the beloved Wildwood Beach Ultimate Tournament!

The 3rd Annual 6 Months 'til Wildwood (6MTWW) Tournament

Hosted by: Women's Club Ultimate teams Backhanded and Grit

When: Sunday, February 7, 2016 (Super Bowl Sunday)

Info: 4 v 4 format with a 4 game guaranteed.

Location: Polo Fields (Washington, DC)

Registration Fee: $80/team or $12/individual before Jan 31, $15/individual on Feb 7

Register

Wood Ya

Amy wants to know: 'Wood-ya' be interested in some ulty-on-the-beach practice [before OBX08 in October] at WildWood?

Tournament: 16 th Annual Wildwood Co-Ed Beach Ultimate
When: Saturday, July 26th & Sunday, July 27th, 2008
Where: Wildwood, NJ (On the Beach...2 Blocks North of the Ferris Wheel). Deadline: June 30, 2008

Blast to the Past Rememberance: WW15 (2007).

Wildwood 2014

[SOURCE]

"The World's Biggest Beach Ultimate Tournament" starts today in Wildwood, New Jersey. There are a total of 510 teams playing in the 2/2 beer, 3/1 beer, and 3/1 open divisions. "Just for fun, still competitive, just not hard core" perfectly describes the tournament's vibe, not just the Beer Division.

According to the website, the Wildwood Ultimate Beach Tourney has been bestowed recognition by Discraft with a "Transcendent Tournament Award." Anyone who has ever attended WW can attest to the above and beyond experience at this gathering. Remember the sunscreen!

Flooded Beach Ultimate Field at Wildwood

Not expected at Wildwood Beach Ultimate Tournament in Wildwood, New Jersey this beach ultimate field flooded from previous night's heavy rainfall.

"Pool C" #beachultimate field at #Wildwood25 @UltiProblems
[photo via HF/FB] pic.twitter.com/XCAAYnYe3R

— Sludge Ultimate (@sludgebrown) July 29, 2017

[h/t Henry]

Ultimate Merchandise from the 2016 Presidential Election

The 2016 presidential election season is almost over! We found some samples of political messaging applied to ultimate swag.

Grit hat 
"Make America GRIT Again"

Attention Internet, it's EVEN BETTER AS A MEME @SpinUltimate #makeAmericaGRITagain pic.twitter.com/6I56rzo1gH

— Grit (@gritultimate) June 25, 2016

American Hyperbole disc
"Make America Hyped Again"

Remember that time we had very topical discs for sale? That time is now. DM if you're interested. #DebateNight #MakeAmericaHypedAgain pic.twitter.com/weCoO30c0D

— American Hyperbole (@AmericanHype1) September 27, 2016

Hat by SAVAGE
"Make America Ultimate Again"

Let's #StandTogether and Make Ultimate Great Again! #Election2016 #truckerhat https://t.co/sPslc0OyBl pic.twitter.com/ATb1BSBkz7

— SAVAGE Ultimate (@SAVAGEultimate) October 10, 2016

Jersey tank top by Wellesley alumni beach ultimate team 

This team from 2015 Wildwood went by the name of  Distillery Clinton.  Hillary Rodham (later Hillary Rodham Clinton) graduated from Wellesley College in 1969.

The beach ultimate team wore white tank tops with a front design of a Hillary pantsuit.  In August 2015, Hillary Clinton tweeted a photo of the beach ultimate team. 

via @HillaryClinton

World Series of Beach Ultimate Canceled for 2016

Have you heard of the World Series of Beach Ultimate? This new beach ultimate event would be played biennially with the inaugural 2016 edition planned to utilize existing tournaments on three continents as qualifiers to eventually meet in November for the Series Championships in Mixed, Mixed Masters and Mixed Grandmasters divisions.

UPDATE: The 2016 series was postponed due to lack of sponsorships. BULA hopes to try the World Series event again for 2018.

The original plans was to have the longest-running and largest Beach Ultimate tournaments on each continent - Paganello (March 2016, Europe), Boracay Open (April 2016, Asia), and Wildwood (July 2016, North America) - to host the continental editions.

The, the top 5 teams in each division at Continental Series will qualify for the World Series finals in November 2016 in Dubai - site of the World Championships of Beach Ultimate in March 2015. BULA hopes to be able to offer players FREE travel to Dubai, "IF" they "can pull this off" per the original (July 2015) notice about the event.

via Facebook

[image and text via Slideshare]

Sportsbook: July 26-27

Two post-season professional Ultimate games this weekend. Betting lines - the spread & points total (Over/Under) - for professional Ultimate are for entertainment purposes only.

AUDL games.

Friday, July 26

• Phoenix (+3) vs. Empire (-3); 38 in Wildwood, New Jersey

Saturday, July 27

• AlleyCats (+2) @ Radicals (-2); 44

Full 2013 Schedule: AUDL

Agree or Disagree? Have your say in the comments.

WW15

Amy, Matthew & Meg sandily participated in the 15th Annual WildWood Beach Ultimate Tournament on July 28-29, 2007. One could say they were practicing their beach utly skills before SludgeOBX 2007. Not that they need it.

Sludge on the Beach(SOB) HR Huckenstuff (Amy & Matthew's squad) brought home some hardware after winning the Bottom-of-the-Beer-Bracket Championship!

Matthew is currently recruiting for next year hoping SOB will make return in 2008.

2017 Events Schedule for Ultimate

Here are some major* ultimate events to calendar in 2017:

January
21-22: Lei-Out Beach Ultimate tournament (Santa Monica, CA)

February
4-5: Bama Secs Invite (Foley, AL)

18-20: Kaimana Klassik beach ultimate tournament (Waimanalo, HI)

March
24-26: Northwest Challenge (Seattle/Burlington, WA)

31:  WAFC's Fools Fest (Fredericksburg, VA)...

April
...1-2: WAFC's Fools Fest; Fredericksburg, VA
April 1- 2: College Easterns (North Myrtle Beach, SC)

1: American Ultimate Disc League season starts

15-17: Paganello Beach Tourney (Rimini, Emilia-Romagna)

22-23: USAU Beach Westerns (Santa Monica, CA)

28-29: Torneo Eterna Primavera (TEP) / The Eternal Spring Tournament...

May
May 1: TEP / The Eternal Spring Tournament  (Medellin, Colombia)...

20-21: USA Ultimate Beach Championships (Virginia Beach, VA)
20-21:  USAU D-III College Ultimate Championships (Lexington, KY)

26-29: USA Ultimate College Championships (Cincinnati, OH)

June
3: Triple Crown tour regular season begins
3-4: Ultiworld High School National Invite (Rockford, IL)

9-11: Windmill Ultimate Frisbee Festival (Amsterdam)

10-11: Poultry Days Ultimate Tournament (Pickerington, OH)

17-21: World Great Grand Masters Beach Ultimate Championships (Lisbon, Portugal)

18-24: WFDF 2017 World Championships of Beach Ultimate (Royan, France)

July
1-3: Potlach; Redmond, WA

8-9: Pro-Elite Challenge (Aurora, CO)

20-23: The World Games (Wroclaw, Poland)

21-23: USAU Masters Championships (Aurora, CO)

29-30: TCT Select Flight Invite (Hilliard, OH)

29-30: Wildwood Beach Ultimate Tournament

August
4-6: USAU U.S. Open (Blaine, MN)
5-7: USAU Youth Club Championships (Blaine, MN)

19-20: TCT Elite-Select Challenge (Appleton, WI)

26-27: AUDL Championship Weekend (Montreal, QC)

September
2-4: TCT Pro Flight Finale

9-10: TCT Sectionals

23-24: TCT Regionals

October
19-22: TCT USA Ultimate National Championships (Sarasota, FL)

November
14-19: WFDF Pan American Ultimate Club Championships


*mostly US-centric

NOTES: This is not intended to be list EVERY ultimate event this year, just some major ones. Will update as additional dates are published.

WOOLd Ya?

Could you buy a $75 Tshirt?
Should you pay $75 for a Tshirt?
Would you spend $75 on a Tshirt?

Patagucci's Wool 1 T-Shirt

Descrip: Stay dry & cool in this ultra soft, merino wool/polyester blend baselayer that combines wool's natural odor control & insulative-when-wet properties with polyester's excellent wicking performance & speedy dry time.

Color: kinda brownish Wildwood (Men's)

Price: $75 (equiv to TWO SL-ankets)

Review: New Jersey Hammerheads (AUDL)

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

Team: New Jersey Hammerheads

Web: http://njhammerheads.com // twitter: @NJ_Hammerheads

Representation: State // League: AUDL

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

Background: New Jersey's beach coast runs 130 miles, spanning from Sandy Hook to Cape May. Most hammerhead species are fairly small and are considered harmless to humans. Although the great hammerhead's enormous size and fierceness make it potentially dangerous, few attacks have been recorded. There was a recent hammerhead sighting at Island Beach in August 2012.

The shark graphic is "borrowed" from a temporary tattoo company.

First impression(s): Land Shark, amiright? The goldish-orange smear could be ripped parchment paper, New Jersey, or a raggedy beach towel. Cartoonish, and reminds me of a relative of SpongeBob SquarePants.

Eli's Eval: Looks like a touristy shirt one might find wandering the boardwalk after a hard day of playing at Wildwood. The state of New Jersey with a hard drop shadow seems like overkill, but cheesy in a good way. The pleasant color scheme reinforces the logo. Type on a curve is not always easy, and although the font weight suffers visibility from being so thin, it is nicely spaced and the drop shadow accentuates it enough for it to be legible from a distance.

Unfortunately, there is also this, "The logo was reportedly designed for the Hammerheads by a college student, who allegedly didn't inform them of how he procured the shark design." This is another case of you get what you pay for: just because Phil Knight paid a college student $35 for the Nike swoosh doesn't mean you should pay $35 (~$200 adjusted for inflation.) for your sports logo; you're not Phil Knight.

:Eli's Grades:
Grade: F
On Logo: F
On Typography: B

Thoughts on this AUDL's team name & logo?

AUDL Snapshots (July 26-27)

Two pro ultimate games - both AUDL playoff games - were played this past weekend. See past data.

NOTES: AUDL games have 12-minute quarters.

[AUDL] The playoff game on Friday, July 26 in Wildwood, New Jersey was the first game of the 2013 season played at a neutral site.
[AUDL] Both teams that placed 2nd in their conference beat the 3rd place teams. (Radicals, 18 over AlleyCats, 15; Empire, 21 over Phoenix, 13).
[AUDL] With their playoff wins, Empire is 4-0 against Phoenix; Radicals are 4-0 vs AlleyCats.
[AUDL] 20.5 scores = average per game by Empire (16 regular season games); average per playoff game by Empire = 21 scores (1 game).
[AUDL] 13 = scores by Phoenix in their playoff loss; the lowest amount scored since their June 2nd loss versus Dragons.
[AUDL] In 17 games played, Radicals are 3-1 in games when they score less than 20 in a game.
[AUDL] 15 = scores by AlleyCats in their playoff loss, the lowest amount scored since their April 27th loss versus Wildfire.
[AUDL] With the loss by AlleyCats - the reigning Conference champs, a new (Mid)Western Conference champion will be crowned.
[AUDL] AlleyCats have played the most post-season games (3) of any AUDL team; their record = 1-2.
[AUDL] The remaining AUDL playoff teams - Madison Radicals, New York Empire, Toronto Rush, Windy City Wildfire - are all 1st year teams.

2016 Events Schedule for Ultimate

Here are some major* ultimate events to calendar in 2016:
Still to be added is Triple Crown Tour events

[Updated 2/3/2016]

January
16-17: Lei-Out Beach Ultimate tournament; Santa Monica, CA

March
15-17: Bamasecs Spring Break Beach Tournament; Orange Beach, AL
19-20: Bamasecs Spring Break Grass Tournament; Foley, AL
22-24: Bamasecs Spring Break Beach Tournament; Orange Beach, AL
24-28: Paganello Beach Tournament; Rimini Beach, Italy

April
1-3: WAFC's Fools Fest; Fredericksburg, VA

2: American Ultimate Disc League season starts

2-3: Ancient City Beach Warm-Up; Saint Augstine, FL

9-10: Major League Ultimate season starts

May
14-15: USA Ultimate Beach Championships; Virginia Beach, VA

14-15: USAU High School Southern Championships; Atlanta, GA

14-15: USAU High School Central Championships; Ames, IA

21-22: USAU Division III College Championships; Winston-Salem, NC

21-22: USAU High School Northeastern Championships; Pittsburgh, PA

27-30: USA Ultimate College Championships; Raleigh NC

June
3-6: Windmill Ultimate Frisbee Festival; Amsterdam

4-5: USAU High School Western Championships; Corvallis, OR

18: MLU regular season ends

18-25: World Ultimate and Guts Championships (WUGC2016); London

25-26: MLU Conference Championships; TBD


July
1-4: US Open Ultimate Championships; South County, RI

2-4: Potlach; Redmond, WA

9-10: TCT Elite-Select Challenge; near Columbus, OH

16: MLU Championship; Franklin Field; Philadelphia, PA

30-31: TCT Pro-Elite Challenge; Aurora, CO

30-31: Wildwood Beach Ultimate Tournament

31: World Junior Ultimate Championships (WJUC); Wroclaw, Poland...

August
1-6:World Junior Ultimate Championships (WJUC); Wroclaw, Poland

5-7: USAU Masters Championships; Aurora, CO

6-7: AUDL Championship Weekend; Madison, WI

13-14: TCT Select Flight Invite; Westfield, IN

20-21: TCT Pro Flight Finale; Vancouver, WA

27-28: TCT Sectionals

August
10-11: TCT Regionals

29-30: TCT USA Ultimate National Championships; Rockford, IL

October
1-2: TCT USA Ultimate National Championships; Rockford, IL

*mostly US-centric

NOTES: This is not intended to be list EVERY ultimate event in 2015, just some major ones. Will update as additional dates are published.

SLUDGEopardy IV

Welcome to the fourth round of SLUDGEopardy trivia questions about Sludge's tournament history - tracked, archived & devised by Matthew - in honor of the 25th season. A special prize for the person with the most correct answers. Submit answers via Comments.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

First Round: Questions 1 - 5
Second Round: Questions 6 - 10
Third Round: Questions 11 - 15

Q16. In Spring 2006, Sludge was eliminated by a short-lived team called Cold Fusion. In what round of the tournament did this occur?

Q17. The following season (Fall 2006) Sludge faced Absinthe Minded in the semi-finals, a game that Sludge would lose on universe point, 14-13. What memorable play occurred in that game?

Q18. In Spring 2007, Sludge failed to advance after going 0-3 in its pool. One of the three losses was to Chomp. The other losses were to teams with which Kelly Luck was associated – one officially and one because of Wildwood. Name these two teams.

Q19. The next season (Fall 2007) Sludge struggled in pool play and barely survived the pre-quarterfinal, only to be soundly defeated in the quarterfinals by what newly renamed team? (Hint: Prior incarnations included Sunny Daze and Flibbertigibbit.)

Q20. After having the Spring 2008 tournament rained out, Sludge was eliminated by Absinthe Minded in which round of the Fall 2008 tournament?

Preview: AUDL Playoffs

AUDL Playoffs begin this weekend with the #2-seed playing the #3-seed in each conference. The Eastern Conference playoff game is being played at a neutral site as the Empire have a 6-game winning streak at home. In the Midwest, AlleyCats travel with their winning road record to face the Radicals who have lost only once at home & won 6 consecutive games to end the season. The winning teams play for the conference championship (& a $5000 prize) the following week.

:Eastern Conference:
Philadelphia Phoenix (#3) vs. New York Empire (#2)

:When:
Friday, July 26 @ 7pm ET in Wildwood, NJ. Live-stream by Ultiworld.

:Records:

	Phoenix	Empire
Overall Record	9-7	11-5
Home	5-3	7-1
Away	4-4	4-4

:Scoring:

:History:
Empire won all 3 meetings (June 9, 15 & 22) against Phoenix by 1 score, 4 scores, 1 score, respectively.

:Midwestern Conference:
Indianapolis AlleyCats (#3) vs. Madison Radicals (#2)

:When:
Saturday, July 27 @ 12pm ET at Breese Stevens Field.

:Records:

	AlleyCats	Radicals
Overall Record	9-7	13-3
Home	4-4	7-1
Away	5-3	6-2

:Scoring:

:History:
Radicals won all 3 meetings (June 6, 16 & July 14) against AlleyCats by 2 scores, 4 scores, 2 scores, respectively.

US Senator Bob Menendez Supports Beach Ultimate

Yesterday, U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) stood on the beach in Manasquan, New Jersey, to raise awareness about beach safety and, in other words, to encourage playing beach ultimate.

"In my view, the only things that should be flying through air on a sunny day at the beach should be seagulls and Frisbees." 
--Senator Bob Menedez (D-NJ)


Wildwood Beach Ultimate (W2BU) Tournament - the world's largest beach ultimate event - could not agree more with their state senator.

Hoodwinkless

You don't need to break the 600-month milestone to obtain a beauty brown jacket; you do need to reach the milestone if you want the 5-O-fficial Sludge jacket.

patagucci offers a brown hoody ripe for the blustery season. Sorry men, the available hoody colors for you are:
Black w/ black, Real Red & wildWood.

Price: $100

Descrip: This is your go-anywhere hoody from pre-dawn waxing (skiiing) sessions to high-noon corn (?) runs.

Frisbee Barter

Kid to Octopus: "I brought my sister. Did you bring my Frisbee?" +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Good luck to all teams playing in the "World's biggest Beach Ultimate Tournament" Wildwood over July 27-28 in New Jersey!

Interview with WCBU Broadcaster Evan Lepler

Before too much sand falls in the hourglass, we caught up with Evan Lepler who discussed broadcasting for WFDF's 2015 World Championships of Beach Ultimate (March 8-March 13). An experienced broadcaster for ultimate games - for both USA Ultimate and the American Ultimate Disc League - Evan admitted getting the WCBU gig with no prior beach ultimate experience and his choice of footwear in the booth.

SLUDGE: Congratulations on successful coverage of the World Championships of Beach Ultimate. How did you get the gig to be a broadcaster for WCBU games?

Evan Lepler: Skyd Editor Elliot Trotter first reached out to me to gauge my interest back in October, and I was immediately intrigued. But it was not until mid-February that Elliot finished negotiations with folks in Dubai and the opportunity became official for me. I booked my flight on February 20, basically two weeks before the event.

SLUDGE: That's a tight window to prep for an international trip. Were there any issues you were "nervous" about when accepting the invitation to broadcast the WCBU games in Dubai?

Evan: It was an honor to be invited and a thrill to accept the invitation. Perhaps some minor nerves about the challenge of becoming informed about all of the teams, but I was eager to embrace the challenge.

SLUDGE: There were 20+ livestreamed games during the event covering lots of international players. How in the world did you prepare for the WCBU broadcasts?

Evan: Heading into the event, I knew that it would be a team effort between myself and my superb commentating partners, Bryan Jones and Megan Tormey. They were the heroes in brilliantly formatting the rosters and acquiring some general information about many of the teams we planned to cover.

WCBU broadcasters (l to r): Bryan Jones, Megan Tormey and Evan Lepler

Over the course of the week, we each had certain games "off" in order to go watch other games and talk to different people to get ready for the next telecast. Before the trip, I read as much as I could, but I also was very focused on my basketball work in the weeks leading up to it.

I literally drove straight from the Big South Championship game to the airport to begin my journey to Dubai. On the flight, I read the official beach ultimate rule book a couple times (in between episodes of "House of Cards"). Overall, it was a different prep experience because, for the most part, it was not like there was a media guide or extensive written coverage online of the 25 countries and the seven divisions. But thankfully most everyone in the ultimate community is super interesting to talk to and generous with their time, even in the hours and minutes leading up to a game. I'm proud of how the broadcasts came across, even though I wish I could have prepared more.

SLUDGE: During the broadcasts provided by Skyd Magazine, I marveled that wind was not being picked up in the audio. Explain your setup.

Evan: I had no idea what to expect in terms the overall production, but was very pleased with how it all came together. There was a really big-time TV truck, producer, and crew from DubaiSports. We had three headsets, allowing us to have three broadcasters on the air simultaneously, and two monitors in our "booth" that enabled us to see a live program feed. We were located at the top of the grandstand underneath a remarkably sturdy tent that somehow withstood the fierce Thursday winds and shielded us from the sun, both of which were clutch. There were six or seven camera and all were high quality. So many people commented about how good everything looked, and obviously I had nothing to do with that but was grateful to be a part of the team.

SLUDGE: What were some of your favorite parts of WCBU?

Evan: My favorite part was just being there and being able to see players from so many countries that I had never seen before. It was surreal to walk up and down the beach and witness the spirit, energy, and passion that everyone displayed. It was my first experience traveling outside of North America for an international tournament like this, so simply having the opportunity was incredible. My least favorite part was the jet lag. But it was worth it.

SLUDGE: Yep, jet lag is a drag. (cough) Any other challenges to speak of?

Evan: It was a challenge I was eager to embrace, but it's always tough calling 4 or 5 games with 8 or 10 different teams in the same day. But that's ultimate and it's a privilege to try and conquer that challenge as best you can.

SLUDGE: Is there anything you would improve upon for future beach ultimate events?

Evan: It's really hard to imagine having a better setup in terms of a stadium showcase field and a great broadcast location on the beach. Obviously, in identical circumstances, the next time is almost always better just because of the increased familiarity. I hope I have the good fortune to experience future beach ultimate events. It's cool to broadcast barefoot. I had never done that before.

SLUDGE: There are some obvious difference between playing beach and grass ultimate. What about for broadcasting beach ulti games??

Evan: Having not been to a beach tournament in my life--Lei Out, Wildwood, and Sandblast are all on my list, but haven't been able to make it happen yet--I really did not know a whole lot about beach. The speed of the game is very different, which frankly makes it a little easier on the play-by-play announcer. Players also talked about how much easier the beach was on their bodies than the grass. Except for the occasional face full of sand, laying out on the beach is usually harmless.

SLUDGE: Sounds like an amazing experience.

Evan: It was a whirlwind, but it was awesome. I am very grateful that Elliot offered me a chance to be a part of it.