The New York Times' Illustrated Recap of Club Nationals

Agnes Lee published an interactive [desktop version] storyboard about USA Ultimate Championships in The New York Times. Bids, Blocks and Fun: A Weekend at Ultimate Nationals is a fantastic animated storyboard which captures snapshots from the club championship that was held in San Diego.

It probably helped that the local (New York) club team won this year's USA Ultimate championship in the men's division.

The NYT piece concludes with:
"Ultimate is a small but growing sport. With an ethos of good sportsmanship, which was on display at the national championships, it should continue to grow for another 50 years."

In the printed(!) Sunday(!) New York Times, the black-and-white piece appeared in the sports section:

This #SundayMorning grab a copy of the @nytimes to read Bids, Blocks and Fun: A Weekend at Ultimate Nationals in the center spread! #USAUltimate #LiveUltimate pic.twitter.com/f3AGKYFhWF

— USA Ultimate (@USAUltimate) January 6, 2019

My only knock against this magnificent storyboard is the foul demonstration incorrectly shows the hand signal used by players and observers. We look forward to reading this again in the NYT Corrections section.

NYT: Can Ultimate Frisbee Save the World?

The New York Times published an opinion piece, "Can Ultimate Frisbee Save the World?" written by Jennifer Finney Boylan which highlights the amazing efforts by Ultimate Peace.

David Barkan, who volunteers as the chief executive of Ultimate Peace: "We're not trying to bring peace to the Middle East. That's not the goal. It’s about changing a mind-set through the values of the sport that we know leads to peace between people."

Read more...

Ultimate Glory: David Gessner's Ultimate Frisbee Memoir

David Gessner's memoir, ULTIMATE GLORY, a story of obsession, glory, and the wild early days of Ultimate Frisbee has been published. You might remember Gessner from his essay about ultimate frisbee in 2012.

Before he made a name for himself as an acclaimed essayist and nature writer, UNCW's David Gessner devoted his 20's to the sport of Ultimate Frisbee. Like his teammates and rivals, he trained for countless hours, sacrificing his body and potential career for a chance at fleeting glory without fortune or fame. His only goal: to win Nationals and go down in Ultimate history as one of the greatest athletes no one has ever heard of.

Gessner has said: "I had begun to form myself through Ultimate. Frisbee helped make me."



David Gessner is the author of nine books, including the NYT bestseller "All the Wild That Remains." He has taught environmental writing at Harvard and is currently a professor at UNC-Wilmington, where he founded the award-winning literary journal, Ecotone.

Ultimate Glory: FRISBEE, OBSESSION, AND MY WILD YOUTH [352 pages]
Price: $9.73

RELATED: Children's Book on Ultimate Frisbee . YA book on ultimate.

Novel Published on Discovering Ultimate Frisbee

For those that have already learned to count comes another book about the sport of ultimate. 

The Ultimate Outsider

Info: This 248-page young adult fiction follows 17-year-old Jimmy Anderson who has always been the outsider since he moved to Geneva Grove High School. He's the strange new kid, overshadowed by his sports star older brother Zeke, and just too different to fit in anywhere. Always too awkward, clumsy, or shy, Jimmy doesn't know where he belongs, until one day he discovers a strange new sport: ultimate frisbee.

Author: Alexander Rummelhart, a middle school teacher and ultimate player on Chicago Wildfire (AUDL), Chicago Haymaker (USAU) in the 2016 seasons.

Publisher: Skyd Press

Price: $13.99 (paperback)

PRI on Ultimate at the Olympics

PRI (Public Radio International) recently published a piece on the sport of ultimate. Boston Slow White players and coach were interviewed during the Northeast Regionals. The author claims Ultimate Frisbee would be the first mixed-gender team sport in the Olympics. Some sports allow pairs of male-female athletes in events like tennis, equestrian, badminton, skating and two-person sailing.

The piece "US Ultimate Frisbee players have their eyes on Olympics" (listed under "Lifestyle & Belief") starts a bit discouraging: "With all due respect, when I think of Frisbee, I don't think of the world’s finest athletes. I'm not alone in this regard."

Some standout quotes:
Alex Trahey: Ultimate "is in fact a very competitive and athletic sport, and we like to showcase that."

Hannah Baranes: "the more Frisbees that are out there getting tossed, the more likely you’re to get a person to be active and get them playing [ultimate] down the road."

Read the full article.

Ultimate Featured as Clue in The New York Times Crossword

Today's (9/2/2016) New York Times Crossword Puzzle contains the following clue for 1-ACROSS: Ultimate necessity?

Answer is (obviously)...

Frisbee.

As explained by the NYT: "1A: Yes, see how the U in "Ultimate necessity?" is capitalized? That's a very sneaky trick to make you think that the necessity is most important. It's not. It refers to the game of Ultimate FRISBEE."

Or, "Frisbee Ultimate" if you're Wham-O.

RELATED: First use of "Frisbee"word by NYT

Fast Count! Ultimate Counting Children's Book

Following the wisdom of Crosby, Stills & Nash, here's a children's book for teaching them about counting. Oh, and introducing them to the most fun sport in the world....ultimate!

As a way to help your child learn about numbers, Fast Count! is for you. This unique book—which makes for a perfect gift—is already a favorite at many SLUDGE households.

Fast Count!
The Ultimate Counting Book  [Skyd Press]

Info: Learning to count from 1 to 10 is more fun when playing ultimate. This board book uses basic numbers to tell a rhyming story about the game of ultimate. Colorful illustrations were deftly crafted by Eli Neugeboren, an ultimate-playing parent from NYC. Words were penned by D.C. ultimate player and parent, Michael Hechter.

Price: $5.99 or buy online here.

Get in the Stack

More specifically, Stack (the iOS app).

Info: Stack is the one place on iOS to get all of your ultimate news created by Brad Smith. Read articles from the biggest sources including Skyd, Ultiworld, AUDL, MLU, and others. This SLUDGE blog is lumped in with "others" and promoted on a list of "biggest content providers" of ultimate news. 

Price: Free via Apple App Store

Download today.

Increased Youth Participation in Ultimate

Last month, The Boston Globe published an article praising the benefits of ultimate - both in popularity and with stellar quotes. Radio Lab's podcast 'American Football' cites similar sentiments regarding football's decline. Local ultimate clubs should take note to start (or continue) youth-specific ultimate events and/or leagues.

Here are some choice snippets:

Why does Henry like Ultimate?  "He says 'we don't have refs and there's a lot more running around."

[Ultimate is described as] "an awesome" sport that combines "athleticism, good attitude, and fun" by Dean Ranzo.

Ultimate Frisbee is the game of choice for Gillian Epstein's children. Her 13-year-old son has been playing for a few years, and this year her 9-year-old daughter signed up as well. "I appreciate that Ultimate is relaxed, all-inclusive, and very positive. We were thrilled that the program agreed to take younger ages this summer, and my daughter loves it — it was the only team sport she was willing to consider."

Analysis
On the list of 11 sports charted in the article, the number of participants aged 6- to 12-year-olds in the sport of ultimate (439,000) is the highest compared to the other 4 sports with an increase in participation. Ultimate- as a team sport - ranks 7th in participation (as of 2014) and ranks 5th in increased participation (since 2007).  Since 2007, participation in ultimate by 6-12 y.o. has increased nearly 25% with 87,000 more participants.

See below for a condensed chart on the five team sports with increased participation by 6-12 year olds. SFIA considered racquetball and squash as "team" sports.

This trend is nothing new for USA Ultimate. USAU has experienced 12 consecutive years of growth in youth memberships - considered to be under 19. (Youth members are allowed to participate in USAU sanctioned Youth Division events.)

Youth Membership Growth [USAU Annual Report 2014] 

From the article: Just 40 percent of children ages 6 to 12 played team sports on a regular basis in 2013, down from 44.5 percent in 2008, according to the [Aspen Institute] report, which cited statistics from the Sports & Fitness Industry Association. Football has seen the steepest decline, but participation has also fallen in baseball, softball, soccer, and basketball. Meanwhile, more kids are playing racquetball, ice hockey, lacrosse, Ultimate Frisbee, and squash. 

Read the entire article.

RELATED: Ultimate had over 5 million participants per SFIA in 2012.

Jody Avirgan: Ultimate Messenger

If you play ultimate, then you have undoubtedly attempted to describe the sport.  If employed, the topic of ultimate might come up during conversations with co-workers.

So, what are you up to this weekend? 

"Driving to Illinois to play in an ultimate tournament."

Hey, what are you doing tonight?

"Going to a 3-hour practice with my ultimate frisbee team."

Does anyone know where the stapler is?

"Ultimate is a sport!"

What I'm try to say is that ultimate can be weaved into conversations at the workplace. There may not be much interest in your chatter about ultimate which makes Jody Avirgan's accomplishments a commendable act.

Jody Avirgan, who lives in New York, has played for PoNY (club) and Rumble (pro). Plus, Avirgan has experience as an assistant coach for USA Ultimate national teams — U-19 and U-23. You might know him from this MLU highlight from 2013...



According to his bio, he has worked at WNYC and currently works at FiveThirtyEight. Freakonomics Radio (in partnership with WNYC) claims to be one of the most popular podcasts in the world, with more than 5 million downloads per month. 538 is a favorite analytical site whose scope also reaches outside of politics.

Avirgan has successfully incorporated ultimate into these work projects in 2013 and 2015.
2013: What Do Skating Rinks, Ultimate Frisbee, and the World Have in Common?

2015: A Plea For More Frisbee Data From A U.S. Ultimate Coach

And, by doing so, has introduced ultimate to a wider audience.

FiveThirtyEight Publishes Articles on Ultimate

Yesterday, FiveThirtyEight published not one, but two, articles about the sport of ultimate. 538 is owned by ESPN, which is Disney-owned. The two articles appeared in their "Sports" section.

A Plea For More Frisbee Data From A U.S. Ultimate Coach
by Jody Avirgan

Ultimate Frisbee Is In The Dark Ages Of Analytics — And It Wants To Escape
by Carl Bialik

538 articles tagged as "Ultimate Frisbee"

In 538's existence, here's a chart to understand their coverage for the sport of ultimate:

Without proper data (collection), analysis cannot happen. Looking forward to additional coverage by 538 n the future.

Ultimate Frisbee in Pictures

There's been an incredible amount of articles published about the sport of ultimate stemming from the Olympic recognition. Below is a compilation of all the images that accompanied the articles in an attempt to demonstrate our sport.

via Sports Illustrated

via Mashable

via BBC

via FTW

via Newsweek

via MNN

via NY Times

via TIME

via NY Times

via New Yorker

via Newsweek

Some good. Some not so good. Sure makes us appreciate UltiPhotos!

Ultimate Played in Prison

The Utah Department of Corrections has a program where prison inmates try to cure themselves of addictions by jogging and playing other sports like Ultimate Frisbee.

via TWP

While most American prison systems utilize sports and exercise to help maintain peace and order in a stress-filled, volatile environment, the Utah Department of Corrections has incorporated sport in the rehabilitation of some inmates, using team games and regular exercise as part of a coordinated therapy program.

The group is called Addict II Athlete, and it meets three times a week, every session built around sport, discussion and rehabilitation. Tuesdays and Fridays might include basketball, softball or running. Thursdays begin with a weightlifting class. Most games in prison have the familiar rules with minor wrinkles: In Ultimate Frisbee, for example, when a disc hits the fence, it sets off an alarm in the control room and is therefore considered a turnover...

Read full article

[text taken directly from article]

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).

First Use of the Word "Frisbee" by NYT

The New York Times as part of 'First Glimpses' feature researched their archives for the first instance of the term "Frisbee" in print. A June 1957 article describing Princeton University - one of the schools at the first intercollegiate ultimate frisbee game - graduates involved in "frisbee-throwing sessions" was determined as the first publishing by The New York Times.

1957 is the same year Wham-O gained contractual rights to the Pluto Platter flying disc, which would be officially renamed Frisbee in 1958.

The NYT's research continued with another instance, later in 1957, with a delightful perspective on toys and the phenomenon of fads - including the Frisbee.

Screengrab of NYT article

Article copy: "Like most other fast-selling pieces of goofy merchandise, the Frisbee is novel, portable and cheap (79¢). Neither stamina nor brains are needed to make it work. Most manufacturers do not know why people buy the disks, how the craze got started or who the hell Frisbee is...."

"Somebody discoverd a pie-plate-pitching game and it was found that our [Frisbie Pie Company] tin plates were excellent for scaling," a company official said. "During that fad we lost about 5,000 tin pie plates." 

Cartoon in NYT's "Frisbees, Yo-Yo's, Goo-Goo's, Etc." [1957]

Slate Podcast Talks Ultimate Frisbee

Slate's sports podcast Hang Up and Listen spent 3 minutes and 12 seconds on the sport of Ultimate Frisbee in their March 2nd, 2015, episode. Ultimate was the main topic for one 'Afterballs' segment where Josh Levin (Slate's executive editor and originator of the "Shaggy defense," which has nothing to do with defending one's sports goal) focused on India's ultimate scene.

Fast forward to 57:15 to hear the segment on ultimate.

The Sundance-winning film, 175 Grams, was the introduction to the segment. Levin drops knowledge about WFDF's revocation of Flying Disc Federation of India and the India's Ultimate Players Association.

India's beach team jerseys (seen below) are given high praise because of the peacock image.

India beach jerseys [via]

Additional mentions include: WFDF country rankings (India is 43rd out of 45) and the World Championships of Beach Ultimate in Dubai.

[h/t HULA Podcast]

Spreading SLUDGE

We are very grateful and humbled any/all times anyone shares posts from this blog. Here are some memorable blog mentions or references to a wider audience from last year.

April 2014
DoG legend and USAU Hall of Famer Jim Parinella mentioned a SLUDGE post about a previous pro ultimate league idea in his Skyd Magazine "Can't We All Get Along" article.

May 2014
Tony Leonardo, Major League Ultimate game commentator, mentioned the game spread as set by SLUDGE sportsbook during the Eastern Conference matchup of Boston Whitecaps @ New York Rumble pro ultimate broadcast.

LISTEN to mention (at 30:39).



June 2014
Evan Lepler, American Ultimate Disc League game announcer, read from the SLUDGE post about how the "brick" got its name during the June 7th game between AUDL Western Division teams San Francisco FlameThrowers versus San Jose Spiders.

The SLUDGE blog and twitter feed get thanked at 8:59 in the 2nd quarter.

LISTEN to the reading at (53:50).

September 2014
In The Washington Post's article about D.C. Current player Markham Shofner (by Scott Allen), the SLUDGE twitter account gets a heard-through shout-out.

October 2014
At the request of SLUDGE, The Washington Post updated its original article about D.C. sports teams with recent championships to add the DC Current 2014 victory.

December 2014
SLUDGE contributed a chapter to the recently updated "ULTIMATE: The  Greatest Sport Ever Invented By Man" book.

Ultimate: The Greatest Sport Ever Invented by Man (3rd Edition)

!!UPDATED EDITION OF THE GREATEST BOOK ON ULTIMATE IS NOW AVAILABLE!!!

Ultimate: The Greatest Sport Ever Invented by Man [Amazon/Kindle]

Info: This ALL NEW 3rd Edition is available as an e-book! 

Some still say ultimate is the most misunderstood flying disc field running team sport on the planet. Most people think it's Frisbee football played barefoot and without boundaries. Those people are wrong. Ultimate is a sport played by 4.7 million people a year in North America—more than korfball, lawn darts, lacrosse, curling and FootGolf combined.

Ultimate is so popular that it even has rules that are sometimes followed. This book will provide you with complete and total knowledge of the ultimate game.

And since this is the revised 2015 Third Edition you can now read all about Brodie Smith, the AUDL, MLU, the TCT, more Brodie Smith and the Olympics and be amazed. 

THIS BOOK INCLUDES:
 • The Eight Ultimate Player Types
 • Brand-New 50 Most Common Nicknames
 • 28 Near-Useless Throws on the Field
 • Brodie Smith's Date of Birth
 • How to Tweet Your Ultimate Team
 • Where to Play Ultimate Without Being Mocked
 • How to Score at an Ultimate Party
 • Whether or Not You Should Go Pro
 • Useful Playing Tips from Experts of the Game

Price: $4.99

Did You Know...? 
Beau Kittredge is on the 'Ultimate: The Greatest Sport Ever Invented by Man' cover. (He's the figure jump-catching the disc.)

MKBHD in WIRED

Marques Brownlee (aka MKBHD) is a Columbia High School graduate, a former New Jersey Hammerhead player (2013), a New York Rumble player (2014), and a Garden State club ultimate player, who was profiled due to his popular YouTube channel in the November 2014 issue of WIRED. The tech magazine boasts a circulation of 3 million.

The backdrop of his portrait shows an on-screen MKBHD in his traditional outfit - an Ultimate top. The blue one is the classic DUMP + SWING shirt.

Page 42 of WIRED (Nov 2014)

Brownlee has been previously interviewed by Ultiworld (August 2013) & USA Today (September 2014).  View his reviews.

Text from the last paragraph in WIRED: "Brownlee is currently balancing this one-man production with his senior year of college and—of course—playing professional Ultimate Frisbee for the New York Rumble."

Why the "of course" verbiage? Might it be because Ultimate is the new golf??

Thanks, Lou

Lou Burruss, an author at Skyd Magazine, announced his decision to cease writing his column Win the Fields. Since September 2011 at Skyd, Mr. Burruss has published incredible insight into this intricate sport of ultimate. His articles were always relevant and worth reading (and re-reading).

For a summary, Ultiworld published a Top-10 of Lou's WtF articles.

TO: Lou

Thank you for sharing your words, thoughts, and expertise.