HISTORY LESSON OF THE WEEK: As club teams continued to expand and evolve across the nation, and as the newly formed UPA began organizing an actual championship series for teams to look forward to, the attitude of the game began to change. Differences in styles between the west coast teams and east coast teams reflected the typical personalities of the local regions: California teams were more laid back (yet obviously competitive); New York and Boston had harder edges to them. At the club level, the Condors out of Santa Barbara were dominant in the late 70s and early 80s, while other teams, such as Glassboro State in New Jersey fielded great teams for the era (although Glassboro began to drop off when the college division was organized). Other great but short-lived teams included the aptly named Rude Boys out of Boston and the colorful personalities of the Flying Circus and Tsunami in the San Francisco area. Midwestern teams (Chicago’s Windy City and St. Louis’s Tuna) also had great runs. However, the most infamous team in Ultimate club history was simply known as New York, New York. These guys were crude and tough, and they defied the developing concept of “Spirit of the Game,” which the UPA began to promote in its early days. Legends from NYNY include Kenny Dobyns, Pat King, and Dan Weiss, as they won Club Nationals 6 out of 7 years between 1987 and 1993. Later on, their intensity was rivaled by Boston’s famed club team Death or Glory (whose core still plays at the Masters level). DoG, led by such names as Jim Parinella, Alex deFrondeville, and Eric Zaslow, won Nationals six straight times from ’94 to ’99. Since those legendary teams however, Club Open Nationals has been won by west coast teams, with a new breed of Condors in the early part of the 2000s until the dynasties (and rivalries) of Sockeye (Seattle) and Furious George (Vancouver) took over for most of the past seven years. In 2008, San Francisco’s Jam, who had evolved over the years from the earlier Tsunami teams and had been frequent runners-up in the past decade, won the most recent Club Championship.

LINKS OF THE WEEK:
http://uparules.blogspot.com/
http://groups.google.com/group/UPA_11th_edition_rules

Focusing on the rules a little bit more, the above links will take you to blogs and discussion about the 11th Edition of the rules, as discussed by the UPA Standing Rules Committee. The various topics and questions go over some of the nuances of the rules and how to deal with unique and hypothetical situations that may come up during a game. Remember, the team who knows the correct rules and the correct calls has a distinct advantage!

RULE OF THE WEEK: XIV.B. discusses Marking Violations. At Wednesday\'s practice, some of us briefly discussed some of these (such as the Disc Space rule) and Stall Count issues.

“Marker” is officially defined (in II.K) as: The defensive player within three meters of the thrower’s pivot or of the thrower if no pivot has been established. If the disc is not in play, a defensive player within three meters of a spot on the field where the disc is to be put into play is considered the marker. (There are also more specific rules regarding being the marker, which I encourage you to read about, and we can also discuss those later.)

Marking Violations:

1. Fast count:
1. If the marker does not say stalling to initiate or resume a stall count, counts at intervals of less than one second, or skips a number in the count, it is a fast count.
2. If a fast count occurs in such a manner that the thrower does not have a reasonable opportunity to call fast count before the first utterance of the word ten, the play is treated as a contested stall.
3. If this occurs in the same possession following a contested stall, the stall count resumes at six.

2. Double-team: If a defensive player other than the marker is within three meters of any pivot of the thrower without also being within three meters of and guarding another offensive player, it is a double team. However, merely running across this area is not a double team.

3. Disc-space: If a line between any two points on the marker touches the thrower or is less than one disc diameter away from the torso or pivot of the thrower, it is a disc space violation. However, if this situation is caused solely by movement of the thrower, it is not a violation.

4. Vision blocking: If the marker deliberately blocks the thrower\'s vision, it is a vision blocking violation.

5. Fast count, double team, disc space, and vision blocking are marking violations.

6. Only the thrower may call a marking violation, and to do so must call out the name of the specific marking violation.

7. When a marking violation is called, play does not stop. The violation must be corrected before the marker can resume the stall count with the number last uttered before the call minus one (e.g. stalling one…two... fast count ...one…two…). If the marker resumes the stall count before correcting a marking violation, it is another instance of the original marking violation, which may be called by the thrower.

8. If a marker commits a marking violation after being called for a marking violation during the same stall count but before the thrower is in the act of throwing, the thrower may choose to either call another marking violation or to treat the marking violation as a general defensive violation. To treat it as a general violation, the thrower must call violation.

By the way, rule XIV.A.5 says: \"If a stall count is interrupted by a call, the thrower and marker are responsible for agreeing on the correct count before the check. The count reached is the last number fully uttered by the marker before the call. The count is resumed with the word stalling followed by the number listed below:
1.General Rules:
1.Uncontested defensive foul or violation: 1
2.Uncontested offensive foul or violation: Count reached plus 1, or 9 if over 8
3.Contested foul or violation: Count reached plus 1, or 6 if over 5
4.Offsetting calls: Count reached plus 1, or 6 if over 5
5.Unresolved calls: Count reached plus 1, or 6 if over 5

(This rule tells you where to reset the stall count after a marking violation.)

Since we are sort of bouncing around the rule book, some of these terms and concepts may be confusing. If so, please bring up any questions or potential situations to discuss. Even veterans and nerds like us get confused by certain rules (frequently!).
http://www.upa.org/ultimate/rules/11th 

Every now and then—I hesitate to assent to an exact writing schedule—I’ll be posting tips for newcomers to this wonderful game of ours. My claim to expertise is the fact that because I’m naturally terrible at virtually everything ultimate Frisbee-related, I’ve had to learn all my ultimate skills one embarrassing miffed pull, failed D, and badly shanked forehand at a time. Thus, I can explain how to learn each skill to newbies in exquisite detail. Look for more entries in the coming weeks with tips, hints, and ideas on how new ultimate players can help their teams win as they’re learning the ropes and developing throws.

Ultimate Frisbee is a unique game in that almost all of its players, devotees, and apologists started playing it as adults. This puts it at an odd juxtaposition with more readily recognizable (American) team sports such as baseball, basketball, softball, volleyball, football, and soccer.

How many of us played most or all of those sports as children? Most of us? Yet almost no one plays ultimate as a youth. Sure, occasionally you might encounter ultimate in gym class in school, but it only lasts for one or two periods. Then—poof, you don’t hear of it for another decade or so.

Thus, ultimate can be an intimidating sport to take on. As adults, most of us are relieved to be past the point where we look foolish and clueless all the time (Read: 6th through 10th grades. Can I get an amen on that?). But suddenly we find ourselves on a field with a group of other adults and teens, holding a plastic disc and feeling that same awkward what-am-I-doing-here-I-look-like-an-idiot terror we last experienced at our first junior high dance.

Let’s be frank: Ultimate is as much a social endeavor as it is a sport, (what isn’t?) and it can be downright terrifying to go through the awkward process of learning a new sport.

Take heart! You may think you’re making a fool of yourself, but I can guarantee you that even the saltiest old veteran sees your bobbled catches and laughable flicks and thinks, “I remember when that was me.” Because guess what? Those players most likely started playing seriously as adults, too.

All that being said, you won’t be floundering for long. I know it can seem impossible to develop a firm understanding of the game or become proficient at throwing, but it’s not. Anyone can learn these things, and with some practice, you will too. And it won’t take as long as you might think.

When you’re at LUDA (or any field full of ultimate players, for that matter), look around and try to guess how long each person has been playing. You’d be shocked at the brevity of the experience of some of the best players out there. Sure, a few of the gang have been playing for 10-20 years, but the majority have been playing for a few years or less.

One returning LUDA leaguer I was chatting with recently told me that he considered not coming back at all after his first game, that it was intimidating and frustrating at first. Now he has a few months of organized ultimate under his belt and is developing into a fine player.

What’s my point? Hang in there. You’ll develop some serious ultimate skills very, very soon. In the meantime, rely on your captains and other more experienced players on your team for pointers. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, even if they seem dumb. Other than the fact that ultimate is the greatest sport devised by anyone this side of Valhalla, it’s also the most open and welcoming sporting community you’re likely to find.

Jump in with both feet, and you’ll be swimming like a champ in no time.

Love,
Seth

When the four guys who would become the Commissioners of the Lincoln Ultimate Disc Association first got together, we discussed the potential of the sport of Ultimate in our local community. At the time, Lincoln was home to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln collegiate Ultimate team: Cornfed, and a bunch of people who got together on occasion to play pick-up. Omaha was home to the Summer Omaha Ultimate League, where many Lincoln players went to play once per week form May to July, but otherwise, the community was rather fragmented. Those who played pick-up in Lincoln, true to the sport’s hippie roots, often played with bare feet and undefined endzones, yet displayed remarkable athleticism, and there was enough turnout and interest in something more that Scott, Seth, Tim, and Collin decided to plan Lincoln’s first league in the Fall of 2008.

LUDA was fortunate enough to gain a generous sponsor in the Nebraska Lottery, who, much like us, had an interest in fostering positive growth in the community. Since LUDA’s first Fall League, we have continued with a successful Spring League and an ongoing Summer League. The new people we see every season, along with the veterans whose game has blossomed, gives us encouragement to go even further. Of course, Ultimate is good for the community in terms of being a safe, friendly outlet for physical exercise, meeting new people, and encouraging good spirit and sportsmanship.

Since the beginning, LUDA has discussed ideas and goals for the future of Ultimate in Lincoln and the entire Nebraska community. Our continued vision for local Ultimate includes:
 ·         Unity and cooperation between all members of the Nebraska Ultimate scene, including Lincoln and Omaha league players and organizers, college players (UNL, UNO, Creighton), club teams (Omaha’s Rigor Mortis and Lincoln’s Fire At The Circus), and any of the various other folks who play pick-up or enjoy tossing the disc. Cooperation between all these groups will increase everyone’s ability to recruit, draw sponsors, organize tournaments, and play at any level that anyone wants.
       ·   Growth in the youth/high school ranks. We have spoken with many people who are in high school or have connections to high schools who would like to see Ultimate organized to a greater extent at the youth level. This will further increase the future talent and knowledge of the sport and will make for better leagues and better clubs. We are in current conversations with the UPA’s Regional Youth Director about jump-starting the youth Ultimate scene in Nebraska.
       ·   Participation in the Cornhusker State Games. We are also in the application process for Ultimate to be considered in the 2010 Cornhusker State Games. This will give all Ultimate players in Nebraska a chance to showcase their game in a local tournament atmosphere and further thrust the sport toward the legitimacy and recognition that Ultimate is looking for!
       ·   Outreach/charity opportunities. We are always looking to make a positive mark in the community. Several LUDA members participated in an attempt to set a Guinness World Record (see Seth’s earlier blog post), by which the proceeds went to a very good cause (awareness and prevention of child abuse). As we grow, we will continue to seek out other opportunities to contribute to the community, including donations to schools and hosting tournaments for charitable causes. LUDA hopes to team up with other local organizations (the Omaha Ultimate community, the Nebraska Lottery) to make these goals a reality.

We have a lot of ideas and a lot of work to do! If you have any other suggestions for how LUDA can contribute to the community and continue to grow the local Ultimate scene, please let us know. Even better, ask us how you can help further our goals. We are always looking for more active participants in the community, to include planning and working (not just playing)?

What is your vision for Ultimate?

HISTORY LESSON OF THE WEEK: As Ultimate continued to spread, the concept of manifest destiny took hold in a big way when the sport reached Santa Barbara, California. UCSB began playing Ultimate in 1974, eventually coming to be known as the Condors. In 1977, the Condors won an early “National Championship” in one of the first tournaments to feature nationwide competition. To this day, the Condors are still a force and are one of Ultimate’s greatest dynasties, having won multiple Championships at the Club level, as recently as 2001, and are still making regular appearances at Club Nationals. When the Ultimate scene finally reorganized into Club and College divisions (around 1984), UCSB was and is still a force, winning College Nationals a number of times with both the Open and Women’s teams. One of the Condors’ founders was Tom Kennedy, who went on to found the Ultimate Player’s Association in 1979 in an effort to unite the growing Ultimate community under a standard ruling and organizing entity. Of course, the UPA remains as the national governing body of the sport. One of Kennedy’s and the UPA’s earliest accomplishments was to organize the various Ultimate teams into competitive regions and turn the championship series into a collection of regional champions.

LINK OF THE WEEK: This week, we're posting two links:

The Ultimate Handbook: http://www.ultimatehandbook.com/wordpress/     
This is an older website that is undergoing some recent updates. This is one of the first places I ever found to explain strategic concepts in Ultimate. They diagram plays, drills, and formations using Flash animation. Since parts of the site are apparently still going through changes, here is another site:

Zip's Tips:
http://www.brown.edu/Athletics/Mens_Ultimate/zipstips/index.html  
Josh Ziperstein won the Callahan Award his senior year at Brown University in 2005 as the top college player in the country that year, taking his team to the Finals of College Nationals. He now plays for Chain Lightning in Atlanta, a frequent Club Nationals participant. Earlier in his college career, he began posting daily tips for his Brown teammates so they could become better Ultimate players. The page became popular nationwide and is still up today, with some tidbits that are informative and sometimes funny.

RULE OF THE WEEK: Rule XVI.I. is the "Pick" rule. In addition to travels and fouls, the calls on the field that you are most likely to hear and call are picks. The rule exists mostly for safety reasons, with the intent of avoiding collisions. Basically, when you make you cut, you can't lead your defender into another player.

By the way, "Guarding" as used below, is defined in Ultimate (according to II.G) as: "A defender is guarding an offensive player when they are within three meters of that offensive player and are reacting to that offensive player."

Picks:

1. A pick occurs whenever an offensive player moves in a manner that causes a defensive player guarding an offensive player to be obstructed by another player. Obstruction may result from contact with, or the need to avoid, the obstructing player.

2. A pick can be called only by the obstructed player and must be announced by loudly calling pick immediately after it occurs.

3. If play stops according to XVI.C, players reposition according to XVI.C.4. In addition, the obstructed player is then allowed to move to recover the relative position lost because of the pick.

XVI.C and XVI.C.4 refer to the "Continuation Rule," which applies to just about any violation and basically says that if a call (such as a pick) is made when the disc is in the air (or if the thrower tosses it before realizing the call is made), then play continues until the disc stops. If you hear a travel or pick call, don't throw the disc, and if the disc is thrown, you better hope it's caught, or it's a turnover! Please read more about the continuation rule on the rules page, and we will be sure to discuss it in future weeks.

http://www.upa.org/ultimate/rules/11th

HISTORY LESSON OF THE WEEK: Ultimate began to spread when the group of Columbia High School students in New Jersey who had written the first set of rules went off to college. Ultimate games were soon seen in the early 70s at places such as Princeton, Yale, and Rutgers. At the same time, the next generation of CHS students, led by Irv Kalb (whose name is also listed in early editions of the rule book and later came to be known as the “Johnny Appleseed” of Ultimate) began sending copies of the rules to other high schools in New Jersey. The first interscholastic Ultimate game occurred when a rival high school played against CHS in their now legendary parking lot. The first inter-collegiate Ultimate game was played between Princeton and Rutgers on November 2, 1972, the 103rd anniversary of the very first intercollegiate football game (between the same schools on the same site). By the mid-70s, Ultimate had spread to dozens of colleges (still primarily in the northeast), and in 1975, Kalb organized the first major college tournament at Yale (which was won by Rutgers). Also in 1975, Dan “Stork” Roddick, one of Kalb’s college teammates, was hired as marketing director at Wham-O (the only source for discs at the time) and began using his position to promote the young sport. Kalb continued to oversee the development of the rules until the early 80s. 

LINK OF THE WEEK: http://www.the-huddle.org/issues/  
The Huddle came on the scene last year as probably the best collection of Ultimate journalism and information on playing the game that I have seen. Their collection of Issues covers various topics, written by a panel of experts, each giving their valuable perspectives on strategy, technique, and skills. This is good stuff! 

RULE OF THE WEEK: Section XVI.H discusses Fouls. Of course Ultimate is technically a non-contact sport, but in the same mold as basketball, where contact happens from time to time. 

Fouls are defined (according to II.E) as: “Non-incidental contact between opposing players. In general, the player initiating the contact has committed the foul.” Incidental Contact is defined (according to II.H) as: “Contact between opposing players that does not affect continued play.”

Fouls: It is the responsibility of all players to avoid contact in every way possible. 
1. A foul can be called only by the fouled player and must be announced by loudly calling foul immediately after it occurs. 
2. Contact resulting from adjacent opposing players simultaneously vying for the same unoccupied position, is not in itself a foul. 

There are several complicated nuances to when a foul can and should be called (XVI.3), and it is written with much length, so I won't post it all here, but if you would like to know more about this very important aspect of the game, read about it here: http://www.upa.org/ultimate/rules/11th#XVI 

As an added feature for the benefit of LUDA's members and fans, we will regularly be posting the following History Lessons, Links, and Rules of the week to further your knowledge about Ultimate.

Much of this has been sent to Fire At The Circus members in the past, but now it will be accessible to all (and FATC members, I'll continue to write new editions in the near future).

For you Ultimate nerds out there, I may be glossing over some of the details in these lessons, so feel free to add comments as appropriate if we miss anything or get something wrong.

Thanks - CB

******************************

HISTORY LESSON OF THE WEEK: Most sources trace the founding of Ultimate to Columbia High School in Maplewood, New Jersey in 1968. A team-based Frisbee game was introduced to Joel Silver during a summer camp, and he took it to school with him that year (Wham-O had only patented Frisbees since the 50s). In Fall of 1968, Silver, as a joke, proposed to CHS’s student council that a committee be formed to explore adding Frisbee to the school curriculum. The motion passed, of course. Silver and his friends developed the game, initially playing in the school parking lot with unlimited endzones. Silver called it “the ultimate sports experience,” and the name Ultimate Frisbee stuck around. Silver, along with Jonny Hines and Buzzy Hellring, developed the first set of rules that we now call the First Edition of the official rules (we are now on the 11th Edition). CHS is still listed as the first copyright in 1970 in the rulebook, if you have a copy. The game spread when the kids from CHS went off to college, and so on. Joel Silver, by the way, is now one of biggest movie producers in Hollywood, having produced the Lethal Weapon, Die Hard, and Matrix franchises, among others.

LINK OF THE WEEK: http://upa.org  
The Ultimate Players Association is the national governing body for the sport and currently runs the championship series, which Fire at the Circus plans on participating in beginning this fall. Their website is not the slickest of all time, but is full of good info if you navigate the site for a while, including tournament schedules and results, rules, outreach programs, etc. Everyone who plays in the series (beginning with Sectionals) will have to become a UPA member this year, so it will be good to be familiar with what they have to offer.

Since the next section is rules, here’s a bonus link to the rules page: http://upa.org/ultimate/rules/11th  

RULE OF THE WEEK: Section XVI.J. of the rulebook deals with Traveling. Travel calls can be disruptive, so it pays to know how you need to be set and what to be able to look for. Plant your pivot foot!

Traveling: The thrower must establish a pivot at the appropriate spot on the field and keep all or part of the pivot in contact with that spot until the throw is released. Failure to do so is a travel and results in a stoppage of play and a check.
1. In addition, each of the following is a travel:
a. A player catches the disc and either speeds up, changes direction or does not stop as quickly as possible before establishing a pivot (XV.B).
b. A player receives a pass while running or jumping, and releases a pass after the third ground contact and before establishing a pivot (XV.C).
c. Purposeful bobbling (including tipping, delaying, guiding, brushing, or the like) to oneself in order to advance the disc in any direction from where it initially was contacted (XV.A).
d. The thrower fails to touch the disc to the ground when required (XIII.B).
2. Exceptions:
a. If a non-standing player loses contact with the pivot spot in order to stand up, it is not a travel, provided the new pivot is established at the same location.
b. It is not a travel if a player catches the disc and releases a pass before the third ground contact (XV.C).
c. If play stops, the thrower may reset the pivot.