Nuggets of Fantastic Enlightenment - Part 2

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