The Ultimate Diary

[bulbasaur]

As a kid, some friends and I found a new toy, a Frisbee!  It was just lying around in the school yard.  Why would anyone forget something as cool as this?  Kids being kids, we obviously took it and played with it.  None of us knew how to throw it, so we just experimented on it.  We left it where we found it, but no one claimed it the next day either.  So, it became our fixation for the next few weeks.  One day, I suggested that we play a new game, football with a Frisbee.  I called this game, Frisbee Football.  Little did I know that this would serve as my foundation for playing Ultimate in the future. 

[bulbasaur]

Frisbee Football

So what was it exactly?  Well, it wasn't Ultimate.  We played it like touch football, but with a Frisbee.  It was a lot of fun because the way you caught and threw a Frisbee was quite different than the way you caught a football. 

[bulbasaur]

My First Frisbee

After messing around with a Frisbee with friends for a few weeks, my family actually bought a Frisbee.  Well, we actually bought some kind of family sports kit that had a Frisbee.  The kit had badminton, volleyball, croquet, etc.  We really bought it for the net so we could play volleyball in our backyard.  It was a cheap kit with cheap quality stuff, but it did the job.  I learned to play all those sports on that kit too.  But each of those sports are topics for another day...

At the time, I thought the Frisbee that came with it was awesome.  I would throw with my siblings, but they weren't as into it as I was.  So, I just threw with myself.  I would set up boxes, toys, anything as targets.  I would hit trees.  I would find different ways to throw the Frisbee.  I would try to curve in various directions it as much as I could while still hitting a target. I would practice changing the speed of the disc.  I would throw it overhand (I would later learn that it would be called a Hammer).  I even threw it to myself. 

During Frisbee Football games, I eventually started playing QB because I could throw it better than my friends.  I wasn't too thrilled because I enjoyed catching more, but oh well.  Unfortunately, my tenure at QB would be short.  We stopped playing Frisbee Football not long afterwards.  Dodge ball took the place of Frisbee Football.  However, those skills would come in handy some years later.   

[bulbasaur]

Summer Camp and My First Ultimate Game

I took a geology class one high school summer, and we hiked up a mountain to look at some formations.  On the way back down the other side, the bus wasn't where it was supposed to be (we later found out it broke down).  Oddly enough though, there was a soccer field on the other side.  One of the guys pulled out a Frisbee and asked if we all wanted to play a game of "Ultimate."  I had no idea how to play, but why not.  It was better than just sitting around doing nothing. 

As it turned it out, Ultimate was almost like Frisbee Football minus the downs.  Some of the guys were quite good at throwing the disc.  All I had to do was just catch, something I already learned a while back.  What they considered "trick catches" were just the way my friends and I used to do it as kids.  One hand catches.  Between the legs.  Behind the back.  I had to learn how to catch these different ways because 1) Frisbee Football was more physical 2) schoolyard bragging rights. 

We played until the Sun went down.  It was a lot of fun.  The bus didn't come until 10pm.  I always wanted to go back up that mountain, but that may never happen.  I don't even remember how to get there.  Life doesn't always give you a second chance. 

This wouldn't be the last time the guy with the Frisbee and I played together.  As it turned out, we were going to attend the same high school in the fall. 

[bulbasaur]

Ultimate High School

Growing up where I grew up, people didn't play Ultimate.  Soccer, volleyball, basketball, football, etc.  Frisbee was a child's game.  Any real baller played one of these real sports. 

My new high school was quite different.  The children were from more affluent backgrounds, and Ultimate seemed quite the popular game.  There was a game every afternoon, so I joined in.  Volleyball wasn't popular at this school (not yet anyways, but that's another story), and I wasn't into basketball at this time.  Soccer was popular, but pickup games were rare.  Football...wel l, rich kids apparently don't play football. 

I thought I needed an invite to play, so I searched out my summer camp buddy.  As it turned out, "Ultimate culture" is very friendly.  For pickup games, playing co-ed is perfectly fine.  If the teams are uneven, it's fine.  There isn't even a set limit on the number of players.  People play for some fun and exercise.  That being said, there is a more competitive side to Ultimate, as I would find out later...

[bulbasaur]

The Ultimate Team

I didn't really take Ultimate seriously.  I only played it casually.  I was more focused on volleyball.  Often times, Ultimate was just to pass the time before dinner.  However, as the school year continued, it became clear who was more serious than others.  Ultimate wasn't an official varsity sport, so all the local high schools created clubs to compete with each other.  This was good for me because our school's Ultimate team needed people for scrimmage, so me and some other guys always had a pickup game. 

Even though my friends and I played with the team in scrimmages and pickup, we weren't on the team.  We never tried out.  We definitely didn't go to practices or meetings.  All of that would soon change...

[bulbasaur]

In the Spring, there was a city tournament for high school players.  It would be held over our Spring Break.  I wasn't on the team, so it didn't interest me.  Plus, it was Spring Break, and I usually go home. 

Two days before Spring Break, I got asked to join the team for the weekend tournament.  As it turned out, they were always curious why I never tried out for the team despite that I played.  I always felt pretty good at the game, but I didn't think anyone noticed.  In any case, I wanted to go, but I had to say no.  Unlike the other kids on the team, I didn't grow up as affluent.  I didn't have cleats to play, so I would already be at a disadvantage in a real game.  I didn't even have real athletic clothes.  I just wore my street gear.  The tournament would require an overnight stay at a friend, and then a cheap hotel.  So even if I decided to play in my street gear, food and hotel would be a problem.  No one wants to hear a sob story, so I just told them I already made other plans.  I would miss this opportunity, but it wouldn't be my last opportunity to join a team...



Sometimes, money makes a difference. 

[bulbasaur]

When I attended college in the Fall, it just so happened that the college team just won the national championship.  Each fall, the team would hold a huge Ultimate outing.  It was part recruitment and part promotion and part tryout.  The entire campus was invited.  As it turned out, I already had a network from not only kids from my high school, but also other schools that I played pickup against.  I wasn't really out to make the team.  I just wanted to play. 

I continued to play with them for the next few weeks.  Ultimate was actually just a warmup for me before I went to play volleyball.  To my amazement, they asked me and a few friends to be on practice squad.  I was going to be part of a team...sorta.  Being on the practice squad is not really that impressive, but I was still excited.  Ultimate is more popular now, but it really wasn't that popular then.  Plus, the Ultimate Club had A Team, B Team, and the practice squad.  A Team had almost 20 people.  B Team had about another 15.  And the practice squad had about 15.   I was probably never going to suit up for an official game, but I still bought some cleats (see my shoe thread). 

Although I enjoyed my time playing on the team, my time on the team wouldn't last long...

[bulbasaur]

I eventually quit the practice squad.  There was no chance that I was ever going to start, and these guys did nothing else but Ultimate.  When they weren't playing Ultimate, they hung out together and expected everyone else to hang out together, too.  Personally, I had other interests.  Even with sports, I enjoyed playing other sports as well.  So with a whimper, my club Ultimate days ended.  However, I would not stop Ultimate.  As soon as I quit, I got recruited to play in intramural games...

[bulbasaur]

My intramural team was made of just average folks who simply wanted to play.  I knew them from here and there.  Two of our players were female, but we didn't care.  We were all out just for a good time.  We played a total of 7 games for the season, and we lost them all.  I played a lot of handler despite that I usually played other positions.  During our short season, we had a lot of blunders, and surprisingly, highlights....

[bulbasaur]

My intramural team wasn't that good, so we made a lot of mistakes.  As a result, I surprisingly got a lot of highlights.  I pulled the World's Greatest play while throwing it between my legs.  A few layouts.  I even have a strange picture of me of "powering up" like a DBZ character.  The weather was getting colder and I was obviously hot.  With the weird stadium lighting, I looked like I was powering up when I was on the sidelines.  Thanks to a buddy's girlfriend who took all those pictures of me.  I didn't even know she was taking pictures because she was hiding.  I found out later that she was hiding because my buddy gets too nervous to play when she is around.  Like any good friend, I laughed.