Spirit of the Game

As many people already know, and some others do not, I am an ultimate frisbee player. The name ultimate frisbee may bring various images to mind. Some confuse the sport with throwing discs into baskets, which is a very different game by the name of disc golf. Others think frisbees are for the beach or for throwing with your dog. And some may think, with a touch more truth, that frisbee is a game played by a bunch of has-been hippies. In reality ultimate frisbee is a fast paced game played on a soccer field. It involves throwing, catching, running and diving. Teams have offenses, defenses and special plays. It is a worldwide sport and is gaining popularity outside of the US. But all of that does not set the sport apart from any other. The uniqueness of the game lies in something called Spirit of the Game. Unlike most competitive sports, ultimate is self officiated. Fouls, travels, out of bounds and points are all called by the player with no referee or official involved in the sport. But that is too simple a definition. The spirit of ultimate is much more than that. The point of this isn't to lecture anyone on ultimate frisbee. I am only trying to give some context for my most recent trip up to Seattle to play in the largest frisbee tournament in the US. The tournament is called Potlatch and is known for encompassing the spirit of ultimate.

I left from the ranch early Thursday morning. It is a 9 hour drive from the south of Oregon to the northern part of Washington. Both states were spectacularly beautiful. Oregon was accented by amber pastures and green mountains. We crossed the Columbia river, greeted by Mt. Helen to the east while Mt. Rainer beckoned us deeper into the state of Washington. Both Washington and Seattle exceeded my expectations. Certainly worth visiting.

Friday morning Colby and I headed to 60 acres park. Home for 3 days to Potlatch. We see a large expanse of green fields and discs flying in the air, confirming we are in the right place. One especially fun aspect of Potlatch is that everyone camps at the fields. The perimeter of the park is packed full of tents and tarp structures, housing the 300 players for the long weekend. Every year the tournament has a theme. This year is was "Turn back time". So within this overall theme, each team chooses a theme for the weekend. The team name, uniform and game should all fit its theme. Within the ultimate community, many tournaments encourage gift giving, game playing or cheering after the ultimate frisbee game is over. It promotes good sportsmanship and enhances mixing and mingling among the different teams.

Bar Trek: The Final Beer was the name of my team. Star Trek was the theme, beer drinking was encouraged. After each game we played a trivia game with the other team, ousting any closet trekkies. With enough correct answers the team would receive a VHS of one of the Star Trek movies. Any wrong answers resulted in one team member eating a blood worm (pickled herring with red dye). Admittedly I have never seen one episode or movie of Star Trek. The tables were turned at one point when a team from the east coast pointed me out from the rest of my team mates to see if I knew the answer to one of the questions. Even though it was a question we had asked multiple teams, I hadn't been paying any attention. Blood worm for me.

We played one team from Wisconsin called Drop Cop. They wore uniforms that were a mix between the police show Chips and Reno 911. They were complete with handcuffs, hats, a trompbone player and violinist, mustaches and water guns with whiskey inside. As the game progressed they began handing out citations to some of my team mates, shooting you in the mouth with their whiskey guns. Another team we played was named Downtown Brown. They consisted of ethnic players from all over the US. They set down train tracks, had an MC similar to Little Richard, played some 60s rock n roll music and we had a dance party. Other team theme highlights were Team WWF wrestling, Jewbilation, Night Bacon, Mile High Club and Space Invaders. Friday evening as our team relaxed around our campsite, a boy with a boom box and an entourage of 10 came up to our site and started a dance party. We joined in the crew and danced our way around the perimeter of the fields. By the time we worked our way across the fields we had grown to 60 strong and danced our hearts out to Michael Jackson.

The team I played with was a mix of Oklahoma, Arkansas and Texas natives. Some still live in the area and others do not. It was a good group of folks, welcoming and fun. Potlatch, more so than any tournament I have participated, really encompassed the spirit of ultimate. Gift giving, game playing, inter-team mingling, dancing, sumo wrestling, a slip n slide and an overall desire to have fun while being as ridiculous as you desired was possessed by all. Grown women ran around in frilly dresses, men in leotards or leisure suits. It really was an alter reality for 3 days. A chance to get away from one's every day life and gather around a common interest. Potlatch has been a tournament I had heard about for years. This year was my first to attend. I dearly hope it will not be my last.