Is it the sight of discs soaring undeterred through the sky? Is it the self-regulated spirit of the game? Is it the feeling of a determined dive into mud? Or is it simply a salute to our more childish, innocent natures?
Whatever it is, you've juked and jived your way into the Top 3 of my favorite sports. It's always funny how things turn out. Four years (ish) ago I hardly knew that frisbees were part of any organized sport. Fast forward a few years, and it's become a large part of my life. While I have only ever played on a semi-competitive level, and probably will never play on anything more than such, it never ceases to provide me with joy.
The pinnacle of this joy was probably reached in very recent history. The catalyst for this new level of joy from Ultimate was an unlikely one: my own sister. During her time abroad at graduate school in England, she joined her first Ultimate team (obviously jealous of all my Ultimate stories from IUP). There she learned the basics, achieved some necessary humiliation (a necessary part of any learning curve), and came home with a desire to play with her local/college friends. This coming month, she will be co-captaining a team for the Pittsburgh summer league, on which I will be most likely playing. Huh. What happened there, eh?
Last weekend, during our last spring league, I launched a pass that was my caught by, you guessed it, Laura in the own endzone for a point. It was pure joy.
It's a combination of all the elements, really, that makes Ultimate so special. The running/jumping/diving, the post-hippie community and laid-back attitude, the competitive yet friendly (usually) nature of its participants, the camaraderie among teammates, etc. It is unique, and yet, universal. Hopefully, it will continue to bring me (and others!) joy for many more years to come.
