Major League Ultimate - coming this summer

[sck]

Four Major League Ultimate (MLU) teams, comprised of the greatest
ultimate players in North America, will compete against each other in
the inaugural MLU tournament, held concurrently with DiscNW's
Potlatch, on July 1-2, 2006. A round-robin series, played on feature
fields at Potlatch, will prelude the championship game at nearby
Redmond Stadium on Sunday evening after the Potlatch finals. This
event will introduce an official referee crew and a streamlined set of
rules designed to maximize the sport's entertainment value.

The four MLU teams - Northeast, Southeast, Southwest and Northwest
- are geographically based (not UPA region based), and were selected
by team managers from each area. Not all players invited were able to
attend, and unfortunately, not every great player could be invited due
to roster limitations.

The teams are set for the inaugural Major League Ultimate competition
and the rosters are below. Competition rules, schedule and more
information will be released leading up to the event.
Stay tuned!
The MLU staff

2006 Major League Ultimate team rosters:

NORTHEAST
BAT Ricky Eikstadt
BAT Matt "Rook" Wilken
DoG Fortunat Mueller
Goat John Hassell
Machine Tim Halt
Metal Paul Batten
Metal Danny Clark
Metal Bailey Russell
Metal Brian Stout
Pike J Dono
Pike Dan Heckman
Pike Ian McClellan (team manager)
Pike Joel Wooten
Potomac Caner Cooperrider
Potomac Kevin Kusy
Potomac Ryan Morgan
Potomac Berend Van Heuvelen
Sub Zero Andrew Brown
Sub Zero Dan Miller

SOUTHEAST
Chain AJ Tiarsmith
Chain Jason Simpson
Chain Crawford Shippey
Chain John "Kid" Hammond (team manager)
Chain Josh Markette
Doublewide Mike "Tank" Natenberg
Doublewide Kevin Gaffney
Doublewide Sean Mccall
Doublewide Max Cook
LCN Rhett Russ
Ring Taylor Pope
Ring Jared Inselmann
Ring Josh Berkowitz
Ring Robbye Brooks
Ring Tully Beaty

SOUTHWEST
Bravo Will Deaver
Bravo Beau Kittredge
Bravo Steven Rouisse
Bravo Hector Valdivia
Bravo Josh "Richtor" Ackley
Bravo Martin Cochran
Bravo Adam "Chicken" Simon
Condors Brandon Steets
Condors Mike Namkung
Condors Taylor Cascino
Condors Greg Husak (team manager)
Condors Jim Regetz
JAM Mike Payne
JAM Bart Watson
JAM Jeff Eastham
JAM Jim Schoettler
JAM Kevin Cissna
JAM Idris Nolan

NORTHWEST
Furious Al Bob Nichols
Furious Andrew Lugsdin
Furious Jeff Cruickshank
Furious Kirk Savage
Furious Mike Grant
Furious Oscar Pottinger
Furious Anthony Maley
Furious Ron Kubalanza
Sockeye Alex Nord
Sockeye Ben Wiggins
Sockeye Chase Sparling-Beckley
Sockeye Jeremy Cram
Sockeye Roger Crafts
Sockeye Lou Burruss
Sockeye Moses Rifkin
Sockeye Sam Chatterton-Kirchmeier (team manager)
Rhino Brian Snyder
Rhino Aaron Richards

[Mortakai]

I'm taking bets on NW being undefeated for the entire event. Any takers?

[Diesel]

Do we get to see the supposed "streamlined" set of rules beforehand?
Who is running the MLU? That being said, these will be some great games

[Handy]

NE baby. It's awesome that 2 of the 4 metal players are newly from
Pike.

NJ representing.

[Rich Johnston]

As much as I like the NE guys, does anyone else feel like their at a
disadvantage coming from such a large number of teams? The NW can just
put out 7 Furious guys or 7 Sockeye guys who all know each other and
what they want to do for critical points, the SW can play 7 Bravo guys
too. In the NE, with no more than 4 from any given team, it leaves a
lot of players and styles to be assimilated very quickly. Regardless,
this looks very cool. I wish I was going to Potlach to see it.

[eric]

I don't think putting 7 Bravo players out on the line is neccessarily
the way to 'win' this tournament.

eric

[DikEar]

NW vs SW in the finals. Sorry east coast, but ya can't hang

-dikear

[Bobus]

I could put together a team of scrubs from the Asian Ultimate scene
that would destroy any of these four teams. All four of them put
together even! Not impressed. I mean, who are these guys?

(This is my first attempt at drunk trash talking on rsd. Please go
easy on me.)

[daniel...@gmail.com]

Yeah Paul Batten! You're my hero (kind of). See you at P-days?
Meaning - you're playing with DooM right?

[Ian]

sck wrote:
> The four MLU teams... were selected by team managers from each area.
..........

That is not exactly accurate. In each area, a small committee of top
players decided on the list of player invitations. While managers
certainly initiated and facilitated these discussions, the managers
alone were not responsible for who got invited and who didn't.

Assembling the NE team was a challenge. Since the midwest got grouped
in with us, it made ours the largest player pool to draw from by far...
We tried to get the best, but it is clear that there were many awesome
players left out.

Perhaps we will have some sort of tryouts in the future. Or maybe a
split into two teams (Midwest and NE)???

Ian McClellan (NE Manager)

PS The NE has 6 Pike '05 players. That's close to 7....

PPS The teams look even to me! I just can't wait to play!

[Paul P]

Didn't Lou Burruss snap his hammy at natties?

I guess that was six months ago now, but y'know...

...ouch...

Paul P

[jedh...@gmail.com]

Can you give a hint as to who from the NE was invited, but declined?
I'm noticing some pretty major absences:

Derek Alexander
Andy Ouchterlony
Cam Milani
Zip

I'm more familiar with the Canadians, but having only one DOG player
seems very odd.

[djb...@columbia.edu]

Also Alex Masulis and Jeff Graham. And several others, of course. As
Ian said, with a region as populous as the Northeast, it must have been
hard to pick a team. I imagine a team of those left out could match up
pretty well against the named team.

[max?]

wheres will neff at? and when did jim regetz move from princeton to
california?

[Seamus]

Where's Aaron Bell?

[rollinnufffatter]

someone has got to come up with some MLU Trading cards!
B/c I certainly would give you 2 Ben Wiggins for 1 Danny Clark

[Seamus]

Danny Who?

The $500 card is Aaron Richards.

[Ian]

The following guys were invited, but couldn't make it:

Jeff Graham
Josh Ziperstein
Derek Alexander
Mike Zalisk
Tim Murray

Beyond that, limited time and especially limited information on such a
large player pool made choosing teams extremely hard.

We did our best for this event, and we will try our best again for the
next event.

Unfortunately, the selection process will never be perfect.

Ian

[jedh...@gmail.com]

Don't take the (inevitable) second guessing the wrong way, but Andy O
did play for team Canada the last couple of times out (one of 3
easterners chosen).

[Bill Mill]

I think you just like people named Aaron.

It's kinda funny to have two As next to each other, I understand.

Peace
Bill Mill
bill...@gmail.com

[stupidf...@hotmail.com]

Anyone else worried about the implications of using one of the largest
"for fun" mixed tournament of the year as a base for this? I mean, I'm
sure more folks will be around to watch the games, but shouldn't
Potlatch stay Potlatch? Any thoughts? Well here are mine.

I love Potlatch and think that adding any sort of elite open division
is a dangerous precedent. Maybe I'm paranoid, maybe I worry too much,
maybe I'm stupid... yet... "Slippery Slope" is all I'm saying. 'Cause
the next step is a couple more MLU teams (say one a region), then the
ladies might want their own (the WMLU), and then suddenly you have
Potlatch with an elite open and women's divisions. Then people decide
it's too much work to create all-star teams, no selection issues, no
who's in/who's out problems, so just have the club teams play.

Suddenly, it becomes less of the "Hey, lets all fly to Seattle, have
some beer, some fish, and some fun" tournament and more of a "God Damn
It! This is serial. I'm talking about Manbearpig." tournament. Isn't
it nice to have one really high level, but still really about fun
tournament? I think so. And what about the children, won't someone
think of the children? How will elite open and women's players be able
to continue their long standing tradition of looking down at practicing
mixed teams if they don't take the hour between beers to crush them
15-4 at Potlatch?

Then again I would be lying if I said I won't watch these MLU games.
If for no other reason than to see how many of these guys are playing
with more than a few beers in them? After all, they're at Potlatch.

And while I'm writing to the suggestion box, shouldn't Potlatch always
be 3 days? Who hasn't skipped work for a tournament before? We all
have done it. What's once a year? No more 2-day Potlatch.

Much love to you all.
-some fool

[Seamus]

You should see my spam on sci.bio.zoology about the aardvark.
I just cant help myself.

[bste...@gmail.com]

no. seriously...

where is aaron bell?

[Rich Dana]

Nothing against Aaron, I think he is a great player and my vote for
Callahan, but from the looks of things the rosters are all composed of
players that played in the Club Open Division last year. Aaron was on
the mixed team Whore$hack.

[Mark Ratkiller]

Who are the current Callahan nominees playing on these teams?

Are Oscar and Chicken the only two?

Where are Tunnel, Rook, and Gehret? They all play club, right?

[dkar...@hotmail.com]

I believe Idris played for Mr. Briefcase last year. A coed team out of
chicago.

[winter...@hotmail.com]

>SOUTHWEST

> Condors Mike Namkung
> Condors Taylor Cascino
> JAM Mike Payne
> JAM Bart Watson
> JAM Jeff Eastham
> JAM Jim Schoettler
> JAM Kevin Cissna
> JAM Idris Nolan

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought all these guys played on that
new club team that's practicing in Fresno or Davis, or someplace out
there in the Central Valley.

CS

[keven]

Stupid
This is just retarded. Nationals is about as Major League as you need
to get. Do you really expect these games to be that much better. No
way! Why don't we focus on making Nationals a bigger event? Giving
people a reason to come out and watch that? Why don't we focus on
sending more than 2 teams to worlds and represent. Instead the lame ass
ultimate community comes up with this rediculous idea of a MLU. Ian
what the hell are you thinking?
Are you all living in this dream world that you are Major League
athletes. I can look at that list and think of maybe 5 guys out of all
of them that would qualify as a true major league athlete. The rest of
you are too short, not strong enough, and just lucky that some real
athletes with athletic bodies play sports like basketball, soccer,
lacrosse, and football. I love ultimate, but I live in reality.
We need to build what we have, not making new events up to feel good
about our selves and live some rediculous fantasy!
Wait it might even be on sports center. NOTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT
Keven

sck wrote:
> Four Major League Ultimate (MLU) teams, comprised of the greatest
> ultimate players in North America, will compete against each other in
> the inaugural MLU tournament, held concurrently with DiscNW's
> Potlatch, on July 1-2, 2006. A round-robin series, played on feature
> fields at Potlatch, will prelude the championship game at nearby
> Redmond Stadium on Sunday evening after the Potlatch finals. This
> event will introduce an official referee crew and a streamlined set of
> rules designed to maximize the sport's entertainment value.
>
> The four MLU teams - Northeast, Southeast, Southwest and Northwest
> - are geographically based (not UPA region based), and were selected
> by team managers from each area. Not all players invited were able to
> attend, and unfortunately, not every great player could be invited due
> to roster limitations.
>
> The teams are set for the inaugural Major League Ultimate competition
> and the rosters are below. Competition rules, schedule and more
> information will be released leading up to the event.
> Stay tuned!
> The MLU staff
>
> 2006 Major League Ultimate team rosters:
>
> NORTHEAST
> BAT Ricky Eikstadt
> BAT Matt "Rook" Wilken
> DoG Fortunat Mueller
> Goat John Hassell
> Machine Tim Halt
> Metal Paul Batten
> Metal Danny Clark
> Metal Bailey Russell
> Metal Brian Stout
> Pike J Dono
> Pike Dan Heckman
> Pike Ian McClellan (team manager)
> Pike Joel Wooten
> Potomac Caner Cooperrider
> Potomac Kevin Kusy
> Potomac Ryan Morgan
> Potomac Berend Van Heuvelen
> Sub Zero Andrew Brown
> Sub Zero Dan Miller
>
> SOUTHEAST
> Chain AJ Tiarsmith
> Chain Jason Simpson
> Chain Crawford Shippey
> Chain John "Kid" Hammond (team manager)
> Chain Josh Markette
> Doublewide Mike "Tank" Natenberg
> Doublewide Kevin Gaffney
> Doublewide Sean Mccall
> Doublewide Max Cook
> LCN Rhett Russ
> Ring Taylor Pope
> Ring Jared Inselmann
> Ring Josh Berkowitz
> Ring Robbye Brooks
> Ring Tully Beaty
>
> SOUTHWEST
> Bravo Will Deaver
> Bravo Beau Kittredge
> Bravo Steven Rouisse
> Bravo Hector Valdivia
> Bravo Josh "Richtor" Ackley
> Bravo Martin Cochran
> Bravo Adam "Chicken" Simon
> Condors Brandon Steets

> Condors Mike Namkung
> Condors Taylor Cascino

> Condors Greg Husak (team manager)
> Condors Jim Regetz

> JAM Mike Payne
> JAM Bart Watson
> JAM Jeff Eastham
> JAM Jim Schoettler
> JAM Kevin Cissna
> JAM Idris Nolan
>

> NORTHWEST
> Furious Al Bob Nichols
> Furious Andrew Lugsdin
> Furious Jeff Cruickshank
> Furious Kirk Savage
> Furious Mike Grant
> Furious Oscar Pottinger
> Furious Anthony Maley
> Furious Ron Kubalanza
> Sockeye Alex Nord
> Sockeye Ben Wiggins
> Sockeye Chase Sparling-Beckley
> Sockeye Jeremy Cram
> Sockeye Roger Crafts
> Sockeye Lou Burruss
> Sockeye Moses Rifkin
> Sockeye Sam Chatterton-Kirchmeier (team manager)
> Rhino Brian Snyder
> Rhino Aaron Richards

[Mark Ratkiller]

keven wrote:
...

I think the organizers of the event have a vested interest in seeing
high-level refereed ultimate (and other 'streamlined' rules), not in
stroking the cocks of some of the games better players.

This is an opportunity to showcase such a game, without the expense of
putting on an entire tournament, trying to get all the elite teams to
come, etc. Most of those guys were probably already going. It's
convenient.

I think the point you are making is moot, hater, even if correct
(probably fewer than 5 on that list are of pro-athlete caliber, IMO).

Mark

[Daag Alemayehu]

"keven" <kevbof...@msn.com> wrote in message
news:1147404879.3...@u72g2000cwu.googlegroups.com...
> a lot

That was too long and too well-spelled to be a drunken posting, but I can't
think of any other explanations for it.

[Edelman]

"pro-caliber?" what makes a "pro-caliber" athlete? is a major league
baseball player considered "pro-caliber," even if you can see his gut
hanging out over his belt? is a 350lb. lineman a "pro-caliber"
athlete? how many 6'3"+ pro soccer players are there out there?
football players? baseball players? lacrosse (is that even a sport?)
players? hockey players? tennis players? and you're saying that
ultimate players at the highest level aren't "pro-caliber," when most
of them could beat many "pros" in all sorts of athletic tests, like
vertical leap, 40 time (yes, yards or beverage consumption), general
endurance, sprint endurance, and agility. the one thing that ultimate
athletes don't have an overabundance of is upper body strength, mainly
because you don't need a whole lot of it.

but are they not equivalent to "pro-caliber" athletes? are you still
thinking of the ultimate played between bong hits in the 70's?

[PGe...@gmail.com]

>but are they not equivalent to "pro-caliber" athletes? are you still
>thinking of the ultimate played between bong hits in the 70's?

are you kidding? if you think ultimate players can hang with pro
basketball players or soccer players you're kidding yourself. of
course, ultimate players aren't paid to be in shape, but if they were
that athletic, they would be playing those sports on a college
scholarship and not ultimate.

[Droske]

> are you kidding? if you think ultimate players can hang with pro
> basketball players or soccer players you're kidding yourself. of
> course, ultimate players aren't paid to be in shape, but if they were
> that athletic, they would be playing those sports on a college
> scholarship and not ultimate

do u really think that a lot of pro basketball players would be good at
ultimate for reasons other than their size? the reason that i love
ultimate is the fact that there will always be a place for short fast
guys. and i would bet that a lot of the top ultimate players
(especially cutters) never played soccer, or lost interest in it at
some point. the problem with the most popular american sports is that
its nearly impossible to be a person with a regular build and make it
anywhere, it doesn't matter how athletic you are... if you're not over
6tf 200 lbs the chances of it happening are too small to even bother.

i think its really dumb to write off how athletic the top players are,
just because whatever path they took led them to ultimate. the quality
of an athlete does not mean size and strength, thats just how we've
been trained to look at it because of sports like football and
basketball.

[fox]

do you really spell your name "keven"? that's just rediculous. your a
disgrace to all kevins

[Seamus]

Lacrosse? You've got to be kidding. Any sport in which LONG ISLAND
can dominate as a powerhouse shouldn't be on your list.

[Ian]

Fox: If Keven were trying to be a Kevin, I would have to agree with
you. But he's not trying to be a Kevin. He is a Keven, and he is
doing a great job at being a Keven.

Keven: If the 70 players listed were trying to be pro soccer or
basketball players, I would have to agree you. But we're not trying to
be pro athletes of other sports. We tried to assemble the best
ultimate players, and I believe we did a good job of that.

Keven, as your friend and Pike teammate, I appreciate and respect your
point of view, and you do make some points worth discussing. As for
explaining what I (and the other 69 players) were thinking, RSD does
not make for very constructive personal conversations. I'll send you
an email this morning, and we should talk on the phone sometime soon.

[keven]

Okay
I was a little harsh.
I am mostly dissapointed that all these players have the money and
desire to play in the MLU in Seattle, but many would not make the
commitment to WORLDS. Worlds is the opportunity to show ultimate to
other countries and really represent what we are trying to build.
Worlds should have been the stage that shows how far ultimate has come.
Instead it will be a poorly attended tournament with some great players
, but not the best. On Pike alone 5 of the 7 dudes that seem to care
about ultimate turned down playing for worlds, but MLU was in there
price range. Yes maybe it would be a ton cheaper, but if they had that
money to spare i am sure they could up scraped up a few more bucks.
Also, the idea that this was not opened to discussion earlier. The
ultimate community is usually pretty good at giving constructive
critisism.

[mapler...@yahoo.com]

Seamus wrote:
> Lacrosse? You've got to be kidding. Any sport in which LONG ISLAND
> can dominate as a powerhouse shouldn't be on your list.

Lacrosse is a suburban sport for rich white kids. Oh no wait, that's
ultimate.

btw, there are a few teams in Fairfield County, Connecticut and
Westchester County, NY that can run circles around those Long Island
boys.

MJ

[rmru...@yahoo.com]

It sounds like someone is mad that they were not invited. Unlucky
Keven, maybe next time.

[Ian]

What a helpful comment.

[mpg...@gmail.com]

Keven - I'd love to see the top teams always playing at Worlds with
their full complement of top players. However, I think suggesting that
people who can afford Potlatch could afford Worlds is a stretch. Going
from Boston, Potlatch could cost $500-600 or even less depending on
where you stay. It further only costs one or two days off work.
Australia will likely cost $3,000-5,000.

Personally, I'm not sure what the value of the MLU is (to be fair, I
only started paying attention this morning), but I think the argument
is not really about whether or not the top players are making a
financial decision.

[ms...@hotmail.com]

Do you know the difference between "your" and "you're"? And do you
really spell "ridiculous" with an "e"? Thats ridiculous.

[Keith]

God, people are so stupid! Using the wrong "your" or "you're" and
misspelling words... it is truly unforgivable behavior!

Although people who improperly use contractions and forget the
apostrophe in words like "thats" are the worst. That's a fact!

Sorry, to go off topic, but people who go out of their way to be
grammar Nazis bother me. This is further exacerbated when they can't
even hold themselves up to their own standards. The Internet is not a
forum where perfect grammar and syntax is needed, and if you are going
to try to make it into a place that is, then please adhere to your own
expectations. Your welcome! (sic - just in case)

Moving back on topic - personally, I feel that if someone wants to play
this MLU and not Worlds, then that is their decision to make, not
yours. I mean, if I were good enough to play Worlds and I had the
cash, then I probably would. But since neither of those are true for
me, I'll probably just stick to grammar Naziing.

[thomas....@gmail.com]

To refer back to discussion of "Top Level Athletes," let's be
honest. Not one of us does this for a living. We train and we play this
sport because we love it. I don't have the vertical of Dwyane Wade
and I most likely never will. Then again, I don't get paid millions
of dollars a year to have that vertical. I'm sure that if all of our
teams had 10 personal trainers and our own work out facility, we might
be a notch higher. Unfortunately, we don't and we won't in the near
future. Respect your fellow athletes!

[dannyc...@yahoo.com]

Keven,
As one of those Pike teammates that chose MLU over Worlds, there are
two reasons I did this. First, as someone already pointed out, there
is a HUGE disparity in the cost between the two. I absolutely cannot
afford a ticket to Australia. Not even close. Not even to mention
lodging, food, entertainment, etc. Far out of my price range. A
weekend tournament is not out of my price range. The second reason I
cannot afford to go to Worlds is because of work. I may be able to
take a few days off for Nationals, or a day or two off for Potlatch,
but I can't take the time off to go to Australia. If I do go to
Australia, I would definitely want to go for longer than a week. I
would not want to spend all of my time there playing ultimate, and to
do that, I would probably need at least two weeks off of work. I know
you would make it happen, and I love that about you. I can't make it
happen.
I'm looking forward to seeing you this weekend. Talk to you soon.

Danny

[jt]

At least some of us have the swimmy swim move and are triple threats!
Not me but there are some...

[jedh...@gmail.com]

thomas....@gmail.com wrote:
>Then again, I don't get paid millions
> of dollars a year to have that vertical. I'm sure that if all of our
> teams had 10 personal trainers and our own work out facility, we might
> be a notch higher.

Which would still leave 99.9% us several notches below 99% of
professional hockey/basketball/soccer/football/lacrosse/tennis/baseball
players, in terms of all around athleticism. That's right, I said
baseball. I'm not even a fan, but the vast majority of baseball players
are incredible athletes, with power, speed, agility, and coordination
that would put just about any of these top ultimate players to shame -
Beau jumping over a guy notwithstanding.

[Mike_be...@hotmail.com]

only 2 from Rhino? Hmmm...

[matt.be...@gmail.com]

>Worlds is the opportunity to show ultimate to
>other countries and really represent what we are trying to build.
>Worlds should have been the stage that shows how far ultimate has come.

Let me try something:
The Olympics is the opportunity to show basketball to

other countries and really represent what we are trying to build.

The Olympics should have been the stage that shows how far Americahas
come in basketball.

Hmm, wait, that doesn't happen either.

[Edelman]

you are, quite possibly, the world's dumbest human. go jump in front
of a truck and do the world a favor. unless you are blind, in which
case i rescind my comment, because you clearly would not be able to see
the ridiculous athleticism that these players possess *without* the aid
of 10 trainers/all day to work out/etc. i'm not saying all ultimate
players are the best athletes in the world, but they are definitely
comparable to those of any "professional" sport out there (by the way,
the only thing that makes a professional sport "professional" is if you
get paid to do it. if i paid you $10/hr to kill yourself, you'd be a
professional suicidist. guess what, though. i wouldn't pay you.).
i'd love to see zip race any "professional" athlete. zip vs. shaq in a
40 meter sprint. hell, zip vs. vince carter.

just because we don't get paid does not make us lesser athletes. it
just makes us poorer. on that note, wanna make a quick $10?

moron.

[keven]

> Let me try something:
> The Olympics is the opportunity to show basketball to
> other countries and really represent what we are trying to build.
> The Olympics should have been the stage that shows how far Americahas
> come in basketball.
>
> Hmm, wait, that doesn't happen either.

Wait HMMMMM and Shaquel O'neil and Kobe Bryant are arrogant a-holes
that decided not to play olympics. Great, so ultimate players that
decided not to play are equal to the lowest ungrateful scum on the
earth. People that can't even represent the country that gave them
everything they have. Atleast you tried to make a good point.

[justin.m...@gmail.com]

Salisbury has good lacrosse.
Virginia does too.

Duke lax however.. Man, wasn't that embarrassing?

- Big Hopkins lacrosse/ultimate fan.

[Mimmo]

>"God Damn
> It! This is serial. I'm talking about Manbearpig."

Excelsior!

[Bobus]

Shaq would have as hard a time beating Zip in a 40-yard dash as Zip
would guarding Shaq in the low post. That's an apples to oranges
comparison. A better test would be to compare Zip (who is presumably
the fastest ulti player) to the fastest NFL wide receiver. I don't
think it would be a contest (no disrespect to Zip).

In general, I doubt the average "elite" ulti player would be able to
touch, in terms of athleticism, any professional whose position
required speed, quickness and jumping ability (like, say, a
cornerback). These pros are the cream that have risen to the top of a
much larger pool of athletes. They train 8 hours a day in
million-dollar facilities with professional trainers. Our best players
will never be able to compete with that until ultimate itself becomes a
popular professional sport.

[mpg...@gmail.com]

Well, that just seems like a silly comparison. Shaq and Kobe wouldn't
have paid their own way or had to take time off work/school/whatever.
Whether they had other commitments, whether their decisions were
reasonable or selfish, or whatever kind of people they may be, it is
clear to me that the decisions that people are making not to go to
Australia have a lot of different factors.

Now, I'm not defending or supporting the decision (to be honest, I
haven't decided whether or not I am going yet), I'd just like to see it
assessed in reasonable terms.

[dsb]

I don't think you are going to get a reasonable discussion from someone
who intimates his own teammates are "equal to the lowest ungrateful
scum on the earth."

Now as to the importance of representing your country, who gives more
than a passing interest in how your country performs at worlds? I
though it was more about how individual club teams perform against
international competition; last year's worlds was the more patriotic
event with national teams and such.

[seanc]

wow, this is a fantastic idea! congrats mlu/potlatch organizers and
players. these games are gonna be way too much fun.

some of the things i like about it (some/most of them obvious):

- sounds well organized, just given the number of people involved
- sounds like it wasn't announced until it was a pretty sure deal
- sounds like they'll actually be able to pull it off
- totallly obvious, but these are going to be sick games to watch/play
in
great place to be a player or fan
- interested to see how the rules innovations shake down

wish i could get the time off to go up and watch.

good luck -- i hope it goes great,

sean

[Handy]

Hey ultivillage Rob, any chance of the MLU games getting on
DVD/download?

There's high interest... it's a totally unique event... people can back
me up here with support that they too are interested

[mapler...@yahoo.com]

I'd buy a copy of a DVD of these games in advance even

MJ

[PGe...@gmail.com]

>i think its really dumb to write off how athletic the top players are,
>just because whatever path they took led them to ultimate. the quality
>of an athlete does not mean size and strength, thats just how we've
>been trained to look at it because of sports like football and
>basketball.

youre right, allen iverson is only athletic because hes huge. and
ultimate players can probably keep up with him anyway. top level
ultimate players are really athletic, but pros are bigger, and faster
than ultimate players (at least the ones that would consider playing
ultimate).

[PGe...@gmail.com]

great, lets see zip guard shaq deep in the endzone. zip can jump, but
hed never get around him. you cant take the slowest NBA guy, and the
fastest ultimate player, and say that because the ultimate player is
faster, they are just as good of athletes. lets see ultimate players
keep up with vince young, or randy moss. not bloody likely.

[matt.be...@gmail.com]

> Wait HMMMMM and Shaquel O'neil and Kobe Bryant are arrogant a-holes
> that decided not to play olympics. Great, so ultimate players that
> decided not to play are equal to the lowest ungrateful scum on the
> earth. People that can't even represent the country that gave them
> everything they have. Atleast you tried to make a good point.

I think the point is just because you think Worlds should be the
epitome of the sport doesn't mean everyone else does. Perhaps after a
US or canadian team doesn't win year after year, people will consider
worlds the top level of the sport, until then, hello club nationals.

[thebolo...@hotmail.com]

I am not the Ultimate Aficianado everyone here is im sure, but how can
the Southeast not have a single player from Tampa or Gainseville Surely
Jimmy Price Stephen Poulos and Ryan Curtis are respectable from Bulge
and Gainseville has the media darling Timmy Gehret and they cover air
with their sky guys...........are these teams banned or just screwed
cuz they don't make top 6 nationals every year?

[mattv...@gmail.com]

When will we be allowed to view the rules as was asked on the 1st page
of this thread?

Matt V

[keven]

Back to the DVD

Even though I cearly wish this idea of the MLU was next year. I still
would buy the a DVD. There are definately going to be some kick a**
games.
Note: Those boys going to practice at all, or just hope for the best.
keven