January 29, 2013 by Charlie Eisenhood in News, Video with 27 comments
Early in the showcase game of this weekend’s T-Town Throwdown, Alabama’s Chris Browning got open deep and caught the score as his defender, Central Florida’s Brawley Adams, made a needless bid into Browning’s back after the catch. Upset about the play, Browning spiked the disc on Adams as he walked away as tempers flared on both teams.
At unobserved tournaments, should there be consequences for this kind of behavior, like dangerous bids, spiking on opponents, and fighting? As more and more game video from tournaments becomes available, USA Ultimate should consider policing their sanctioned tournaments a bit more heavily.
On Reddit, Browning apologized.
“I am the guy who spiked the disc into Adams and want to say I don’t think I was justified in doing so,” wrote commenter fallgnome. “Unless you know me, you probably aren’t going to buy this, but my intention was to throw it right next to him so he would see it and know that I took exception to the bid…I apologized to all in involved immediately. It’s not needed in ultimate.
“I also want to say I really didn’t have a problem with Hickson and LaRocco getting in my face about it. They were sticking up for their teammate. If someone threw a disc at my teammate after a play I would be livid. The whole thing looks bad on video, but I felt like it was diffused fairly quickly. I have the utmost respect for their program and was constantly saying to my team things like, ‘Look how UCF does X. We need to be doing that.’ They’re an awesome team playing tough, physical ultimate.”
Video via Everything Ultimate. Commentary by Skyd Magazine‘s Zack Smith. The full game footage is available here.
