August 20, 2015 by Charlie Eisenhood in Livewire, Video with 20 comments
Reddit’s ultimate subreddit has a fascinating thread right now about users’ controversial opinions about ultimate.
Here is a representative list of top-level comments (some have been lightly edited) — there’s a lot more in the way of discussion at the link. What’s your take on the below? What’s your controversial opinion about ultimate?
1. The occasional out-of-bounds pull isn’t a big deal; it’s better to put the offense in a bad position 80% of the time and brick the other 20% than it is to give off a free first throw.
2. Swearing shouldn’t be a Team Misconduct Foul (TMF) unless directed negatively at anyone.
3. There’s too little of a penalty for fouling on the mark. I also think TMFs and PMFs should be used WAY more. I want people who take advantage of the rules thrown out.
4. I remember studying the rules of a few sports in junior high school and having no problems scoring 100% on every written exam for them, despite having no interest in any of those sports at the time. I’ve played ultimate on and off ever since then, and regularly for at least six years now and I still find the official rules utterly incomprehensible. The verbosity, the jargon, the omission of summary or baseline scenarios to give you a mental framework for the game or the goals of a set of rules before diving into edge cases and specifics, it all drives me insane. If I ever have to consult the official rules, I anticipate no less than 10 minutes of pure frustration.
5. Four team tournaments that take one day and three games are played should be the norm. All weekend events should be special occasions.
6. Passing a rigorous rules knowledge test should be required to participate in the college or club series.
7. There should be a two point line.
8. The game would be much better if we just had refs already. You can have spirit of the game with refs.
9. The Innova Pulsar is a pretty good disc
10. Ultimate will be better off it never becomes a NCAA sport.
11. I like boring play. I like handlers who can throw a disc well enough that there’s no need to layout or sky three defenders to make the catch. I like 50 throw zone offense points that run a cup ragged and score with a three yard pass. I like defenders who are such a presence that their man never gets the disc. My ultimate would never make it on Sports Center.
12. This sport will not be taken seriously by those outside the community within our lifetimes.
13. I would like to experiment with a penalty box. For a lot of fouls it seems like the penalty isn’t that bad, I think some sort of penalty box where the team plays down a man for 30 seconds or a minute would make players less likely to foul. You’d probably need refs or observers for this to work.
I’m not saying this would necessarily be a good rule change, but I think it would be interesting if one of the pro leagues ran with a penalty box for a season, to see how it affects the game.
14. I hate spirit circles or whatever they’re called. Why do I have to stand in a circle with the players of both teams after the match? We all know how the game went and it makes us looks like a bunch of tools in my opinion.
15. I don’t care about the “culture” of ultimate. I play because it’s fun, not because it’s “underground” or has some unique take on sportsmanship.
16. There should be no “spirit of the game” mantra. There should be good sportsmanship, as there should be in any game, and if you don’t have that, you’re a shitty person, but you’re as much an ultimate player as anyone else.
17. Competitive (read club/semi-pro/pro) should be single gender only. Mixed gender should be reserved for pickup and city league.
18. Gloves should not be allowed under any circumstances. I think it’s just ridiculous.
19. Flip the rugby script: No backwards passes allowed.
19. Ultimate should never become an Olympic sport.
20. The sideline in-out rules should be similar to basketball or cricket. None of this ‘you can toe it in, then run out the field as far as you like stuff’. If you’re touching the disc, you should have to stay fully in bounds. If your momentum is taking you out of bounds, you should be forced to offload the disc quickly or risk a turnover.
21. Ultimate consists primarily of over-privileged white people who merely went to mid-tier private liberal arts colleges.
22. [Mixed] should be played 8v8 with 4 men and 4 women to promote equality.
23. Semi-pro ultimate should be mixed-gender only.
24. The sport would be better if played 6v6 on normal sized fields, rather than 7v7 or 7v7 with pro league fields.
25. Play shouldn’t stop for an injured defensive player until there is a turnover unless the injury was caused directly by the offense or it is extremely serious.
