February 1, 2013 by Charlie Eisenhood in Livewire, Opinion
I think the big news from USA Ultimate’s Triple Crown Tour announcement is that…there’s not much news. I don’t think there’s a single surprise here.
The locations selected for the various required tournaments (Philly Invite, Terminus, Colorado Cup, and Labor Day) really aren’t much of a surprise. I think a lot of people suspected that the US Open would be back in Boulder, but Raleigh is a great choice (and not particularly surprising).
The things people suspected might happen — draconian rostering rules or intentional conflict with the professional leagues — did not. Yes, there are some new rules designed to prevent teams from disbanding to avoid having to play in the Pro/Elite Flights, but that was certainly expected.
The Triple Crown Tour is what USA Ultimate said it would be — codifying the existing club season into a more structured format. This is not sweeping change.
Yes, for the Mixed Division, this presents new challenges (and USAU may walk back their decision to put Mixed in the same category as Men’s and Women’s), largely expense-based. But is there anything here that people didn’t expect? I don’t see it.
