Dale, To me all you have done here is highlight the difference between a sport that you would want to watch/support and one that you would want to play. Personally I want to play.
I love to watch American football. I couldn't ever play it. Although I would love to be able to play it. I like to watch Soccer. I couldn't ever play it. I don't even want to be able to play it. I wouldn't want to be associated with the attitude which is required of football players, professional or amatuer. Paul A lot of the criticism being fired at the MLU guys seems to revolve on two concepts - who are you, and stop interfering/distracting from/destroying/damaging our sport. I won't offer my opinion on the positives/negatives because the slander attached is outrageous, but people should lighten up on the issue. MLU in the US was an experiment designed to ascertain the need/effect of officials to the sport of Ultimate, whilst trying to make the sport more spectator friendly. There is definitely an element of Ultimate that is needless to say boring for those not involved or participating or who have the foggiest what it is - ever brought your friend along whose never expressed an interest in playing and the first things they want to know are why in-between points take so long, why does the game seem so stop-start, why can everyone see that was a foul but he can't? One of the most endearing elements of football/rugby/most massive spectator sports are that they are non-stop action - Premier League football players often come out with press releases lauding the nature of the game in England because "referees in Europe blow for fouls more often, stopping the game." That's why we love it so much, because despite the double footed from behind challenge that we all know is a red card the referee didn't see it and the game goes on, the offender is off the hook and the offendee incensed! This doesn't happen in Ultimate, and no I'm not trying to say that people should now be unfair and start cheating to win games, but let's face it - there have been times you've stepped off the field and felt cheated because "that guy called travel every throw, made an outrageous foul call which changed the game, called me out in sudden death when I was 3 feet in." Surely if there is a way we can remove the cheating from Ultimate, without the only punishment received is a low Spirit score (I'm personally of the belief that every player in any sport should be spirited regardless of the sport or situation) then it's worth a shot. It's worth the experiment, and anyone who has expressed a need for Observers before MLU may think that progressively this is the path, as has been chronologically in the US, but observers only get involved when an agreement cannot be reached between the players, and line calls. It doesn't change the game too much, right? There's little wrong with the sport in it's current format, anyone who has seen the US Canada Open final from WUGC last year will agree that Ultimate can be exhilarating in it's current format, but give the experiment a try and who knows, you might just enjoy it. You might hate it, but either way you'll know. Dale (who didn't expect to write so much but finds it more fun than revision) On Tue, Jan 13, 2009 at 12:27 PM, Steve G <[email protected]> wrote: > Has the UK ever had a go at running a tournament with observers? Why > go extreme with MLU when there's not even been a more UPA style event > with observers run yet. Additionally while there are some positives > to experimentation like this, this MLU idea has some pretty negative > associations and some rather negative people associated with it in the > USA where it was initially tried. With that in mind I do agree with > the request to know who's behind it. Sending an email announcing it > signed as essentially anonymous (mlu.uk) almost indicates an > acknowledgement that the idea may invoke a negative response. > > Do a little searching on rec.sport.disc and you can find lots of > similar banter along with some history of MLU. You can start with > this recent link (you might need a google account to read it) that > came out before it was announced on britdisc. > > * WILL THE UK SURPASS THE USA IN THE PROGRESSION OF ULTIMATE. - > http://groups.google.com/group/rec.sport.disc/t/fc7431c91c6834fd?hl=en > > This was written by a guy known as Toad or Ulticritic. He's a huge > fan of the MLU. Search rec.sport.disc on him as well to get a good > idea of his character. > > All that said, playing a tournament like this sounds like a blast as > long is it isn't taking itself too seriously (which unfortunately > almost by definition it seems to be). > > Steve > > > 2009/1/13 Derryk Boyd <[email protected]>: > > I personally welcome this experiment having moved back to playing more > football than ultimate due in part to several terrible self refereeing > experiences at Toms Tourney and WUGC last season. Some of the things I > experienced last season in ultimate have made me seriously consider my > desire to play the sport at the most competitive levels. > > > > While I think that Ultimate is a great sport and should be enjoyed by > millions of people, I think that only once you experience playing teams that > do not share the ideals of spirit of the game will you begin to question > ultimate's potential to grow beyond what it is at the minute as a > competitive sport. > > > > While MLU might not be the answer to this, I think it is good that people > are willing to try somthing new and I am very keen to experience it. I do > not see any reason why people who want to play ultimate cannot continue > doing so and people who want to try somthing different can do so also. So if > this goes ahead I will for sure be looking to get onto one of the lucky > teams who get to try it first. > > > > Derryk, > > > > Fusion # 6, Ireland # 9 > > > > --- On Mon, 12/1/09, MLU UK <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > From: MLU UK <[email protected]> > > Subject: Re: [BD] Major League Ultimate 2009 > > To: [email protected] > > Date: Monday, 12 January, 2009, 11:38 PM > > > > First off, apologies for the error in the date suggested, it would be the > > 18th and 19th. > > At the moment this will be open division only. There is of course, > potential > > to open it up to womens in the future depending on how successful it is. > > Invitations have not been issued, details about this will follow when > they > > are 100% finalised, but the way the teams will be selected will involve > each > > of the top 3-4 university teams from each region being allocated slots on > > the team (for example, 1st gets 4 places, 2nd gets 3 etc). The university > > core of each team will then select open players by invitation, or by > > selection from requests. > > Spectator-wise there have been no plans made as of yet, as it is the > first > > time the tournament is being run and therefore level of spectator > interest > > is so far unknown. > > We will be using four referees, who will be selected out of availability > for > > regular, weekly trainings in manchester to practice the application of > the > > rules, and the use of a whistle in an Ultimate game. > > > > We would like to further re-iterate that this is in no way an attempt to > > change the way ultimate is played generally in the UK. > > __________________________________________________ > > BritDisc mailing list > > [email protected] > > http://www.fysh.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/britdisc > > Staying informed - http://www.ukultimate.com/staying-informed > > > > > > > > > > __________________________________________________ > > BritDisc mailing list > > [email protected] > > http://www.fysh.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/britdisc > > Staying informed - http://www.ukultimate.com/staying-informed > > > > > > -- > ------------------ > > __________________________________________________ > BritDisc mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.fysh.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/britdisc > Staying informed - http://www.ukultimate.com/staying-informed > __________________________________________________ BritDisc mailing list [email protected] http://www.fysh.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/britdisc Staying informed - http://www.ukultimate.com/staying-informed __________________________________________________ BritDisc mailing list [email protected] http://www.fysh.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/britdisc Staying informed - http://www.ukultimate.com/staying-informed
