From britdisc-owner@csv.warwick.ac.uk Mon Apr 27 09:56:14 1998 Received: (from daemon@localhost) by pansy.csv.warwick.ac.uk (8.8.7/8.8.8) id JAA15552 for britdisc-outgoing; Mon, 27 Apr 1998 09:50:58 +0100 (BST) Received: from cs1-hq.oecd.org (cs1-HQ.oecd.org [193.51.65.66]) by pansy.csv.warwick.ac.uk (8.8.7/8.8.8) with ESMTP id JAA15410 for <britdisc@csv.warwick.ac.uk>; Mon, 27 Apr 1998 09:50:22 +0100 (BST) From: Toby.GREEN@oecd.org Received: from eosgty.oecd.org (eosgty.oecd.org [10.89.5.140]) by cs1-hq.oecd.org (8.8.8/8.8.8/oecd-1.5) with ESMTP id KAA28475 for <britdisc@csv.warwick.ac.uk>; Mon, 27 Apr 1998 10:52:06 +0200 (METDST) Received: by eosgty.oecd.org with Internet Mail Service (5.0.1460.8) id <JPV3C727>; Mon, 27 Apr 1998 10:50:11 +0200 Message-ID: <15F86CFE3AEED01197340000F802B97FDB98FE@eosm4.oecd.org> To: britdisc@csv.warwick.ac.uk Subject: FW: A Wall Street Journal article in Friday's paper Date: Mon, 27 Apr 1998 10:50:15 +0200 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.0.1460.8) Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="---- =_NextPart_000_01BD71B9.7CAE719C" Sender: owner-britdisc@warwick.ac.uk Precedence: bulk This message is in MIME format. Since your mail reader does not understand this format, some or all of this message may not be legible. ------ =_NextPart_000_01BD71B9.7CAE719C Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Just in case anyone else had the trouble I had to get this article off the Wall Street Journal's website (I failed) > ---------- > From: EDWARDS Scott, ELS/CCET > Sent: Saturday, 25 April, 1998 10:09PM > To: 'atiersky@hotmail.com'; 'aakra@col.bsf.alcatel.fr'; > 'clhayes@uci.edu'; 'd.stevenson@mailcity.com'; > 'david.ross@physique.ens.fr'; 'frondeville.e@rothschild-cie.fr'; > 'ggriffith@dalet.com'; 'IMACLEAN@europem01.nt.com'; DENMAN John, IEA/ESIS; > 'ting@biomedicale.univ-paris5.fr'; 'cottrell@ipgp.jussieu.fr'; GREEN Toby, > PAC; 'Pierre Leleu' > Subject: A Wall Street Journal article in Friday's paper > > > <<PIC13978.PCX>> > > > (Embedded image moved to file: > PIC13978.PCX) > AA OnLine > e-News Story -- Wall Street Journal > > Ultimate Frisbee Gets Down and Dirty, And Some Cry Foul --- Shouting, > Spitting, Spiking And Swearing Bring Calls > > > (strikethrough: __ _ __________________________________________________ > _____________________ ___) > > > The Wall Street Journal via Dow Jones > > After a score by the Port City Slickers in a big ultimate-frisbee game > against the Seattle Sockeye team two seasons ago, an exultant Slicker > spiked the disk, prompting angry protests from Sockeye defender Ed Avery. > What happened then made frisbee history. After players including > Slickers > veteran Mike Gerics joined the argument, Mr. Avery emerged from the crowd > wiping his forehead. > > "He spit on me!" a disbelieving Mr. Avery shouted, putting the finger on > Mr. Gerics. > > Mr. Gerics later received a one-year suspension that began last summer. > It was the first such ban, and to many of the sport's devotees, a > disturbing sign of the times. > > "In the old days, teams . . . would just throw it deep and beat you with > their athleticism," says Kevin Givens, an organizer at the University of > California at Santa Cruz. "Now, they'll intentionally foul you, cussing > the other players. That's not in the spirit of the game." > > Mike O'Dowd, a veteran of San Francisco's powerful Double Happiness > team, > says he may retire rather than play with new teammates who fight and talk > trash. "The team I started with was a kinder, gentler team," says Mr. > O'Dowd. These days, he says, "any big game becomes a matter of ill will." > > Founded in the antiauthoritarian 1960s, ultimate frisbee is having an > identity crisis. Once played by a few iconoclasts at New Jersey high > schools, the disk-hurling game patterned loosely after touch football has > grown into a sport of about 65,000 competitors, with amateur leagues, a > national tournament and a governing body -- the Ultimate Players > Association -- that dreams of TV contracts and Olympic recognition. > > But to purists, the growth has attracted too many people who cheat, > argue > and hack, leading to proposals for something the sport has never had -- > full-fledged referees. Until now, officiating has generally been limited > to top tournament games -- and only when both sides agree to it. Even > then, the officials usually have no power to intervene on their own and > can make calls only when asked by a player. > > It's time to stop "sociopathic behavior" on the playing field, says Jim > Parinella, who plays for the national-champion Death or Glory team in > Boston and who leads the call for more referee power. > > Full-on refereeing faces an uphill battle in a sport where breaks for > beer are still common and teams favor names like We Smoke Weed, Lady > Godiva and Bovine Intervention. The ultimate mainstream isn't ready for > prime time -- and proud of it. Most people who play the game can't even > bring themselves to use the word "referee." They prefer "observer." > > The antiref crowd also notes that the level of bad behavior is still far > from that in sports where players choke coaches and bite off bits of ear. > They also worry that more officiating would destroy the game's tradition > of sportsmanship, which includes a strong honor code whereby players are > encouraged to rat on themselves, and a rule book that officially decries > a > "win at all cost" mentality. > > But self-regulation doesn't always work. At last year's > world-championship tournament in Vancouver, Canada, Kenny Dobyns of the > Westchester County (N.Y.) Summer League All-Stars body-slammed Sockeye > star Jon Gewirtz -- supposedly in retaliation for obscene taunts. With > Mr. > Gewirtz pinned, Mr. Dobyns whispered in his ear, "Don't let this get out > of hand." > > At the women's national championship in Sarasota, Fla., last October, > two > players were benched by their captains to curtail their cursing and > pushing. A year earlier, as coach for East Carolina University at the > Women's Collegiate Championships, Mr. Gerics, the spitter, alleged that > Sarah Savage, coach of the University of California team, was instructing > her players to make illegal throws. Ms. Savage says that Mr. Gerics > circled her team's huddle, hurling obscenities. > > "He says, `No wonder you only have eight players, you're a hag and you > chase everyone away,'" recalls Ms. Savage. She also says the ECU players > were abusive on the field. "The women were literally screaming, blood > vessels rupturing in their faces," Ms. Savage says. Mr. Gerics denies he > used obscenities or behaved inappropriately. > > UPA head observer Vic Kahmi says more-powerful judges also might deter > recklessness. Mr. Kahmi says he recently witnessed a game in Princeton, > N.J., where a North Carolina college player dived for a flying disk he > had > no chance of catching and crashed into the intended receiver, dislocating > the poor fellow's shoulder. "Was there intent to maim? I don't think so, > but he wasn't playing under control," says Mr. Kahmi. > > When played as designed, ultimate frisbee combines speed, grace and > powerful hurling with a grueling pace. Seven-player teams try to pass the > frisbee down the 70-yard field and across the opponent's goal line. > Possession switches when the disk is intercepted, thrown out of bounds or > touches the ground. Tackling, running with the disk or stripping it away > aren't allowed during matches, which typically are played to a score of > 15 > or 21 and last about 90 minutes. Receivers try to break free for the > overhand toss known as the "hammer" or the Hail Mary bomb called the > "huck." Hurlers must pass the disk within 10 seconds according to a > "stall > count" called out loud by defenders. > > Leagues are springing up in such places as Denver and Los Angeles, > adding > to established groups in Silicon Valley, Washington, D.C., Boston and > elsewhere. With so many talented athletes, top tournaments like one in > Fredericksburg, Va., earlier this month include more pirouetting throws > than a season at Shea Stadium. > > But the lack of referees also slows games. A match between a Carnegie > Mellon University alumni team and the We Smoke Weed squad from New York > featured as much negotiation as scoring. A typical pause came when > Carnegie Mellon's Calvin Lin stopped a stall count to suggest that a > defender had stepped on his foot. > Another delay came when New York's Mr. Dobyns, now playing for the Weed > team, called timeout to pass around cans of Budweiser to his teammates. > Some also shared a joint the size of a small flashlight. Afterward, the > alumni team pulled away to prevail 12-5. "We're too stoned to argue!" > yelled one Weed player after an opponent called a hacking foul. > > Some ultimate graybeards trace the rise of aggressive behavior to Mr. > Gerics, who as an undergraduate at the University of North Carolina at > Wilmington and later at East Carolina, helped bowl over and heckle > opponents en route to collegiate ultimate titles in 1993, 1994 and 1995. > The tactics toppled Ivy League frisbee dynasties because, as Mr. Gerics > puts it, "most ultimate players were kind of geeky intellectuals. East > Carolina, it's not the hardest school. We're bad, we're rednecks." > > After graduating, Mr. Gerics joined the Port City Slickers in > Wilmington, > for whom he played in the infamous spitting game. Mr. Gerics, who > wouldn't > admit his infractions at first, now apologizes. "I'm pretty embarrassed > about it," he says. > > But while serving out his suspension, he has found a new love-ultimate > officiating at local college tournaments in North Carolina. Players, he > says, rarely dispute his calls because "I wouldn't try to get in an > argument with me." > WSJviaNewsEDGE > > > ------ =_NextPart_000_01BD71B9.7CAE719C Content-Type: application/octet-stream; name="PIC13978.PCX" Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64 Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="PIC13978.PCX" CgUBCAAAAAAfAB8AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAABIAABAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADM/8f4x//E/8L/yf/M+MH4xv/D/8H/x//N+MT4xf/C/8H/xv/O+MX4xP/C /8H/xf/O+Mf4xP/C/8T/wfjO/8f/wfjD/8L/w//C+MH/zvjF+MH/wvjD/8H/wv/D+MH/wvjN/8L/ wvjB/8P4wv/B/8L/w/jB/8L4wf/G+MH/xvjB/8L4wf/D+ML/wf/B/8T4wf/C+MH/wfjE/8H4wf/B +MT/wfjB/8L4wf/E+ML/wf/F+MH/wfjB/8H4wf/C+MH/wfjB/8H4wf/C+MH/wfjB/8H4wf/E+MH4 wv/B/8X4wf/B+MH/wfjB/8L4wf/B+MH/wfjB/8L4wf/B+MH/wfjB/8T4wfjC/8b4wf/B+MH/wfjB /8L4wf/B+MH/wfjB/8L4wf/B+MH/wfjB/8T4wvjB/8b4wf/B+MH/wfjE/8H4wf/B+MT/wfjB/8H4 wf/E+ML4wf/G+MH/wfjB/8b4wf/G+MH/wfjB/8T4wvjB/8b4wf/B+MH/wfjE/8H4wf/B+MT/wfjB /8H4wf/E+ML4wf/G+MH/wfjB/8H4wf/C+MH/wfjB/8H4wf/C+MH/wfjB/8H4wf/E+ML4wf/G+MH/ wfjB/8H4wf/C+MH/wfjB/8H4wf/C+MH/wfjB/8H4wf/E+ML4wf/G+MH/wfjB/8H4wf/C+MH/wfjB /8H4wf/C+MH/wfjB/8H4wf/E+ML4wf/G+MH/wfjB/8H4xP/B+MH/wfjE/8H4wf/B+MH/xPjC+MH/ wf/F+MH/wfjB/8b4wf/G+MH/wfjB/8T4wfjC/8H/xfjB/8H4wf/B+MT/wfjB/8H4xP/B+MH/wfjB /8T4wfjC/8H/xfjB/8H4wf/B+MH/wvjB/8H4wf/B+MH/wvjB/8H4wf/B+MH/xPjB+ML/wv/E+MH/ wfjB/8H4wf/C+MH/wfjB/8H4wf/C+MH/wfjB/8H4wf/E+ML/wf/C/8T4wf/B+MH/wfjB/8L4wf/B +MH/wfjB/8L4wf/B+MH/wfjB/8T4wv/B/8P/w/jB/8H4wf/B+MT/wfjB/8H4xP/B+MH/wfjB/8P4 w//B/8T/wvjB/8H4wf/G+MH/xvjB/8H4wf/C+MP/wv/F/8H4wf/B+MH/xvjB/8b4wf/B+MH/wfjE /8L/xv/O+Mb4xP/C/8f/zfjE+MX/wv/B/8n/zPjB+Mb/w//B/8z/x/jH/8T/wv8MAAAAvwAAAL8A v78AAAC/vwC/AL+/wMDAwNzApMjwAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA//vwoKCkgICA/wAA AP8A//8AAAD//wD/AP////// ------ =_NextPart_000_01BD71B9.7CAE719C--