From britdisc-owner@csv.warwick.ac.uk Fri May 28 13:36:41 1999 Received: by pansy.csv.warwick.ac.uk (8.9.3/8.9.3) id NAA23363 for britdisc-outgoing; Fri, 28 May 1999 13:35:00 +0100 (BST) Received: from snowdrop.csv.warwick.ac.uk (snowdrop [137.205.192.31]) by pansy.csv.warwick.ac.uk (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id NAA23357 for <britdisc@csv.warwick.ac.uk>; Fri, 28 May 1999 13:34:58 +0100 (BST) Received: from finch-post-10.mail.demon.net (finch-post-10.mail.demon.net [194.217.242.38]) by snowdrop.csv.warwick.ac.uk (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id NAA11424 for <britdisc@csv.warwick.ac.uk>; Fri, 28 May 1999 13:34:58 +0100 (BST) Received: from [158.152.203.174] (helo=[158.152.203.174]) by finch-post-10.mail.demon.net with smtp (Exim 2.12 #1) id 10nLq1-000G2f-0A for britdisc@csv.warwick.ac.uk; Fri, 28 May 1999 12:34:14 +0000 Subject: Re: Drugs and draconian measures Date: Fri, 28 May 99 13:35:06 +0100 x-sender: ultimatum@pop3.demon.co.uk x-mailer: Claris Emailer 2.0, March 15, 1997 From: Paul Hurt <paul@ultimatum.demon.co.uk> To: "BritDisc" <britdisc@csv.warwick.ac.uk> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Message-Id: <E10nLq1-000G2f-0A@finch-post-10.mail.demon.net> Sender: owner-britdisc@warwick.ac.uk Precedence: bulk The general public immediately assume that any game involving "Frisbees" must be played by drug-crazed hippies. Nearly every time I speak to media people about the sport, you can tell that's what they're thinking (Honestly, after I'd explained the sport to one researcher, and gone into how seriously the top teams have to train, he actually asked, "So tell me, are sawn-off jeans and flowery bermuda shirts de-rigeur for Ultimate?"). So it's an uphill struggle for Ultimate before you even start, and drug references within the sport only tend to reinforce these misconceptions. I don't think it's a huge problem (there's not THAT many culprits), and I don't think any kind of censorship is being called for. But it might pay to exercise a little forethought and try to take a wider view when choosing a team name. Forget sponsorship and media coverage for now... it would just be nice to be taken a bit more seriously occasionally. Which is where the snowboarding analogy breaks down - snowboarders can do what they like, because snowboarding is cool. Ultimate isn't cool (I mean, I know it *is*, but try convincing your average 18 to 24-year-old). BTW, if you really want to help promote Ultimate as a "serious" sport, a good start would be to simply erase the word "Frisbee" from your vocabulary! (Just Say "Disc"). Paul --------------------------------- Paul Hurt Editor, Ultimatum paul@ultimatum.demon.co.uk http://www.ultimatum.demon.co.uk