Ultimate Frisbee as an entity hasn't been around all that long; it was established in 1969. But the sport has plenty of colorful traditions. Jimmy Selleck, Wheaton Warrenville South's coach of 11 years, enlightened me on some of Ultimate's well-meaning quirks.
"At the end of every match, whether you win or lose, traditionally you go over to the opposing team and you sing to them a song that you've made up to compliment them on their play," Selleck said. "It's always picking out something positive. It could be poetry, it could be a song, it could be rap. It's a lot of fun, so that's bizarre.
The attire in the sport can get rather ... creative.
"And you get some where guys will pull their shorts down and they'll have a Frisbee taped over their yank, and then they'll dance and run around you and give you a group hug," said Selleck, who grew up playing the sport in Michigan. He said Ultimate is much more mainstream in the Northeast. "It's just fun and good spirit. It's also wacky in the sense of the costumes and uniforms. They're very serious around here (in Illinois), and they are serious at the collegiate level. But there's always that sense of wackiness where you have guys who could potentially wear underwear on their head.
"We go up to Madison Mudbath (a tournament in Wisconsin). They might wear tie-dye-color socks, (or have) Wacky designs and wacky sayings on their uniforms. Just poking funs on themselves, just kind of atypical athletic behavior sometimes."
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