Not another plug for Ultimate, you might be thinking. Will the guy never give it a rest? What Would Jesus Play? The Holy Spirit of the Game. Yeah, we get it, Ultimate frisbee is a great sport.
True, but it's not the greatest sport.
What I love about Ultimate is many things, but many of those things are going away. I loved the idea of Spirit of the Game, that you play hard, but you play fair and you don't play dirty to win. I loved that it was self-refereed. I loved that I was good at it, and could keep up with my competitors.
Brodie Smith declares the Spirit of the Game doesn't work. We have "observers." And I can't keep up anymore. It is still a great sport, but what made it personally great for me is not so deep.
The list, please:
1) It is man v man or woman v woman or woman v man. There is no ball, puck, shuttlecock, bow, arrow, sword, bat, frisbee, club, racket. sleigh, stick, weights, goal, water, gloves, paddle, bike, skates, horse, car, beam, vault, rings, hurdle, ski, board, javelin, pole, discus, bar, gun or stone. The only other non-equipment sports that I can think of are some of the martial arts, running and sumo wrestling. There's no actual contact with other humans in track - it's a race against the clock, mostly. If I had to say what the necessary equipment for sumo, it would be a Whopper.
Wrestling pits you and the other guy/gal. There's no team mates to help/hide behind. There's no judges to bribe or blame or impress.
2) It is absolutely the brown shoes on the tuxedo of sport. The only people who like wrestling are wrestlers. And sometimes their families. Do you want to know how disrespected it is? It almost got bumped from the Olympics. Three levels of equestrian, ping pong and synchronized swimming are Olympic sports, but not wrestling? I don't mean to put horses down (!), but come on.
3) It builds confidence. Do you want to know how much confidence it builds? It builds so much confidence that wrestlers have resisted the urge to punch the millions who call their sport gay. That's confident. My coach, Ed LeBeau, was one of the most important men in my life because he taught me that trying your hardest, playing fair, preparing weeks and months for a six minute match is worth it on a spiritual level.
4) No greed. No wrestler is in it for the fat contract at the end. They wrestle because they love the sport, not because it is the path to a multi-million dollar payoff. It is a pure sport.
This fall, I hope to carry on where my father began 50 years ago, when he started the wrestling program at Concordia Lutheran High School in Fort Wayne, IN. I am not starting a program, but I'm hoping to join the group at Franklin Pierce High School. I look forward to working with the coaches and athletes, to rekindle my love for this sport and to make some friends along the way.
Stay tuned.
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