Hello everyone! Spencer and I have decided to start doing podcasts! We recorded two podcasts and decided to only post the second one since out first one was pretty bland.
A few quick notes however, the quality is not going to be very good for a while because we don't have access to any good microphone equipment. We will also be launching a new way for fans to support us directly instead of us depending on annoying advertisements for any sort of financial support (more on that in the future).
So without further ado here is a link to our first episode!
The American Ultimate Disc League just got off of another season of expansion, expanding into a Southern division adding teams from Atlanta, Charlotte, Jacksonville, Nashville, Raleigh and adding a few other teams to their existing divisions. This rapid expansion for such a young sports league might signal either the league has been making a lot of money from existing teams or that the league is willing to take a hit financially to get into markets that can provide returns in the coming years. However besides the rapid expansion there are two other flaws with the league that might force the AUDL to ultimately collapse. The first problem with the AUDL is that there is no centralized marketing for all teams we will dive into this a bit deeper below about what this really is and what it will mean for the league. The second problem is the lack of prominent game footage for fans to watch this is a slightly smaller problem that many people tend to gloss over but is a vital part of making a sport go mainstream in this day and age. The first problem that I mentioned above is the lack of a league marketing team that oversees all teams in all divisions. When looking at other sports leagues in the United States and across the world for that matter, most if not all have a centralized marketing team. This team develops a brand strategy that teams conform to so that no matter the team or city the league should be advertized the same way. This expands beyond just basic advertising on team websites but also apparel and associated swag. Currently the league sells products such as mugs, shirts, hoodies, and other basic merchandise, but there are a few teams that have their own stores with more products than what are available on the AUDL's shop.
This lack of cohesive brand management and marketing leads to issues where some teams might not be perceived as part of the league and leads to different and confused experiences for many fans that go to games for different teams. The second flaw I introduced above was the lack of game footage available to fans. I happen to be from Seattle and go to school in New York, so when I am in New York I am unable to attend any of Seattle's games and therefore since the team doesn't provide live streams for all games, nor provides the game's full footage online via video anywhere I end up missing a lot of the action. This is not an isolated case, the only games that were freely available for fans this last season in the AUDL were the championship games and that was it. So there was no way for people who have just heard of the sport to go and watch game footage from the AUDL teams without paying for a subscription through ESPN/TSN or using some third party streaming website for the few teams that offered those streams. This lack of free content from games severely limits the publicity and rate of growth of the league because it limits viewership to only fans that pay for streaming services or even worse limits viewership to only those who are going to the games. These two problems with the AUDL will, in my opinion, severely limit the growth of the league in regards to fans and spectators and might just doom the league from ever reaching the heights of leagues such as the NFL, MLS, MLB or the NBA within the United States. Think what I said above is wrong, or believe that the AUDL has what it takes to grow to a large recognized sports league? Let me know in the comments below or via email: sagediscussions@outlook.com. As always make sure to follow us on Twitter @SageDiscussions and like our Facebook Page: facebook.com/SageDiscussions.
For an avid Ultimate player and fan like myself, finding quality Ultimate streams and videos is a very tough chore. Among the monotony of Callahan videos, Frisbee trick shot videos, and how-to videos, there are very little actual games on the net. And amid these very few videos, most are of low quality and are very hard to get interested in.
But if you're talking about professional Ultimate, there's only two places to turn to; MLU and AUDL. Both are regarded as the top level of Ultimate in the US. With only three years to grow its program, both leagues have many impressive things. However even with all the advancements in professional Ultimate, the MLU is still boring to watch for four major reasons:
1: Lack of Movement
Now any Ultimate players may be confused about why I say that a lack of movement is making the MLU seem boring. Surely Ultimate is a high speed sport? Let's first look at how a typical Ultimate player sees the game. On offense, if you do not have the disc, you usually are running around. As a cutter, you typically look at your handler with the disc, the field in front of you, and the defenders around you. If you have the disc on offense, you are always looking for cuts and handler movement. On defense, players look for these same things, but in a different way. As a player, area that you can visually sense is dynamic and constantly changing, leading to a very exciting experience.
Now let's switch perspective and take a look at how a viewer of a typical MLU game sees the game. First, the camera is zoomed out to see a larger view on the field. However, this makes all the players look slower than they actually are. This camera perspective is not really a MLU problem though; most, if not all Ultimate games are filmed in such a way. It allows viewers to get a better grasp of the field as a whole. This wouldn't be a bad thing if it didn't directly interfere with another part of the camera; central focus on the person with the disc. When the disc is actively moving, the game is exciting. Unfortunately, for a majority of the game, the disc is stationary in the handler's hands. While it makes sense, keeping the disc in one space slows the game down and makes it less fun to watch.
2: One Strategy
This problem has been a huge problem for me specifically, but probably for other fans of Ultimate as well. When I play Ultimate, I try to stress the point of having what I like to call "smooth flow". This "smooth flow" is the act of having cuts happen at a time where the disc can be pushed up the field in one smooth motion. This movement leads to a faster paced game than playing more conservative. Yet this is not the best strategy in the meta today. The best strategy in the game right now is to wait for a long drive opportunity. There are several reasons why this strategy is considered the best. First and most obvious, it's one of the quickest ways to score. No doubt throwing the disc across the field for a score is a great and exciting way to score. Moreover, the downside for missing a long huck is very minimal. The defending team would usually get the disc at the front of their endzone, which is pretty bad field position. The problem is that this strategy is used so much during professional play that it gets repetitive. In my experience, a typical professional Ultimate game has around fifty to eighty-five percent of scoring plays using this strategy. In any sport, a play done over and over quickly gets stale, whether it be the long hucks of Ultimate, or a hail mary play from football. The monotony of the same play happening over and over again get tiring to watch. It doesn't help that most defenses usually play a mix of one to three defenses. But this is the most optimal way to play the game. Although boring to watch, it's understandable that teams play this way.
3: Monotonous Commercials
Now while the above two points can be attributed to how the sport of Ultimate Frisbee is played in general, the next two points are purely MLU problems. Like football, Ultimate has commercials during idle parts of the game. Also, like soccer, Ultimate(at least the MLU) is plastered with ads around and across the field, on players, and perhaps other places. Usually, I would be mad about this as I am with hockey, but I do understand that MLU needs the money, as Ultimate as a sport has just started up. I am confused, however, that as of the last game I have seen, all commercials during the MLU games are about MLU. Furthermore, the MLU must have hired a single intern to make commercials, because there are a grand total of around seven commercials that constantly cycle over and over. As I previously stated, repetition leads to staleness and all around less interesting content. The MLU also switches to commercial break extremely often. Sometimes, the commercials overlap with game footage, making viewers miss parts of the content, although they have been getting better with this recently. Furthermore, most MLU commercials have very bad songs to go along with them. All of these advertisement gaffes makes watching an MLU game painful to watch.
4: Commentary
The last point that I want to make is that commentary for the MLU is sub-par. First off, the microphone volume for the two commentators are off. One commentator may be too quiet, while the other is too loud. But it doesn't really matter which is louder because the commentary itself is dry. Most commentary consists of saying who caught the disc, what penalties are called, and if the disc is caught when thrown deep. The problem is that this style of commentary doesn't add anything to the game. Commentators need to do analysis on key plays on the field. Now, I know that Ultimate isn't like football; after a play you can't go to Starbucks and get yourself a cappuccino and come back to see the next play. Nevertheless, MLU commentators need to go more into detail when commentating. The MLU also suffers from having boring commentators in general. I like to say that commentators in the MLU would be better on radio because they speak as if nobody can see the game. Unfortunately, Ultimate is a game that is streamed, so these voices are ineffective here. Commentators need to have more excitement when they commentate. If they can do that, the game will be more interesting and the MLU will get more viewers.
This game highlights several of the problems I've already stated.
Also, this is the state of the game footage after the livestream. It's not great.
I understand that the MLU is still very young, and will take time to get to a truly entertaining level. But at this rate, MLU will get overtaken by its major rival, the AUDL. MLU needs to make major changes in its upcoming seasons, or drop out.
If you have any opinions or questions, please leave a message in the comments section below! I'm always interested in other's opinions.
When I was watching Major League Ultimate the other day, I noticed a strange event happening on the field. The pulling team, called a timeout before the pull. Afterwards, the started the pull from midfield.
Now for those of you not versed in the rules of Ultimate Frisbee, usually pulls are thrown from your end zone. This is done to assure that the defense has the time to set up an offense. It was a big surprise to me that the pull was taken from midfield. At the time, I thought that there was some kind of weird rule going on, so I checked the rules and sure enough, there was. From the head of the MLU rulebook, Ian McClellan,
If the pulling team calls a timeout between points (before readiness is signaled), they will get to pull from midfield after that timeout. This provides an exciting strategic option for using a timeout between points apply some extra defensive pressure to start the next point. Hopefully this becomes a useful tool for teams that are behind to create some break opportunities to improve comeback chances.
Now, let's get to the point. I believe that this rule change is a terrible decision. Let's first talk about how this effects the starting field position and starting flow of the game. Normally after the pull, the offense has about one or two uninterrupted throws before the defensive team can set a play on the offensive team. This short freedom allows the offense to solidify the beginnings of their offense. Furthermore, the disc after the pull usually ends up outside of the end zone, giving the offense better field position. These two things allow the offense to get a slight advantage after previously losing a point. Unfortunately, with the new timeout rule in place, both of these slight offensive advantages are lost. When pulling from midfield, the defense can both easily set up a defense and apply massive pressure to the offense because of the imbalanced field position of the two teams. With the defense starting from midfield, it is much easier to set a defense due to the shortened space between the two teams. Coupled with the fact that any good puller can pull half the field, the defense is in an unfair advantage over the offense with this rule.
But to say that this rule wouldn't achieve its purpose is a false statement. I'm sure that this very advantageous defensive position could be, as Ian McClellan says, "a useful tool for teams that are behind to create some break opportunities to improve comeback chances." However, the converse could be true. This rule could also be used to solidify leads. Now, I'm always excited to see a huge comeback and I would be happy to see a reasonable rule that favors comebacks. Yet this rule is not it. This call, when used when a team is two or three points ahead, could further increase a teams lead by causing turnovers, or even worse, Callahans. This would make a losing team's comeback that much harder, rather than make it easier.
In a sport where the rules are already confusing enough to understand, is this rule worth adding in for the "hype factor" or excitement? In my opinion, it's just poorly designed. A rule that promotes unfair advantages and potentially kills comebacks is a big pass in my book. As an Ultimate player myself, I know that I would be annoyed if I lost or won a game because of some silly rule.
But maybe that's just me. If you have any opinions or want to call me silly for not knowing what I'm talking about, please leave something in the comments! I'm always ready and willing to discuss anything about Ultimate!
Recently if you have been following the Ultimate Frisbee news cycle you would have heard that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) officially recognized Ultimate as an Olympic sport which means that in just a few short years a lot more people might see the sport played during a summer olympic event.
However the problem that the Ultimate community at large has had is that it believes that becoming an Olympic sport is the final goal for Ultimate.
Olympic recognition is not the final step in a sport’s evolution, and it doesn’t offer true growth for the sport in the long run. - Click here to tweet
Simply because Ultimate gets played in the Olympics doesn’t mean that flocks of new people will begin to start playing the sport. Sure there will be some growth for the sport as new people will get introduced to the sport, but the best opportunity for the sport to truly take off is to develop a true world cup event for Ultimate. Now I realize that there are the world games events for Ultimate and there is World Ultimate Club Championships but there really isn’t an event that is on par with the soccer/football world cup.
If Ultimate has its own world cup scale event every four years or every two years then there will be enormous growth in sport because it won’t get drowned out by potentially 27 other sports or sporting events. With an Ultimate world cup event, the sport can be introduced to millions of people without needing to compete against other sports. The key to making a world cup format introduce the sport to more people then falls into the hands of sports broadcasting on TV.
Once the sport has a true world-scale event that is broadcast internationally on TV, then will we begin to see widespread growth in the sport.
TL;DR: Don't worry about Ultimate Frisbee in the Olympics, make a new World Cup event for it.
One of the three new teams to join the premier league from lower divisions, Bournemouth is a storied team going from rags to riches. Only a few years ago the team was on the brink of being shut down but they have since fought all the way back and made a Premier League debut. There are three reasons why I will be cheering for the Cherries this season.
The first is that their stadium is one of the loudest and yet only seats 12 thousand. Bournemouth's Goldsands Stadium, traditionally known as Dean Court, has plans to expand their seating to 18,000.
The second reason why is because of their manager, Eddie Howe. Howe played for the Cherries as a defender and retired in 2007 when previous knee injuries began to take their toll on him. He was selected to manage the Cherries, and has since helped them reach the Premier League.
The third reason why I want to support the cherries is that their mascot is the lovable Cherry Bear! Who wouldn’t love this awesome mascot?
Cherry Bear is also pretty skilled as well, able to fool children with cheeky behind the back passes as showcased in the video below.
Lastly here is a highlight video the Cherries made upon making it into the top flight of English football.
If you have another reason to support the Cherries, or think there is a better mascot in the Premier League let us know in the comments!
Finally here is a quick gif of the Cherries scoring an amazing goal that helped them break out into the Premier League:
