Dylan Tunnel of the Atlanta Chain Lighting looks downfield during USA Ultimate's Pro Flight Finale even in Davis, Calif.
As daylight escapes Brooklyn's Prospect Park one mid-September evening, six men, all in their 20s and early 30s, do some stretches, slap a few high-fives and zip around a field throwing Frisbees. One of them lofts a white disc into the sky. It sails some 50 yards, slowly, like a flying saucer, while one of his buddies tries to chase it down. The overthrown Frisbee glides to the ground, beyond his friend's outstretched arms. "Sorry, dude."
It's exactly what you'd expect a Frisbee guy to say, except these Frisbee guys may soon show up on ESPN. On SportsCenter, where they might finally attain status as genuine athletes, not a bunch of toked-up hippies tossing saucers. Want proof? Over the course of an hour workout, dude was uttered just three times. They're kind of a big deal.
After all, they're members of Pride of New York, an elite Ultimate Frisbee team shooting to qualify for the national championships, which will be broadcast live on ESPN3, the network's streaming service, in October. SportsCenter's Top 10 Plays segment, indeed, has started featuring Ultimate highlights, no doubt to help promote the program.
You may remember Ultimate--a team game that combines elements of soccer and football with a Frisbee--from your college days. Grad students hogging the quad, treating an intramural game like it was the World Cup. Eager-beaver freshmen going out for the club squad, then incessantly talking about it. "Yeah, Ultimate is cultlike," says Octavia Payne, 24, who works in PR, played at the University of Pennsylvania and now plays for the Washington (D.C.) Scandal, a team shooting to qualify for the women's championship, also on ESPN3. "In as good a light as you can say cult. "
Ultimate--and it's officially called Ultimate to avoid any trademark conflicts with Wham-O, maker of the Frisbee-brand disc--is having a moment. In March, USA Ultimate, the sport's governing body, announced a two-year agreement with ESPN, which aired the college championships on ESPNU in May and the elite U.S. Open tournament on ESPN3 in July and will stream October's national championships. In May the International Olympic Committee (IOC) gave the sport's global governing body, the World Flying Disc Federation, "provisional recognition"--IOC-speak for "your zany sport could be in the Games someday."
Frisbee has even gone pro. Investors have launched two leagues: the American Ultimate Disc League (AUDL), which just wrapped up its second season, and Major League Ultimate (MLU), which debuted this year. (MLU said it ran its first year on a budget of about $1.5 million.) Players aren't giving up their day jobs; many get as little as $25 per game. "Whenever I talk about it, I put 'pro' in quotes," says Jack Marsh, who played for the New York Empire of the AUDL. Still, people are betting that Ultimate can reach a broader audience.