Tuesday, November 03, 2009

Mainstreamin' It

Not sure if you've looked around lately, but the Victorians have a groovy website.

The thing most Ultimate players will like about it is over on the right hand side - updated League tables. Sweet.

Which got me thinking about an idea that many will think of as crazy, as limiting creativity, and totalitarian in the extreme, but this is a blog of ideas so we'll chuck it out there.

What if by say the end 2011 we in Brisbane insisted that all League team names had a geographical element to them (with incentives to encourage this to happen earlier)?

See, while I have a great love of Ultimate's irreverant approach to naming teams (often reflecting the transient nature of many teams - but that's another issue), to many an outsider (particularly someone looking at say, the VFDA site), the few silly names paint the sport as a whole as entirely silly.

So maybe a balance - you can keep your silly names if you add some very square location to it.

Putting some geography in there also helps to smooth recruitment of new players, and may one day give homes to clubs and training venues and the like. "I'd like to play this Ultimate Frisbee, and I live in Moorooka ... hmm, looks like I should contact the Moorooka Mellows or the Southside Cobras."

Having your League leaders named Tribe or bHANG! doesn't tell anyone anything, other than

8 comments:

Jules said...

I completely agree JdR - I hate enhancing frisbee's weirdo reputation when I tell them about a great game the previous night against some team with an obscure name (pick one of dyspnoeics, chimichangas, the grefs, etc etc), while playing for the Wushi Finger Hold.

no offence to any of those teams...

JdR said...

Wushi of course being a suburb somewhere near Ashgrove.

Dandy said...

Why not start with requiring only the top teams (Division 1s) having realish names.

This would be Div 1 for BUML, but also BPL (as Div 1 Men) and WUFL (Div 1 Women).

If you want a lairly name, then the social divisions are the way to go. It helps separate the serious play from the social play.

Dandy said...

btw is BPL on tonight?

Pete said...

Problem is what suburbs/areas do you pick, half the time the team is spread across Brisbane (with most of them around st lucia, taringa, indro toowong...etc.)

Jack said...

Is this assuming by the end of 2011 there will be enough people playing Ultimate to have full teams from each geographical location? Like Pete said the team is all over the place. I myself live almost 40km's north of Annerley but I play with quite a few south siders. Usually you hear about a comp, rock up and play with the pick up team, if you like it you find out more about it, see if there are any teams who are short. P.s What relevance does Buggers have to Moreton Bay? I don't think anyone lives past Wynumm?

Tomsteve said...

COME ON "SPACE JAM!" YEEEEEAHHHH! Its an awsome name because it will have Michael Jordan and be from space! What about raiders of the lost stark? pretty sweet name I recon, hey julz?

stupid names are the best things ever. Maybe if some teams start doing that other people will actually want to but the end result will be teams with stupid names that no one outside of QLD will get anyway. Eg. Gap Gators

Anonymous said...

Answering Jack's question the name 'Moreton Bay Buggers' is a play-on-words on the (quite delectable) slipper lobster called the 'Moreton Bay Bug' found throughout the waters of Australia's north coast. Moreton Bay, although being at the more southerly end of the spectrum has been a popular site of these bugs.