1998 APRIL FOOLS FEST

As an active journalist, I was only doing my job.

I was invited to cover April Fools Fest for the Washington Area Frisbee Club. So I picked up with We Smoke Weed team and headed to the tournament both as player and reporter.

WSW were sarcastically identified in the Fools program as "real subtle." Indeed. Maybe we on We Smoke Weed was trying to make a point with their team name.

But many Ultimate players do not smoke weed and in no way should the sport be identified entirely as a group of marijuana vagabonds. I think we inside the sport can accept the differences that exist within Ultimate without diluting its quality as a sport and I think many in society at-large can as well.

The Wall Street Journal apparently agrees. With delight the now well-read April 24th cover story presented Ultimate's wilder side, using the Fools tournament and We Smoke Weed as a backdrop. Spitting on players, referees, and breaks during games to smoke joints "the size of a small flashlight" were the main touchstones of the piece.

The article went over in the Ultimate community like a small detonation. Many were angry that the front page of the Wall Street Journal, the standard-bearer of button-down journalism, would contain a lambasting of Ultimate's Spirit principles, soaked in beer, bongwater and spit. Others found it an amusing and highly accurate portrait of some of Ultimate's more colorful figures, the kind media loves to provoke and exult.

Although the slant of the article sided with the sport's more competitive nature, it is clear that April Fools Fest is not the type of tournament to require referees and rules for out-of-control players. Fools, at least the 1998 version, was all about having fun.

"In the early days, competition was second," recalls Fools co-founder Eric Knudsen, "just being able to spend a whole weekend playing frisbee was fabulous."

In its 21st year, the annual tournament has kept the fabulousness and fun alive. And because of the dedication to its founding principles the competition has become some of the best in the nation. Players from around the country vie for positions on Fool-themed teams or collegiate re-union squads.

This is one tournament that has it both ways–great competition, lots of fun and an intense reliance upon the Spirit of the Game.

The tournament directors like to keep it low-key. The play is over three days starting 9:00 am Friday morning, making Fools take precedence over the jobs that most of us usually attend on weekdays. The information tent is sparsely attended and game results can be difficult to come across.

Perhaps the most equitable aspect of the tournament is its format whereby teams are split off into separate pools after each day of play. This not only allows for lower seeded teams to advance to A bracket finals by winning, but also for less talented teams to play equal competition with real purpose in an attempt to win the B, C or D pool.

In the Open division, Defending Champs Mr. Pouce renamed themselves Señor Diablo but could not escape Saturday Pool Play. They lost twice and fell to the B bracket along with last year's finalists Flying Dwarves. Similarly always-strong WesWill was upset by a Carnegie-Mellon-ish reunion team going by the traditional moniker Mr. Yuk. The Dwarves ended up winning the very tough B pool in a close game to the finish with WesWill.

Yale reunion, BOMB (players from Baltimore, Ohio, Michigan and Burlington, Vermont), Boston College reunion, We Smoke Weed, Peggy Cronin's Lunar Ultimate, Formerly Known As (formerly known as a host of names), Lepus Gargantuous, and Mr. Yuk qualified for the top bracket Sunday Quarterfinals.

The New Englanders FKA defeated Atlanta's Lepus, Delaware's Peggy Cronin bested New Haven's Yale, Pittsburgh's Yuk beat BOMB by a point and New York's We Smoke slipped by the BC guys. In the semis, Yuk smoked Weed and FKA came from behind to eclipse Peggy Cronin.

Mr. Yuk featured notable national talent and they used their ability to be in-shape during the spring thaw to roll over the equally hard-playing FKA 17—10 in the final. Youngster Mike "Chuckie" Juster cranked the winning huck on his 26th birthday. It was a good win for Yuk and for the tournament. They were clearly a well-spirited team (despite Bad Boy Jim Parinella's presence) and deserved the victory and newly minted Fool cup.

Several women's teams were eyeing the prestigious Fools Victory. Last year's winners, the Philly Peppers, came as a determined squad of Spicy Peppers and looked to give many women indigestion. They were joined in the Quest for the Cup with the Grand Old Broads, a get together of the ex-Satori teammates that had made it to Nationals semifinals four years in a row, ending in 1992. This year's Master's Champion S—Prime also hoped to surprise some teams, along with North Carolina's Grits Reheated, New York's Ambush, Boston's OINK (Once I'm Naked, Kazaam!) and DC's Rice Girls.

The top teams were able to make it through the gauntlet of competition. Unlike the Open division, the 16 women's teams filtered down to 4 in the Sunday pools. The Peppers were able to go undefeated, as well as the Broads and S—Prime. The Cinderella team this year came in the form of the University of Virginia reunion team equipped with speed and youth. Entering Fools as the 8th seed they qualified for A pool semis.

In the B pool, Detroit's Clutch, Grits Reheated, OINK and Rice Girls battled it out. A pool semifinals saw the UVA Flygirls finally wilt against the powerhouse Broad squad, 11—4. The Peppers faced a few ex-Peppers on the S-Prime team. However they showed little sympathy for the enemy and managed to put away the tough MA girls in the end, ______ to advance to finals.

The Grand Old Broads had hired a video crew to tape their Fools journey. They had played great for the cameras in the previous game, however the Spicys were too cohesive and too determined. Using their infamous "P Control" half-time dance routine they were able to intimidate the non-booty-shaking Broads team. The Philly girls again pulled out the victory in a windy game, _____, to much disappointment on the DC sidelines.

So what of the Wall Street Journal article? What about the pot-smoking, beer-guzzling, spitting sport that we call Ultimate?

Ultimate over the years has done an excellent job of insulating itself from mainstream culture. In this way it is protected from irate PTA moms and stodgy collegiate administrators.

We are still "that hippie Frisbee sport" to most people, but now there's starting to be some more edge to it. The WSJ piece for one, describes the Ultimate community as suffering through an "identity crisis". Chill out, smoke up and keep it a tight-knit lifestyle-sport, or bring in referees and new rules, with the potential for increased attention and money?

Personally, I agree with committee member Henry Thorne. We can have it both ways. Maybe the very laissez-faire nature of Ultimate and its players will receive increased attention, allowing for new versions of the sport and greater awareness.

So where will April Fools Fest be in another 20 years? When four referees are calling fouls in televised games and the NCAA buckles under the pressure and allows Ultimate Frisbee to compete without the drug-testing rule?

"This is the roots, the fun of Ultimate. Fools will be here another 20 years," explains Eric Knudsen.

He's right. Fools and other legendary Ultimate tournaments will not be any different then as they are now.

Still, changes may be happening. I, for one, had actual paid work to attend to at Fools. My job was to get stoned and play ultimate.

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