Often, when we tell people we play ultimate Frisbee we get the reaction "ultimate what?". Yes! It's a real sport, people! A real sport with proper rules, a huge player base and even a World Championships. The WFDF 2008 World Ultimate and Guts Championships officially started this weekend in Vancouver. Go Dingos! Go Firetails! Go Barramundis! Go Australia!

If you're interested in checking out what it's all about, you can do so for free at Blockstack.tv. Look! Ultimate even has its own TV show. The current episode is a bit long but good on them for giving us a peek at Worlds. (and getting to travel around the world to watch ultimate.)

Go Aussies!

After each game of proper ultimate, we usually play a mini silly game. After a very competitive game of ultimate, both teams can be a bit wound up. If we just walked away, it's possible that there could be bad feelings on either side.

We play a mini-game afterwards to relax, to have fun and to have a laugh together. It's a great way to make sure that everyone walks away from the game with a smile on their face. It's also a bit of inter-team bonding.

During Mixed Tour 3, we played some old favourites including Mix'n'Mingle and Guess Who. But our new favourite game is Handicapped Ultimate.

Like the name suggests, it's ultimate but everyone is handicapped in some way. Players have their hands tied together or become three-legged or blind-folded or on piggy back or have their shorts round their ankles. The aim of the game is still to catch the disc in the end zone. It's just a little bit harder than usual.

It was one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time. I thought I'd share the hilarity with you guys with this mini tutorial video: How to play Handicapped Ultimate.

Enjoy!

The Fugazees last chance to prove their mettle. We were determined to banish the haunting memories of six defeats at Mixed Tour 2. We wanted to channel our amazing performance at Mixed Tour 1. We wanted to bring it!

(Did we bring it? We totally did!)

Fugazees Results: Mixed Tour 3
Day 1:	Fugazees def. Basic 13 - 7 Fully Charged def. Fugazees 13 - 8 Kent Ultimate def. Fugazees 13 - 8
Day 2:	Fugazees def. Curious Bacon 12 -   9 Fugazees def. Catch Those 13 - 10 Limited Release 1 def. Fugazees 13 -   2

It was great to see the Fugazees finally meshing as a team. We had some great flow and there were some points where everyone on field touched the disc.

High points:

• Winning our first game on Day 1. We were lucky to play against the lowest seeded team in our pool. However, we did show up with our game face on and started the day and the tournament positively.
• Our third game on the first day against Kent ultimate. We were outmatched by a very classy opponent but still played some quality ultimate.
• Game against Catch Those on Day 2. We were able to banish the narkiness of the game before and play a really spirited game.
• Rupert's awesome layout in the end zone in game 3 on day 2. He laid out for a disc that was only a 3 inches off the ground and then ended it with a forward roll. (I know it wasn't Rupert's only layout but it was my favourite of the tourney.)

Low Points:

• Our very cranky game against Curious Bacon. This game had everything it had arguments, swearing on field and even some shoving and pushing. Unfortunately we responded to this bad spirit and let it affect our game a little.
• Forgetting to turn up to the Final. (Not literally, figuratively.) It's like we gave our all in our first two games on day 2 and had nothing left to give in the final. A crushing defeat from Limited Release and a sad way to end the tournament.

The Winner: TEAM Fugazees




(I totally cheated here and posted our team photo from Mixed Tour 1. I forgot to take one this weekend. That's why John and Leah are in this photo. They are really in Canada. Hi John and Leah! )

The Fugazees actually did pretty well in our first Mixed Tour series. Our final placing after three tournaments was 17th out of 48 teams. This means we qualify for Nationals at the end of August. Yay Fugazees!

The last Ultimate tournament we played was called Mixed Tour. Unfortunately, for the Fugazees the tournament was a little bit mixed. We played some great ultimate and some bad ultimate. The weather was definitely confused with sunshine one minute and a torrential down pour the next. The only thing that was definitely on track was our attitude towards the party.

Although we didn't win any games I think we still had a fun weekend. We love to play ultimate (even if we don't win). We had a tasty team dinner on the Saturday evening, followed by some tunes from Rupert in Lorrie's fluorescent green taj mahal. Nothing better than flashlight Frisbee while the sun sets. Later in the evening the Fugazees hit the dance floor and danced up a storm. If there was a prize for the party the Fugs would definitely have won.



More photos on Flickr...

We've just returned from a weekend in the Norwegian wilderness. Hildy, our team administrator, organised the trip for the annual weekend away for our ultimate team the Fugazees. Her family owns a cabin in the hills near a small town called Prestfoss, which is about a 2 hour drive west from Oslo.

Initially, I had been a little dubious about the whole event. Hildy had explained that the cabin had no electricity and no running water. I imagined sleeping in a one room hut, huddled by the fire, trying not to choke on the fumes produced by smelly boys who hadn't had a shower for three days. Not exactly my idea of fun. But, I'll try anything once, so I quashed my reservations and we signed up for the Norwegian wilderness experience.

I'm happy to report that my fears were completely unfounded. Yes, there was no running water or electricity but it certainly wasn't rustic. The cabin consisted of four bedrooms, a dining area and living room. Although there wasn't any running water, there was a indoor biological toilet. No electricity, but a solar charged battery provided power for a few lights and even a television. It was actually quite luxurious.

We had a lovely weekend. We spent our days hiking in the snow, chucking a disc around, playing ultimate, tobogganing down the hill outside and reading by the fire. (Ultimate players manage to play ultimate anywhere.) As Australians, we don't get to see snow very often so we kinda reverted to childhood. There was lots of playing, diving into the snowdrifts, throwing snowballs and general silliness. We spent our evenings chatting, learning useful Norwegian words (kne, panne, det snør) and playing games such as KerPlunk and Diminishing Whist (another four converts!).

Hildy's wonderful parents wanted us to eat authentic Norwegian meal, so they cooked us a delicious reindeer stew to eat for dinner on day 1. We also had a true Norwegian breakfast each morning: bread, herring, caviar, mayonnaise, Jarlsberg cheese and salami. It was such a great way to start each day. Maybe one day I'll get around to doing the same at home.

It was a great weekend. I really can't imagine a better way to experience Norway. Takk to Hildegunn and the Andersen family.
More photos on Flickr...

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I just managed to squeeze this note in; today has been kind of hectic. I've spent the day doing laundry and packing for my trip home to Australia. I'm heading home tomorrow, arriving Wednesday. Andrew is leaving Sunday and arriving Monday. The main reason for our trip is Emily and Goldy's wedding. Of course, I'm also very excited about seeing my family and catching up with our friends. Oh, and a little warm weather wouldn't hurt either. See you soon Sydney-siders.