Why Spirit And Competition Are Not Mutually Exclusive
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Loading ...Spirit is an elusive concept.
Ask one player what it is, and the reply might be “knowing the rules and playing by them.”
Another might tell you it entails flair wearing, tournament parties, random hangouts with people you just met on the field earlier, and a general (and genuine) sense of hospitality and humor–in sum total, that which makes up the Ultimate Culture that draws so many and tranishes the sport in the eyes of school administrators and hippie-hating employers.
The notion of “Spirit” stirs up some controversy–RSD is filled with cries against so-called “Spirit Zealotry,” as though a desire for mutual respect and decency is the sole limiting factor to ultimate “making it big.” Perhaps they’re right.
What the hell should I care about my opponent for? If I play my ass off, and win, isn’t that enough? That douche might try and keep me down with hacks and calls, but if that’s what it comes to I’m not afraid to play that game too (or better yet, to empower a referee to control it for me). They’re just another stepping stone on my path to glory.
The simple truth, that ultimately (in my mind) outweighs that attitude? Nobody cares who wins.
Really. If I asked you who the UPA (pick your level/division) champions were 10 years ago would you remember? 5 years ago? Year before last? Maybe if it was YOUR team or your rival’s team, or maybe your truly exceptional performers, repeat champs and the like. But in the big picture, the result doesn’t count for all that much. There is no prize money or big contract. There are no physical incentives short of one line on the UPA site and a footnote in the ultimate history books–not even an ultimate media that will preserve the legends and remind us when we’ve forgotten. Glory goes quickly; fame is fleeting.
Where you end matters little. What’s truly of worth–what lasts, what you keep–is how you get there.
Ultimate is, at it’s best, one of the most athletically demanding in sport. Good ultimate players are some of THE best capital-A Athletes in sport. This game presents myriad challenges, both mental and physical, and is an optimal vehicle to test oneself. When your back is against the wall and all there is to push you is you–with your motivations and your insecurities, your strengths and weakness–what surfaces?
If you want to get to know a person, be their teammate. Even as your own resolve is tested, so is theirs, and the person that materializes through this is hard to hide. You’ll learn things about them they don’t even know about themselves.
If you want to learn to respect a person, be their opponent. How they–and you–deal with adversity on the field, two wills struggling against each other when the emotional stakes are high but the results are ultimately meaningless, reveals a lot about their character. If one gets worked up about a poor play or a single call, what of dealing with the challenges in life that really matter? If you can’t learn to work with an opponent to compromise, if you can’t bring yourself to back down or forgive, if you value a win in a meaningless game more than the people you’re playing against, what does that say about you?
Ultimate is, in many ways, a microcosm of our lives.
We can prepare for life’s challenges by dealing with smaller ones on the frisbee field. This is why you see a program like Ultimate Peace. This is the beauty and power of a team’s struggle, point after point, game after game, year after year. This is what creates the culture around our sport, what enables and sustains our community.
This is Spirit: to respect and be respected.
Through this shared experience, with this Spirit, we connect with one another; we learn and grow as people.
Meeting your emotions and mastering them when the stakes are high is a means (though there are others) to this end. The set of rules we play by–the fact that the onus is on us to respect and apply them–is a wonderful enabler of this process; it forces you to cooperate and work together, often with people you’ve never met before.
However, the rules, and self-officiation, are neither necessary nor sufficient for “Spirit.” And it’s not simply a switch that can be flipped, either; it’s not something that is decided by the presence (or lack) of an official.
It’s something you cultivate, and carry with you, on and off the field. Call me a spirit zealot if you will, but the reason people have such strong feelings about this “Spirit” thing is because it is what makes ultimate players great people.
Now, as seasons ratchet up and competition gets fierce…Struggle. Battle. Do your best–but recognize and respect the fact that your counterparts just 70 yards away are the same as you. Revel in the joy, the pain, the shared intensity of the moment, and thank your opponents for bringing out out the best in you.
Mackey:
Good post – I agree with you 100% in theory and in terms of what we should aspire to as people.
Reality, I’d say, is different. What you are asking of people is to completely shed their ego and all of their desire for appreciation and status. Those are basic human desires–humans compete for them in all sorts of arenas (money, popularity, who can hook up with the most attractive member of the opposite sex, and, of course, sport). I believe it’s possible / worthwhile to attempt to overcome those desires, but it’s a much more arduous process than just deciding to do so.
I used to think that the sport of Frisbee attracted more “enlightened” people. (I dislike that word but use it for lack of a better term). But now I’ve come to believe that that’s not true – Frisbee players compete for status just like anyone else, they just compete in less conventional ways. And at the top of the game, for many people, that definitely includes winning Frisbee games.
Tangentially – Competing for the status of “best spirited” is no better than competing for the status of victory in competition. It’s the same ego we’re feeding, right?
Also, as another aside – I can name every UPA national champion going back to the NYNY days in the 80s, and I didn’t learn how to throw a flick until the summer of ’99.
Seigs
P.S. Any way you can add the feature to get emailed when some posts below you? I really don’t want to subscribe to the RSS on comments…
Hey Seigs,
I’ll respond to the actual points of your comment later, but as far as subscribing…is there a link below the comment post (next to “post comment” and “preview” you can click? Assuming you have a blogger account when you comment (the only accounts blogger supports comment e-mails for, I think), you should be able to click the link to get your emails.
Let me know if you’re not seeing it and I’ll investigate.
I’m proud that I was able to correctly name the UPA open winners of 5,10,15, and 20 years ago.
Anyway, my thoughts on spirit are too long to be contained in a blog comment. So instead I’ll say that I agree with you 53.72%.
Not there. Investigate. =)
It’s there now – Thanks.
I’ve been asked to be the ‘spirit instructor’ (whatever that means!) at our new player league clinic next week.
I think I’ll just read this. Thanks for putting to words what I’ve been thinking for some time.
Great post, I have lost of thoughts but only time for one:
One reason I am generally in favor of increased 3rd-party officiation is that I respect the realitys of my opponent and myself durring intense and contested play. I know that our abilities to be objective become diminished with increased heart rate and it would be DISrepectful to blindly expect otherwise of an opponent or of myself.
I see this as akin to one of the Supreme Court justices respecting the situation enough to remove himself from a case where he may be unable to remain objective.
Nice post Seigs! Often times at the lower recreational level, people seem to think that playing hard = bad spirit, or making calls = bad spirit.
It can get taken to the other extreme.
Playing hard is not bad spirit, playing dangerously is.
Making calls is not bad spirit, making bad or retaliation calls is.
Seigs,
I absolutely agree that the reality differs. When I say that mastering your emotions is a means to being spirited, I do so with full knowledge that it’s an impossible task. And I’d certainly be lying if I said I had no selfish motives with my own play–even when I’m not playing, I put loads of time into this blog, and I do enjoy whatever limited celebrity and recognition that might bring–same as I do when I do well on the field.
Like you, though, I do agree that it’s worth the effort to try. The main point I was trying to make with regards to spirit was simply that if you show up with the intent to compete to the best of your ability, without domineering others trying to do the same, that is enough.
Bill,
I’d love to hear your take on it. If you ever care to write them up, I’ll gladly post them here (or not, if that’s your preference).
Stephen,
I used to think that third party refereeing was unnecessary in ultimate, but as time passes and I play more (and I hear the same arguement you presented time and again), I’m more inclined to put some trust in it. Regardless of result, it’s certainly an exciting time for the sport with all the changes in store.
Seigs,
Although I agree with your assessment of Reality v. Ideals of ‘spirit’, I think that the factor that you don’t acknowledge is the rules of the game of ultimate. Yes, of course, perception, testosterone, and ego all get in the way of two players seeing eye to eye about a particularly contentious play. But the rules of the game are set up such that no one gains an enormous advantage in either outcome, and if a consensus between the players involved cannot be reached, there is an outcome in the rules for that as well. As long as people are coming from the ‘baseline’ of respect for opponents and the game that Mackey is talking about in the original post, the rules will serve to mediate disagreements and disputes. I think that the line in the sand between abuse of self-officiating and the need to employ referees is in the word ‘intentionality’. Is someone intentionally breaking a rule (fouling on an open huck opportunity, for instance) or are they playing the game as they have learned it and making judgments based on their perceptions? The slippery slope in this is that intentionality and gamesmanship (the bad kind) become way more prevalent in reffed sports where there is a third party to deceive/petition for calls. In a reffed game playing against the ref as well as your opponent would become how the game is played, where as now, even at the highest level, there is an element of the game that requires an engagement with one’s opponent. A shared circumstance which we all deal with and which requires us to communicate/negotiate through the course of our games together. The way that the rules get called in any particular game is a dynamic process. Just like how you play D against Ben Wiggins may change from point to point and game to game, the way that the rules are played and enforced is a contract between the players who are playing.
Chase.
Wonderful thoughts.
But you didn't address what seems to be the number one issue in Ultimate (according to RSD)… getting on television. SOTG is the ONLY reason Ultimate is not on television, and thus your "mutual respect" stands in the way of my personal glory.
If Ultimate had refs and we all acted like bigger douchebags, ESPN would pick up "Monday Night Ultimate" next season. The only reason I play Ultimate is to impress other people. There are millions of people just waiting to watch Ultimate on TV, but TV won't show us because we don't have refs. There's no other reason.
Millions of people are ready to embrace frisbee sports. But, all these people know the rules of Ultimate, and they all know Ultimate is self-officiated, so they think we're hippies. So they don't like Ultimate. If we had refs and did better dances after we scored, Ultimate would immediately have big money sponsorships and a huge audience. We'd probably be in the Olympics, too. Unfortunately, the UPA thinks they should focus on "youth development," when they should really be getting on their knees for corporate sponsorship. Don't they know anything about sports?
So, maintaining some level of Spirit in Ultimate is the ONLY reason that I and my sweet layouts are not on Sports Center, and so I'm not getting laid. If only I were on TV, then chicks would look past my terrible personality. Thanks a lot, Ultimate community, for striving to maintain some sense of integrity.