I’ve read my fair share of Ultimate/Frisbee books and many are okay, but none of them made me laugh as much as Tony Leonardo’s “Ultimate – The Greatest Sport Ever Invented By Man”. He is so right on when it comes to the Ultimate scene/culture. He describes several Ultimate stereo types that are so true (I fit many of them :-). He describes our dress code and our desire to win the party. There is even a section about the Ultimate pickup scene and how lesbians and bisexuals can score. It is just funny.
My only critique is that the book is US biased. He doesn’t discuss the World Championships unless they were held in the US and according to him US teams are the best (ignoring Japans domination at the last World Championships).
Nevertheless, this book is a must-have for every player. Not only will you recognize yourself in this book, lend it to your friends that don’t play the sport and they will finally see you in your full glory… (although I am not sure if that is that a good thing… 😉
My favorite quote: “Being female and looking for action at an Ultimate tournament is like hunting deer in a disco. Even if the metaphor doesn’t make sense you can’t screw it up“.
Thanks Tony. You capture the weird world of Ultimate players well.
You can buy the book at: www.thegreatestsporteverinvented.com or in the Lookfly store. Alternatively, Tony is going to the Bangkok Hat Tournament, Boracay Open and Bali Nusantara Cup, and he will be bringing a few books with him. So if you are also attending, look for him.
