Utterances of the word "spirit" can mean different things to both the speaker and the listener. For example, up until two years ago, "Spirit" to my ears was a 60’s band that churned out rockers such as "Nature’s Way" and albums like "The Adventures of Kaptain Kopter & Commander Cassidy in Potatoland." No joke. This association has since been shoved aside, courtesy of my experience with the relatively new sport of Ultimate Frisbee.

I implore you to sit back and imagine something [bear with me as I draw slight reference to my high school football days]. You are a wide receiver on a football team, and your team is down seven-six with no time left on the game clock. Your team has just scored and is set to attempt a two-point conversion for the win. In what feels like less than a second, the quarterback drops back in the pocket and throws a frozen rope right at you, aimed between the numbers on your jersey. Before you can raise your hands into place to make the game-winning grab, the defensive back levels you to the ground in a play for the ball. "Foul," you calmly state as you are helped to your feet by the defensive back. "You’re right, that was a foul," he reiterates, as both teams reset to try the conversion again. The quarterback attempts a draw on the re-play and is tackled right at the goal line. It’s "too close to call" from your view at the wideout position. Without a referee to signal the touchdown, the QB glances once toward each sideline and decisively declares that he has scored. The defense does not dispute the decision because it is his call. Some may think that this is an impossible scenario for any competitive sport. I, for one, know that it is not.

The "Spirit of the Game," although it may sound like a cheddar-thick ESPN spot, is the fundamental guiding tenet in the sport of Ultimate Frisbee. For those who are not familiar with the game [or even aware that Franklin & Marshall has a competitive team], Ultimate combines elements of soccer, football and basketball into a fast-paced game, played with a frisbee, where "everyone is a quarterback and everyone is a receiver." The rules do not include harsh penalties for fouling your opponent – it is assumed that no one will intentionally violate the rules to their advantage. This would be a gross offense against the Spirit of the Game. Spirit, in this explanation, is almost synonymous with sportsmanship. Highly competitive play is encouraged, but never at the expense of the mutual respect between players. The game is played sans-officials; everyone makes his own foul and line judgment calls. If there is a time when your opponent fails to call a foul on you (get this!), you may call a foul on yourself.

If you had asked me, before I arrived at F&M, whether these were the rules of a serious sport, I would surely have said no. In my years playing Ultimate here, I have been subtly reminded of something every time I tie the laces of my cleats at the edge of Buchanan Park: the true joy of playing a sport. I now know, as one of the more than 50,000 players in the US alone, that this game is for real – and that the rules work because of a unifying respect for the Spirit of the Game. As I remove myself from this flying-disc soapbox, I urge everyone who despises the crybaby nature of other sports to come check out our first annual F&M Ultimate tournament this weekend at Baker Campus, or come to our practices on weekdays at 5PM in Buchanan Park. With that shameless plug out of the way, please remember the words of one of disc sports’ founding fathers, Stancil E.D. Johnson: "When a ball dreams, it dreams it’s a frisbee."

Michael E. Iacovella is co-captain of the F&M Hucking Amish Ultimate Frisbee Team