'Ultimate' catches on with students at Harding Who knew that hot apple pie would lead to one of the most played games on the Harding front lawn? Ultimate, the football-like game played with a Frisbee, is a regular event on the famed front lawn. And itall startedwith a baking dish. Before World War II, the Frisbie Pie Company of New Haven, Conn., baked and sold pies that were di stributed all over New England. College students attendi~g universities throughout the New England area discovered that the pie tin flew very nice ly. Soon a game of catch led to students throwing pie tins all over campus. In order to warn oblivious passers-by, they would frequently shout the word "frisbie ." Inventor and entrepreneur Fred Morrison saw an opportunity in this new toy and modified the pans to improve aerodynamics. When plastic was discovered in the late 1940s, Morrison found the wonder material that would make the disc really fly. Morrison patented his disc in 1948, but in 1957, a toy company called Whamo brokered a deal with Morrison and began production of flying disks of its own . While on a trip to the East Coast, a Wham-O executive heard the word "frisbie" being usedwhi le students played a game with the flying disk and decided to name it Frisbee. Over the next few years, the number of Frisbee enthusiasts increased dramatically. Recently, games such as "Ultimate" • 84 Kara Limburg - Springfield, No. Angela Lingua - Clarksville, 1>10. Rachel Long - f>1t. 1-lorris, Mi ch. Laina Ludy - Elmont, N.Y. Vikki Luttrell - Woodbridge, Va. Robyn MacKenzie - Windsor, Ontario Clay Madar - Carlisle, Ark. Julie Manze lla - Hope,Ark. All ison Mart in - Searcy, Ark. Amy Mart in - Hope. Ark. Adam Mathews - Beaumont, TelW Deidre Mathi s - l'lemphis, Tenn. Kayte Mathis - Niles, f>lich. Erika Matute - Tegucigalpa, Honduras Rachel McAdams - Judsonia, Ark. Lisa McCalip - t-lodesto, Calif. Dan McCool - San Antonio, Texas Linda McCue - N. Canton, Conn. PEOPLE and "Frisbee Golf' have emerged and their popularity continues to grow. The Frisbee, now trademarked by MatteI, is tossed around the world. Landing at Harding, Ultimate has become the most popularform of Frisbee tossing on campus. "It's getting really big," said senior Michael Lair, who began playing Ultimate at Harding during his freshman year in 1994. "We' re so obvious right out there on the front lawn; if you don't know about us, you pretty much don 't go to the cafeteria, " he said. The two-team game is played much like football. The players make for a goal at either end of the playing field . Each player must toss the Frisbee from one teammate to the next. Once the Frisbee is caught, the player must then throw the Frisbee to another player down fie ld. The defending team attempts to intercept the Frisbee by either knocking it to the ground or catching it. Then it's his or her turn to try to score. "It's pretty physical ," Lair said. "And it gets pretty serious when people play tournaments; but for us, we couldn 't care less." The casual game on the front lawn saw dwindling numbers early in the fa ll semester, but Lair stayed optimistic that, once the weather changed, it would pick up again. "Most of us who play are pretty good friends , but new people are more than cool," Lair said. - Remie Beaulieu • -' • • \ Freshman Matt McVicker tries to make a catch while playing Ultimate Frisbee on the front lawn. Ultimate was one of the more popular activities on the front lawn. Many others took advantage of the occasional warm days to spend time on the front lawn to visit with friends or play games.
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