Re: Research Project

[EMAIL PROTECTED] (Nick) wrote in message news:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>...
> I'm doing a research project in one of my classes this quarter and the
> main subject is Ultimate and wether or not it would work/fit in as a
> major mainstream sport in the U.S. Half of my project involves the
> opinions of ultimate players and those in the ultimate community and
> i'd appreciate anyone giving their two cents in response to my
> questions.
> 
> 1) Would ultimate work as a mainstream (NCAA/Pro, on TV, pay to
> attend) sport in America?
> 
>  If Yes: 2) Would the players/rules(especially
> observers/refs)/anything be different than it is today.
>          3) What kind of influence would major sports fans bring?
>    
>  If No:  2) Why not?
>          3) What changes would need to be made to make it work?
> 
> 4) If it did happen and ultimate became a major sport in America,
> would you still take as large a part in it as you do now?
> 
> Thanks for all who respond,
> 
> Nick Gramly
> OSU Leadbelly

1. No.

2. The American sports culture (reverence of sports, emotional
attachment to sports) has been hegemonic for the most part in its
choice of which sports to cover since the 1930's (coincidentally the
end of the period of industrialization in America) and no sports have
experienced popular reverence on the level of the established sports
in American sports culture (baseball, basketball, american football,
and hockey to a degree).

Ultimate's success in the American mainstream market would not be
conditional upon participant numbers in the short-term; billiards and
fishing by themselves count more participants than the National
Basketball Association. The difference is the culture surrounding the
two groups of sports: watercooler talk, media praise, adoration, and
coverage, college money, sponsorship on an economically significant
level, et cetera. If our participant numbers reach the hundreds of
thousands, college teams recruit ceaselessly, and every city in
America has an active league, Ultimate will still only get a nod to
the side by media outlets and mass venues, if that, at least for a
time. Of course, if participation in Ultimate reaches numbers that are
just silly, one of the more accepted sports will be pushed aside into
history and Ultimate will take over, but that will take time and
numbers that we don't have.

Furthermore, the sports that currently dominate the American sports
culture have the aid of mechanisms to stregnthen their own positions
and weaken the threat of entrance from "niche" sports: dominance of
television coverage, a system of education that furthers the
predominance of the Big Four, and entrenchment in American popular
culture.

3. The sport itself is fine; changing Ultimate will not aid or bring
about recognition in the NCAA, on ESPN, or in the popular culture of
America. The only thing that will get it into the spotlight in a
timely fashion would be ridiculous growth figures or maybe the
anihilation of baseball players and fans en masse by the Ultimate
community. Otherwise, the hope of Ultimate players worldwide to
entrench themselves in sports culture and enjoy the popularity of more
accepted sports is in vain; sports culture in America won't accept
anything new until the market mechanisms entrenching the current
sports are slighted by unparallelled growth in another sport and its
entrenchment in popular culture (that will be the hard part).

4. I would in a second take a much larger role in this sport if it was
instantly as large as football. I guess I'm just pessimistic, but
sorry Mike G., I think Wednesday Night College Ultimate is still a
long way away. Of course the Observer's orange might look good with
gray hair.