Sin The Fields

"Ultimate." It's a bad name. We know this. But what do we do about it? Pat and Tad dig into the problem with naming this dumb sport and come to an elegant solution. They also talk Thanksgiving, younger family members who play college ultimate, and answer a backlog of listener questions including a Cornell drive-by, a spiking conundrum, and whether beach worlds tryouts are an acceptable excuse for missing college regionals. Plus, a TTF that completely derails the entire show.

Time is moving quickly these days, and just as fall begins to give way to winter, club Nationals is bumped out of the headlines by the upcoming, special pandemic vintage of college Nationals. Pat and Tad congratulate some of the surprise college Nationals qualifiers, and try to determine exactly how much this fall Nationals “counts,” and for whom?Plus, some theorizing about the true value of ESPN in the ultimate ecosystem, a strange Halloween, and a unified theory of Cornell.

Pat and Tad welcome STF All Star Kristen Pojunis back onto the program to talk about the upcoming Club Nationals and launch a new segment, "Things to do in San Diego, if you're an a******." You won't want to miss it, especially if you're an a******. You know who you are.

Another Regionals come and gone, another chance for Pat and Tad to stare into the abyss and see if this time it stares back. They catalogue a few of the notable results from the first weekend of Regionals, neg people who actually made Nationals, and try to find some meaning in all of this. Also, the Sprout “wet disc puller” identifies himself, and the guys talk about upcoming fall college alumni tournaments.

Fall is in the air as club Sectionals makes its triumphant return to the calendar. Pat and Tad appreciate a retro, "everyone has to do it," Sectionals and look back at their first ever Sectionals experiences. Important questions get asked: is club Sectionals the purest version of the sport? What is an appropriate amount to freak out about losing on a bad call? And who holds the moral high ground in the classic Sectionals showdown of bad bid-earning real club team vs. good team of series-only ringers?

Pat and Tad peel back the onion on one of ultimate's little known "what ifs," the time in 2012 when the elite tier of the men's club division almost left USAU for a NexGen league. How did it happen, what shady cabal was deciding the sport's future, and what impacts did accidentally unionizing elite club teams have on the club division today? Those tears you hear aren't from the onion, they are tears of righteous anger over the injustices of the TCT.Turning to the present, the guys reflect on a relatively quaint Mars tournament from the past weekend and welcome back a fan favorite to explore all the possibilities that betting on the AUDL with Draft Kings provides.

Pat reports back from a whirlwind Wildwood/Ow My Knee tournament doubleheader that featured triumph, failure, dubious marriage planning, and ultimately the way of nature asserting its dominance. The guys also discuss how to settle jersey number disputes, the U.S. Open's scheduling elitism, and which single drink has the greatest potential to heal this broken world.

Pat and Tad return to where it all started with their annual Wildwood episode. As they gear up for a weekend that no one's body is in any way ready for, they break down some important questions: is warming up for a beach tournament lame? What is the drink of the Wildwood going to be this year? And most importantly, what is the best team name?An exciting new sponsor joins the team this week, the guys celebrate the show's sixth birthday, and T/T/F somehow avoids the beach altogether.

STF is back, as Pat and Tad examine the rumors swirling around a fight during a Roughnecks-Cascades game and discuss ultimate's history of pretending that fights don't happen. They also talk about the ideal weeknight to play summer league, an out-there idea to make disc golf more like ultimate, and give a salute to everyone both playing and being forced to miss Masters Nationals.

It’s a wild time right now, with league starting up, club tryouts coming to a head, pickup going full steam, and mostly all of it being played by people whose bodies aren’t quite ready.As ultimate comes back to a wider community that might not be as ready to play as they think, Pat and Tad try to reconcile the joy of playing with the oncoming injury crisis.

After a week off, STF is back with hard hitting updates on the Pittsburgh Summer League Draft, the thirsty jokers of Co Cup, and how to perfect the ideal cut off T. It’s all a prelude to the main event - breaking down the ultimate player’s scheduling nightmare: Tournaments v Weddings.

Pat and Tad are getting ready to re-enter the world of pickup as the rest of ultimate comes back to life. They have a few questions, comments, and concerns for everyone getting back out onto the field, mostly involving dudes from New Jersey making up for lost time when it comes to big timing people. All that, plus some talk about whether the AUDL matters, what going back to bars is like, and the confusing history of chimp fighting.

STF welcomes back to the program Dr. David Geier to answer all of your burning questions about return to play injury prevention, sketchy supplements, and the medical virtue of tequila on rocks. If you're frantically formulating a plan to get back in playing shape for this summer, this is the show for you.The guys also talk about how to boost your section's size bid numbers, what the ideal alumni tournament would be like, and answer other listener questions in a long overdue #askSTF segment.

STF welcomes podcasting guru and PoNY partisan Jody Avirgan back to the program to unveil a new segment: This Day In Esoteric Ultimate History. On the 5th anniversary of MLU commissioner Jeff Snader tweeting a picture of his shoes at the airport, the crew dives into how these pictures explain the rise and fall of the MLU, and what we can learn about the history and future of semi-pro ultimate as a result. It's a guest packed show this week, as Scotti D and Pockets from Ultiworld's new podcast Laying It Out stop by the show to talk about their college ultimate focused show, talk about playing for a club team whose name got blacklisted by USAU, and shame Pat and Tad for being old as fuck. All that, plus a TTF featuring the European Super League and a child who straight up sucks.

As the return of ultimate appears imminent, STF turns toward summer league. To get an edge, they welcome former NFL player and current Pittsburgh sports media guru Dorin Dickerson to the program, and pitch him on baggage-ing with Tad this summer. His answer was genuinely surprising. Dorin talks about his experience as a pro athlete, predicts how some top ultimate players might measure up with NFL pros, and lays down a special challenge to a member of the ultimate community.All that plus some talk about the Richmond Cup, best ever league draft picks, and TTF.

USAU has a plan for the club season: Make it 2009 again by science or magic. Join STF as they go back to a pre-Triple Crown Tour era. No rankings, no requirements, no spirit! Is this truly the way god intended the sport to be played? And with Masters Nationals now bid-only, what lengths is Tad willing to go to in order to lock up a bid?STF also welcomes Felix Shardlow to the program, giving the Englishman a chance to defend himself and the Hex after some recent slander on the program.All that, plus mascot drama and the perils of meeting new people post-vaccination in an impassioned TTF.

After receiving a mountain of responses, Pat and Tad sift through the worst ever tournament experiences from listeners and give their own personal bottom three. If you're nostalgic for ultimate despite horrible weather, incompetent TDs, and weird disqualification scandals, this is the show for you.The guys also welcome Leah Tsinajinnie onto the program to discuss her meteoric rise from notable ultimate player to notable and PAID disc golf player, and try to to answer the question everyone has been asking this year: did ultimate players choose the wrong god?

On the week that would have seen Pat and Tad convalescing after Nocturnal Decisions instead sees the STF guys get into the hottest not-so-new thing in ultimate: The Hex Offense. Is it the way of the future or just some trumped up European hipster bullshit? Pat and Tad look to both sides of the Atlantic for answers, and weigh in themselves. All that plus deciding the stakes of the ten year bet, introducing a new member of the STF family, and bringing some heat on T/T/F.

It’s an intercontinental pod crossover spectacular as STF welcomes Ravi and Liam from Eurozone to the program. They discuss the differences between European and American party tournaments, and give recommendations for tournaments that post-COVID American ultimate players should check out.All that, plus a very special Eurocentric T/T/F.

It's an all Metro East show this week as Pat and Tad peel back the layers on one of the defining questions of their lives: Is there a method to the madness of the Metro East? To get to the bottom of this, they bring in two heavy hitter guests from the annals of Metro East lore: coach Bryan Jones and the Metro East's lone Callahan winner Lindsey Goldsmith-Markey. There may be no bottom to the Metro East, but if there is, this is the group to find it. There is all that plus a 10 year bet, some dad content, and an all Metro East TTF.