Thank You, Machine.

Ultimate is unique in a lot of ways as a national sport. Especially now, with the presence of the emerging “professional” leagues. Players are now getting “paid” to play ultimate, and that is an amazing thing. I have no idea where these leagues will end up, but it’s damn exciting to be a spectator of.

But let’s be honest: the USAU Club series is still the king of high-level ultimate. Only here will you truly get a collection of the nation’s/world’s best players. These are our elite athletes, our all-stars.

But again, ultimate is unique.

This past summer was when I decided to dive much deeper into Ultimate, and I am a unique case of a player/participant: At 24 years old, I had just finished my first season of college ultimate, and this was the first time I’d played in a real organized fashion. I loved it. I wanted more. But summer classes and a bust fall semester upcoming meant I couldn’t afford the time to tryout/play for any club team. So I spent my free time reading/watching/writing about ultimate. And on a complete whim, I sent an email to one of our elite athletes; one of our all-stars: Jonathan “Goose” Helton.

Home

I have found myself in a sort of decision-making purgatory. I am faced not with a win-win scenario nor a lose-lose. With your input, maybe we can all come to a “win-win-WIN” resolution.

I have a choice. Without boring you with my life story, here it is in short: I am graduating in a few short weeks, and I have an open invitation (and an open bedroom) to move to Portland, OR. I can accept that offer, or I can stay in the greater Chicago, IL area. There are obviously tons of variables and factors that should (and have) been considered, but there is one major aspect of the decision that I can’t warp my head around and be comfortable with: leaving my ultimate community. My ultimate family.