Reviving the Spirit of the Game

My friend in fun Dan (Stork) Roddick was instrumental in framing the "Spirit of the Game" concept that helped make Ultimate Frisbee into the unique sport that it still struggles to be:

"Ultimate has traditionally relied upon a spirit of sportsmanship which places the responsibility for fair play on the player himself. Highly competitive play is encouraged, but never at the expense of the bond of mutual respect between players, adherence to the agreed-upon rules of the game, or the basic joy of play."

Junkyard Sports is very much about the same thing - reviving the spirit of the game - but it's even more about reviving the spirit of fun, creativity, and celebration that was experienced by the people who invented the game. here's an article I recently wrote. It starts like this:

Sports, at their best, are healing experiences. I have a friend, Ron Jones, who plays basketball with handicapped children and adults. I have another friend who plays ice hockey with a group of teenagers from the hood. They can tell you all about the healing power of one really good game.

Now, we compare and contrast:

The World Series. Where really good games are what it's all about. What do you think is the ratio of players to spectators?

No, I'm really asking. What do you think? You have two teams, and umpires and coaches and that's about it. Thirty players. And maybe thirty million spectators.

There it is, right in front of your commercial-weary eyes - baseball, at its best, in all its glory - and your shot at being a player is about a million to one.

...continue...