Fans and friends

In ultimate, we players do a lot. We are the players, the administrators, the coaches, the tournament organisers, and the league commissioners.

And we are also the fans.

It can be little complicated when you are a fan in ultimate. The people you are discussing are your teammates or potential future teammates.

I mean, its fine to say that Buddy Franklin is a crap kicker and shouldn't make All-Australian, if you're a random member of the footy-watching public. But you wouldn't catch his teammates doing that publicly, and probably not other footy players, who might find themselves alongside him in the locker room one day.

In ultimate, when we are the fans who love to watch the big guns, and get to play along side them, there can be a little backdraft on occasion.

I can see why keen fans like to speculate about who will make this team or that. Indeed, I like to do it myself. But I check myself first before doing it publicly - you never know who you will be playing with or against. Its best to speculate on players and potential teams offline, with a small group of good mates.