At first glance, the University of Washington seems like a wonderful place. It has a beautiful campus in Seattle, great academics, and Ultimate teams that are consistently among the region’s elite. According to the UW website, “It’s in our DNA, to reach a little higher. Dig deeper. To keep searching for better ways to learn, live and work. And for better answers to the world’s most pressing challenges.” While UW’s maxim sound pleasant, for years there have been hints of a dark secret lurking beneath the surface.
“What’s the matter with UW?” Anyone who has been to a tournament in the Northwest has heard players asking this simple question about UW’s Ultimate teams. The answers may change, but the question remains the same. Was something really the matter with UW? As Skyd Magazine’s investigative reporter, I decided to dig deeper and get to the bottom of this mystery.
My first stop was at UW, to see if Sundodger and Element players themselves knew the answer. The first player I asked responded with, “They…can’t drink?,” the most common response, but it was more of a question than an answer. Another UW player gave a completely different response: “I would say that sometimes we get caught up in our own thoughts. We’re unable to get our heads back in the game and pump ourselves up if we’re down. That’s something we’re going to tackle in full force this year.”
Unable to definitively answer the question in Seattle, I then approached players on other Northwest teams to see if they could clear things up. The most common answer was “They can’t drink,” but again there was a striking lack of consensus.
"What's the matter with UW?" by the numbers
Some of the answers I received included:
They can’t drink, but we love playing against them.
A host of reasons to numerous to mention here. Come find our sideline at a tournament and we’ll help you out.
Too much pressure?
Too much to explain. Mostly Bryson.
They won’t come up to Canada to drink!
Fuck UW.
Too much weed. Or not enough.
In playing and watching them, I feel like they take the fun out of Ultimate for themselves, which makes it less fun to play against them. I have talked with former players from high school who have said they don’t think they would have continued playing if they were at UW. I don’t know if it’s overly aggressive rule-calling, the type of player the team attracts, or the history of the program.
They keep the PDA to a minimum.
After all that, this journalist has no choice but to leave the case file as Still Open. If you have any leads that could help resolve this question, send me an email or leave a comment below.
Got a mystery you want solved? Email Skyd Magazine’s Investigative Reporter.
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