Andy Carpenter is a native Wisconsinite who also has spent time living in Pennsylvania, Missouri, Australia and now Hilton Head Island. He graduated from the University of Missouri in 2009, and has been known to moonlight as a copy editor, bartender, pirate, rowing coach and Green Bay Packers fan. | It’s a look not altogether unpleasant, but usually disapproving. The corners of the mouth rise slightly, an invisible force seemingly pushing against a full smile. The head tilts back, an eyebrow rises and the corresponding nostril flares as if catching a faint draft of sulfur.
“Oh … you play ultimate Frisbee?”
I understand why the sport gets the flak it does. Most people’s only experience with it is in P.E.: a game seemingly invented by gym teachers in which you can’t run with the ball, nobody knows how to throw and WHY WON’T THAT GIRL TALK TO ME? The general stereotype of the people who continue to play after the floor hockey unit starts is one rife with tie-dye and bongo drums. “Dude”s, “brah”s and “sick”s abound. And lots of dreadlocks.
Admittedly, some of those stereotypes shine through — yet in much slighter number than many expect. What folks seem to miss, though, is that amidst all that, there are people who play for more than a cool place to listen to Bob Marley. Weekend warriors hustle in an arena where the only glory to attain slips away as soon as the disc moves to the next set of hands. A wide range of ages and backgrounds gather in a place where they’ll be included. For every dude sitting in a kumbaya circle, there are two teaching their kids how to flick.
I’m reluctant to drift too far toward the oft-cliched sports-movie turns of phrase “for love of the game” and “sports bring the community together,” so I’ll temper my overtures on the sport any further.
I joined the Hilton Head/Bluffton group of ultimate Frisbee players shortly after moving down here, and despite spotty attendance on my part, I’ve always been welcome and had a great time. This weekend, they’re hosting the annual La Cucaracha Ultimate Frisbee Tournament beginning at 9 a.m. Saturday and Sunday at Buckwalter Regional Park and featuring more than 10 teams traveling from the Southeast region. Spectators are welcome, and since the event benefits Bluffton Self Help, all nonperishable food donations are accepted.
If you go, spare the face.
Here are this week’s awards:
• Fanciest dogs: The Hilton Head Island Kennel Club is hosting its annual dog show Saturday and Sunday at the Coastal Discovery Museum at Honey Horn. If you’ve ever taken a walk on the beach and lamented the unfanciness of the dogs there, well, this is your best shot at being satisfied.
• Craziest concept for a movie: Whoa. “Project X.” It’s a crazy high school party where crazy things happen. And it goes viral, which makes it different from “Superbad,” “Can’t Hardly Wait,” “American Pie,” “Weekend at Bernie’s,” “Porky’s,” “Dazed and Confused,” “Dude, Where’s My Car?” and “The Adventures of Milo and Otis”.
Andy is no snob; he celebrates the unfancy beach dogs.