Frisbee whorefest in Maribor

posted by Jean McCollister

Here's hoping I won't get crucified for this title. Let me explain where it comes from. In my younger days I used to be a rugby whore. A rugby whore is someone who shows up at rugby tournaments ready to play any position with any team. They don't come with a team of their own, so they "whore on" to other teams that need players. In fact, some tournaments are organized specifically as "whorefests" (or "harlotfests" if you prefer a more genteel term), like this one, to be held June 19 in Rockford, Illinois. People simply show up, and are assigned more or less randomly to a team.

Anyway, our dogfrisbee competition in Maribor on June 6th features a team event called Medley Relay. It was originally conceived as a four-member team event, but we've changed to three-member teams in response to concerns from potential competitors about being able to make forty-yard throws and catches. And we're giving people several options when it comes to entering a team:

- you can put together a team of your own (friends, club members, particular breed, etc.) and enter that team (just give it a name and tell us who's on it);
- you can let us (me) know that you want to enter, tell us the distances you're willing to throw, and we'll put you in touch with others looking to form a team;
- or you can simply show up on the day and whore, possibly with perfect strangers.

Up to you. :)

As I mentioned in my description of the event, Medley Relay is a combination of time trial and minidistance. There are different zones as in minidistance, but what counts is time, not points, as in time trial. There is one important difference compared to time trial, however: your team will be scored even if two catches are not made in the allotted time (60 s for the first and second zones, 90 s for the third and fourth zones). So all teams will have a finishing time, whether or not each member is successful in making two catches. So in that sense the concern about the fourth leg of the relay was misplaced, but even so we've decided to try it first with three on a team.

I thought it would be fun to have a team event, since everything else in dogfrisbee is individual. It's fun to play together as a team, and it can be even more fun doing it with random strangers--it's a great way to create camaraderie and forge new friendships. I wanted, too, to have an event in which slower, smaller dogs would be able to compete on an equal footing with the better known breeds who tend to excel in the sport (border collie, Australian shepherd, Belgian shepherds etc.). So a Medley Relay team could be made up of, say, a small mixed breed dog for the first leg, a lab or toller for the middle leg(s), and one of the better known breeds for the anchor leg. It's a timed event, sure, but it rewards accurate placement by the thrower and good catching by the dog as much as or more than speed: a slower dog which makes two catches in succession is going to have a better time than a speedy dog that misses.

There's always some risk involved in doing something new. It could turn out to be a huge hit, or it could turn out to be a total flop. But no big deal, if people don't like it, we won't do it anymore. But let's try it and see. So come play, come whore, and above all, come have fun!

Oh, and if anyone objects to the name whorefest medley relay, we can call it potluck medley relay or something.