KU frisbee gets spring revival
By ANN MORITZ Kansan staff writer
One of the sports that receives its revival each spring at the University of Kansas involves the use of a small plastic disc, which gives the game its name—Frisbee.
Frisbee is now a prominent part of, American leisure, ranking closely with any other spur-of-the-moment athletic endeavor. The disc can do amazing feats of flight when thrown by a skilled performer.
The International Frisbee Association (IFA) now has 50,000 members. Fifty-eight of them have earned the status of "masters," having executed, before an accredited official, all the classic throws and catches described in the IFA manual.
Despite frisbee's popularity, there is considerable argument among its followers about the birth of the sport.
According to one legend, the game began in 1827 under the leadership of a Yale student, Elihe Frisbee. Young Elihe, rebelling against compulsory chapel attendance at the college, allegedly threw a collection plate during one service, and the plate sailed across the sanctuary.
Other frisbee followers claim that the sport originated when employees of Mother Frisbee's Baking Company of Bridgeport,
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But the Wham-O Corporation, manufacturer of the frisbee disc, identifies the founder as Fred Morrison, a former Los Angeles building inspector who once worked part time as a country fair pitchman selling plate plates.
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Morrison's gimmick was not hawking the plates, but rather an "invisible string," supposedly extending from him to the customer. He would sail a plate through the air along the "invisible" string and sell the plate and the string to the customer. Morrison sold the idea to Wham-O in 1958 and has earned more than $500,000 in royalties.
The world record for throwing a frisbee is 80 yards, according to one of the IFA news publications. John Schneider, Columbus, Neb., junior, is one of the individuals who holds the record.
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With the air rotation and the difference in pressure on the different sides, a force is created which causes it to go in a circle, Andes said. When the frisbee is thrown up in the air, it sustains a forward and rotating velocity much like an airplane's wings. The difference in velocity causes a difference in pressure and the object can curve various ways, he said.
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Prior to competition, the frisbee queen (by IFA rule, a woman 60 years or older) is driven around the field in the official pace car, a 1946 Studebaker. At precisely one minute after noon on opening day, Jim Boggio, the tournament founder, gives the long-awaited command, "Gentlemen, start your frisbees."
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The KU Frisbee Club is now in the planning stages, Schneider said. He plans to activate the club next fall. Among his collection of frisbees are the Professional Olympic Frisbee and the Master Tournament Frisbee. Schneider said that Wham-O also made a larger, more expensive frisbee, one and one-half feet in diameter, soon to be on the market.
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The heart of the competition is "Guts Frisbee," a non-stop firing match between two five-man teams lined up 15 yards apart. The event, accompanied by a great deal of shouting, swearing, laughing and beer drinking, continues until one team has dropped or missed 21 throws. No referees are allowed near the contest.
The IFA Purple Heart award goes to the frisbee player with the worst injuries. The latest recipient was a young man who broke his leg trying to catch the flying object.
The frisbee is an aerodynamic phenomenon, said Ammon S. Andes, professor of aeroautonautical engineering at KU. Because of the way the object spins it picks up air which rotates it, he said.
Sales of frisbees in Lawrence range from fair to "real good" depending on weather conditions, said Charles Riggs, manager of Woolworths. Herb Mall, manager of Duckwalls, termed the frisbee a steady seller, with the students as his primary customers. Most frisbees in Lawrence range from 39 cents to $1.98 with the professional frisbees from $3 up.
Although the Super Bowl and World Series unaccountably attract more attention, the International Frisbee Championship, held each fourth of July weekend
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